In Carleton's account the murders were perpetrated by an oath-bound rural secret society, the Ribbonmen, the leaders of which were portrayed as evil and demonic.
Following some criticism of his account (for example, he had portrayed the family as being the only Protestant family in the parish, whereas in fact the victims at Wildgoose Lodge were all Catholics) Carleton made some changes to the next published version, in the Newry Advertiser in 1833 [REF].