In Dublin, at the time when O’Hanlon was about fifty years old, the authorities were out to get him and there were posters around the town offering a reward to anyone with information that would lead to his capture. The militia were out to find him, but it seems that he had a tough and numerous gang with him and it would have taken a considerable force of men to take him. The turning point, something that spurred the authorities to more determined attitudes and actions, was the murder of James Butler, Duke of Ormonde, in 1679. But, as with many tales of past villains, his downfall came from his own kin, his brother killing him in his sleep. This was near Hilltown, County Armagh, in 1681.