Thunderbolt Gibbons, was the moniker of a Whiteboys captain in Ireland in the early nineteenth century.
On the same night as a Whiteboy meeting at Tyquin, Athenry, a local 'Big House' was fired, and Gibbons was obliged to go on the run.
He was subsequently sentenced to be executed, but his sister entreated Mr. Bodkin of Annagh to intercede (Finnerty states that Bodkin was "vested with the power of king's prerogative and that meant that he could reprieve a condemned man from the gallows.")
While Bodkin's intercession did not result in Gibbons's release, his sentence was reduced to transportation to Australia.
According to Finerty "Thunderbolt's release was secured as a result, and with a well-lined wallet, he sailed for the United States where he was joined and greeted by comrades and exiles in general to enter on a career of success until his death when he died a wealthy man."