I have checked the actual "Belfast News Letter" of Tuesday 4 March 1800 held by Queen's University, Belfast and this is what it says; "Extract of a letter from Ballymena, Sunday 2nd March. Upon Friday last, a most awful procession took place, namely the execution of Roger McCorley who was lately convicted at a Court-martial...". So, McCorley was executed on Friday 28 February 1800. As far as I can trace, which involved checking back files of newspapers for the period, plus perpetual calendars, 1800 wasn't a leap year, otherwise the date would have been 29 February 1800. Good Friday 1800 was 11 April. I investigated Roddy McCorley pretty thoroughly and published the results in my book, "One Green Hill: journeys through Irish songs" (2003).
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