brutal irish murders

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BRUTAL IRISH MURDERS Special EDITION Issue 2 True Crime Stories From All Over Ireland Woman burned alive in Donegal Man murdered on his wedding day Family of five murdered in Galway Child starved to death because he could not be sold Judge weeps as he passes death sentence Woman tortured to death for being a witch AND MANY MORE

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A collection of true murder cases from all over Ireland

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Page 1: Brutal Irish Murders

BRUTAL IRISH

MURDERSSpecial

EDITIONIssue 2

True Crime Stories

From All Over Ireland

Woman burnedalive in Donegal

Man murdered onhis wedding day

Family of fivemurdered in

Galway

Child starved todeath because hecould not be sold

Judge weeps ashe passes death

sentence

Woman tortured to death for

being a witch

AND MANY MORE

Page 2: Brutal Irish Murders

Page 2 Ireland History Magazine

There is perhaps no more fruitful form of education than to

arouse the interest of a people in their own surroundings

The Ireland History Magazine is a bimonthly publication

compiled by the Glenravel Local History Project. It is just one

of several of our titles which aims to promote an interest in the

subject of local history. It has always been claimed that history

belongs of the higher classes and looking at the way it has been

presented for decades then this would seem to be the case. We

are not interested in the history of lords and earls, their estates and

titles, instead we are interested in the history of every day life.

The Glenravel Local History Project is a local historical scheme

based in the North Belfast area. It’s activities are centred around

the educational promotion and restoration of the areas historic

burying ground at Clifton Street and is named after the nearby

Glenravel Street which was destroyed to make way for the

disastrous Westlink road system.

The Ireland History Magazine is not funded by any grant making

body and is entirely funded by you - the reader. Its profits are

not used for personal gain but for the continuing work of the

overall scheme. We welcome advertising from tourist attractions

and tour companies so if you run one of these you could be

advertising here with a full colour advertisement costing as little

as €150 and no that is not a typing error! E-Mail us the address

below for details.

Our members are fully committed to the promotion of our local

and factual history. Quite regularly we travel the country visiting

historical sites and collecting stories of a local historical interest.

Because of this we often use material which is the public domain

and go to great lengths to acknowledge those who own it so if we

have missed you - sorry. We also welcome stories from other

historians from throughout the country and pay up to €50 per story.

McSweeney Centre

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07738 297 131

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028 9035 1326

www.irelandhistorymagazine.com

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Page 3: Brutal Irish Murders

Ireland History Magazine Page 3

THE TRAGIC DEATH OF NANCY FERRY IN DONEGAL

Bella McIlwaine, a 35 year-

old woman from Lunagh,

Donegal, was indicted for that

she, on 13th June 1888, at

Lunagh, in County Donegal,

did feloniously, wilfully and of

malice aforethought, kill and

murder one Nancy Ferry.

Her trial was scheduled for

December 14th 1888 at

Donegal, the prisoner being

held until then in Derry Gaol.

Mr Gerard Q.C. and Mr Irvine

Q.C. represented the Crown

and Mr Gaussen represented

the prisoner. Bella McIlwaine

pleaded not guilty.

Mr Gerard in stating the case

for the prosecution said that as

the jury had heard from the

Clerk of the Crown, the charge

against the prisoner was that

she murdered Nancy Ferry, an

elderly woman, somewhere

around sixty-seven years of

age. She was a delicate, small

woman and resided in a village

called Lunagh, in one of the

wildest districts of Donegal.

The deceased lived alone in a

little cabin containing only one

room and the prisoner resided

about sixty-five or seventy

yards from her. The first that

was known of the occurrence

which resulted in Ferry’s death

was upon the evening of the

13th June and the first

intimation that something had

happened were cries on the

road - the cries of this poor

woman some time around eight

or nine o’clock. Two witnesses

were examined to depose to

that fact. They proved that

when they came up they found

her sitting on the road. Her

clothes were on fire, not

blazing but smouldering and

she was in a very mutilated

condition. Besides the fire on

the poor woman’s breast she

had wounds on her head. The

neighbours came and

extinguished the fire and while

they were so engaged the

prisoner, Bella McIlwaine,

appeared upon the scene,

coming from the direction of

her own house, having already

passed the residence of the

deceased.

Patrick and Daniel McGarvey

were examined and they

claimed that as soon as Nancy

Ferry saw McIlwaine she

blamed her for what had

happened. McIlwaine at once

exclaimed “Heavens, how

could that be? I have two

witnesses to prove that I was

not there at all.”

Ferry in a very weak condition

was taken to her cabin. She

lingered on until the month of

August, when she succumbed

to her injuries. On the day after

the occurrence Bella

McIlwaine was arrested and

brought before Ferry. Ferry

could only speak Irish, but a

person was there to translate

what she said and on this

occasion also the deceased

repeated the charge she had

made against the accused. She

said that McIlwaine came into

her house while the poor

woman was upon her knees

praying. She had observed a

stone in her hand and she

claimed that when McIlwaine

realised that she was

alone“Are she rushed upon her

and struck her several blows on

the head. McIlwaine first

pulled her to the ground and

repeatedly beat her about the

head, until she thought that she

was dead. Leaving her on the

floor, the accused went out by

the back door but she allegedly

returned shortly afterwards. It

was then that she seized the

poor old woman, dragged her

over to the fire and crushed her

Her clothes were on fire, not

blazing but smouldering and she

was in a very mutilated condition.

Page 4: Brutal Irish Murders

Page 4 Ireland History Magazine

on to it. She pushed her hand

into the fire and took some of

the burning coals and put them

on the old woman’s bosom

under her clothes. When these

depositions were made to the

police McIlwaine said that the

old woman must be drunk and

if a search was made for the

bottle it would be found to

contain whiskey, suggesting

that what had happened had

been the result of drunkenness

- that the drunk old woman had

fallen into the fire. No traces

of drink were found in the

house or upon the old woman.

Nancy Ferry insisted that

McIlwaine was to blame for

the assault and she restated

how she grabbed both her

hands and pressed both her

arms into the fire.

Nancy Ferry claimed that she

managed to get up off the fire

and tried as best she could to

quench the the fire, but the

more she tried the worse it got.

After McIlwaine was arrested

however a search was made of

her house. Among certain

articles which were taken away

by the police was an apron,

stained with blood. At the trial

the jury heard how

McIlwaine's cruelty had

continued for years. A sheep

of Bella McIlwaine had

trespassed on her corn about

five years previous and when

she went to complain to her

about it McIlwaine struck her

on the head with a stone and

also attacked her dog and

disabled it. Some things had

happened between them since

that occasion. The previous

winter a pit of potatoes were

stolen from Ferry and some

small ones were left in their

place. Nancy Ferry did not

accuse McIlwaine of stealing

them but she was suspicious of

her cruel neighbour.

From the testimony which was

presented to the jury counsel

thought the jury must decide

that a murder had been

committed and it would be

their duty to decide whether the

prisoner at the bar was

responsible for the death of this

old woman, Nancy Ferry.

The jury, after an hour and a

half deliberation, returned with

a verdict of guilty.

SENTENCE OF DEATH

PRONOUNCED ON THE

ACCUSED

The Clerk of the Crown asked

if the the prisoner had anything

to say why sentence should not

be pronounced on her?

Prisoner - I have nothing to say.

I am as clear as God of the

murder.

His Lordship in passing

sentence said, Bella McIlwaine,

during the greater part of the day

the Court has been occupied in

trying this serious charge

brought against you. The jury

have listened to the case with the

greatest patience, care and

attention. You have been

defended by a very capable

advocate and I believe that not

a single thing that could be said

on your behalf has been left

unsaid. This jury has found you

guilty of the wilful murder of a

neighbour of yours whom you

must have known for years.

The prisoner was sentenced to

death, the execution to be

carried out on January 4th at

Derry Jail 1889. A

reccomendation to mercy was

asked to be considered on the

woman’s behalf since there had

been some ill-feeling between

the prisoner and the deceased

which was not brought out in the

case.

Bella McIlwaine was saved

from the hangman at the last

moment.

She then lifted the

tongs and put coals

into her dress and

set it on fire. She

then put a large

coal inside her

clothes on her

breast and another

on her back. She

then left the house

leaving the poor

woman on fire.

Page 5: Brutal Irish Murders

Ireland History Magazine Page 5

Page 6: Brutal Irish Murders

Page 6 Ireland History Magazine

O n Sunday evening,

September 18th 1853,

a startling and dreadful event

took place in a well-known

house of disrepute in French

Street, Dublin. A gentleman

attempted to take the life of a

girl living in the house at

number 27 French Street and

them immediately afterwards

committed suicide.

It appears that shortly after

four o’clock, some boys

playing near the house which

was kept by a person calling

herself ‘Fanny Stuart’, were

startled by the sharp report of

a pistol shot, immediately

followed by the scream of a

woman and shortly after a

second shot was heard. The

boys were greatly alarmed

and ran to alert the local

policeman who quickly

attended the scene. As he

was admitted to the house he

was told that both shots had

been fired by a gentleman

who was then in the back

bedroom and when the

constable entered the room

he was horrified to see the

body of a man stretched at

full length on the floor and

bleeding from a chest wound.

The man was already dead

and a portion of his shirt

ATTEMPTED MURDER AND SUICIDE IN DUBLINaround the wound and the left

collars of his waistcoat were

on fire. It appeared as if the

muzzle of the pistol had been

quite close to the man’s chest

when fired.

The girl who was with him

and who he had been trying

to kill before taking his own

life, was found lying on a sofa

in the drawing room,

bleeding from several

wounds, inflicted by small

shot, scattered over her right

side, from the temple to the

knee, and her dress was blood

stained.

The injured girl, Emma

Fawcett, was taken to

hospital but she was not

seriously wounded. She did

however make a statement on

her discharge, which showed

how miraculous her escape

from death really was.

She stated that she left the

man sitting in the bedroom to

go down to the drawing room

and had been absent for a

short time when she heard

him calling for her. She went

out and found him standing

on the landing looking down

at her and she started to climb

the stairs when he stepped

forward with a pistol in his

right hand and instantly fired

at her. The charge, which

appeared to have been of

small shot, struck her in a

downwards direction and she

immediately turned and

rushed back into the drawing

room shouting,’I am shot’

and then fainted.

The man had been living with

Emma Fawcett since the end

of August and had seldom left

the house since then. On the

31st August he had gone to

the King’s Bridge Terminus

for some suitcases he had left

there and then a few days

later more luggage arrived,

including a large trunk, which

had never been opened in the

house.

The mysterious dead man

appeared to have a

considerable sum of money,

which he spent in the most

lavish manner, purchasing for

all the females in the house

and particularly for Emma

Fawcett, clothes, jewellery

and even an accordion. Not

withstanding his great

extravagance, he left after

him a bag filled with

sovereigns, which was found

in a closet off his bedroom by

Page 7: Brutal Irish Murders

Ireland History Magazine Page 7

the police. The man said his

name was Webster and that he

was a veterinary surgeon,

attached to the Queens

establishment, and

subsequently stated that he

had been some time in

Australia. The proprietor of

the house, "Fanny", stated that

the man was never drunk and

was of good nature but Emma

Fawcett told the police that

the man was scarcely ever

sober and that during his last

two days, he was constantly

intoxicated and was becoming

quite insane in his conduct

and manner.

When his room was searched

the police found on the

dressing room table several

pistols and beside them a bag

of bullets, together with a

quantity of powder. A

considerable quantity of

gentlemans clothing, of the

best style and quantity was

lying about. The man’s

identity however remains a

mystery to this very day,

despite the police placing

advertisements in newspapers

with his description.

At the inquest evidence was

heard that the man was in a

state of delirium tremens

when he committed suicide

and attempted to kill Emma

Fawcett. The sum of £108, a

gold watch, gold chains, some

business cards of Mr Watson,

a wine merchant of Alston,

and a veterinary surgeons

knife were found in the room.

There was also a gun case, on

the side of which was a

written card, Robert Webster,

passenger to Dublin. He was

only 35 years of age although

he looked much older, as

though he had had a life of

hardship or dissipation. He

had lost most of his teeth, and

wore a wig as he had been in

hospital and his head had been

shaved. He had a small

miniature of himself in a

Morocco leather case, which

was a faithful likeness of the

man.

The jury found that the man

had attempted to kill Miss

Fawcett and that he had taken

his own life while in a

delirious state.

The Kings Bridge Terminus

True Irish Crime ReportsDublin City Commission, March 1881

A TASTE FOR GOLD JEWELLERYJames Byrne, alias James White, was convicted of

attempting to steal a locket, the property of Francis

Lynch, Great Brunswick Street. There were three

previous convictions against the prisoner for stealing a

gold watch, a gold chain and a gold locket. He was

sentenced to five years penal servitude. When sentence

was pronounced a female ran shrieking out of the gallery.

Page 8: Brutal Irish Murders

Page 8 Ireland History Magazine

THE PALMERSTOWN MURDEROn the 9th June 1865 on the county boundary

of Meath and Dublin the body of a young

woman named Margaret Farquhar was found

in a ditch by the side of the road. There was no

doubt that she had been murdered as her body

was beaten and bruised and her death had been

a violent one.

On the evening she was murdered Margaret

Farquhar left her brothers house, where she

lived, and went to the local shop Shelvey’s to

get some tobacco for her brother but did not

return. She was seen leaving the shop at around

eight o’clock by a Mr Fitzpatrick and then the

last person to see her was her killer Patrick

Kilkenny.

Patrick Kilkenny had known Margaret for

around twelve years and they used to go to

dances, races and fairs together, and were well

known in the area. They had a tempestuous

relationship and Margaret would get jealous of

Patrick paying attention to other girls. Nine

months before her death Margaret agreed to

marry Patrick but kept putting it off saying that

they did not have enough money and that they

had to save. Two weeks before the murder the

couple had a quarrel on the road and Patrick

pushed her into a ditch and she got wet but there

was no further violence. They had argued about

their plans to go to America and Patrick said

that he would go without her.

A couple of days later they met up again and

this time they attended a fair at Rathcath where

they intended buying calves. They remained

at the fair dancing and drinking for six hours

but later Margaret told Patrick that she had

found someone else, a rich baker from

Garristown, and that she had no more need for

Patrick. They apparently parted on good terms

with Patrick saying he would go to America on

his own.

The next meeting of the couple was on the day

of the murder. They bumped into each other

outside Shelvey's where they were both buying

tobacco. Margaret told him about a letter she

had received from a suitor in America. He had

sent her a photograph and some money to buy

a watch and it was obvious that she was trying

to make Patrick jealous. She asked him to wait

for her as she went home with her brother’s

tobacco. As she was leaving he trod on the tail

of her coat by accident and Margaret got very

angry and began calling Patrick the devil, and

she shouted that she was fond of him but would

never look at him again.

Patrick Kilkenny snapped and hit her with his

shut hand on the neck and the breast. Margaret

tumbled into the ditch near which she was

standing. There were about two or three feet of

mud and water in the ditch and she fell into it

head first. Patrick jumped in after her and as

he was lifting her she began to scream. At the

same time Patrick could hear noise coming from

the road and he heard the voices of Margaret’s

sister Kitty and her fried Biddy Monaghan

coming up the road with about six people.

Patrick tried again to lift Margaret but she gave

a screech and he let her drop again on her head

into the ditch.

Patrick jumped out of the ditch and sat down

and smoked, to wait and see if any one would

come and take her up or assist her. He thought

Margaret was lying still out of spite, to make

him believe she was dead. The crowd passed

Page 9: Brutal Irish Murders

Ireland History Magazine Page 9

and Patrick continued to smoke until they were

out of sight. When he returned he could not

find Margaret at first, but she had not gone far,

but this time he found her in the ditch with the

water over her head.

Patrick then decided that she was dead and he

went home and changed his clothes, dressed

again and went back to the ditch. About an hour

had elapsed from his first meeting with

Margaret at eight o’clock. Patrick sat with her

all night watching as people walked past

unaware that the body of a young woman was

lying there dead. Her sister and her friends

walked past at 10 o’clock and at eleven o’clock

Patrick Kilkenny decided to tell someone what

had happened. He walked to the home of the

Fitzpatrick’s where they began to talk about

Margaret. Patrick told Mr Fitzpatrick that he

had killed her but he did not believe him.

Patrick then went down to the ditch to see

Margaret but she was quite cold by now and so

he stayed with her for another two hours, and

when it was sunrise he caught a lift to Dublin

with a dairy car. He drank in a few pubs in

Dublin before going to Jervis Street to meet a

Police Constable Maguire and he told him what

had happened.

On June 24th 1865 Patrick Kilkenny was tried

for the murder of Margaret Farquhar. The

evidence was overwhelming and the jury took

just 15 minutes to return a guilty verdict with a

recommendation to mercy on the grounds that

the murder was committed in an unprecedented

manner; while the prisoner was labouring under

a fit of jealousy. However Patrick Kilkenny

was sentenced to be hanged on July 20th 1865

at Kilmainham Gaol. Thousands gathered to

see the hanging of Patrick Kilkenny and over

100 police officers attended to keep the peace.

A maniac kills his sister

and attempts suicideOn Sunday 6th of May 1895, considerable pain

was caused in the neighbourhood of Westport

by the news that Patrick Louden, the young

son of Mr John J Louden B.L., of Killedagan

House, had attacked his sister with a razor,

cutting her throat and inflicting injuries from

which she died two hours afterwards. It would

appear that at about midday the poor fellow

(who has been in a very melancholy mood for

some days past) while at his uncle’s residence,

Deer Park, was seized by a homicidal mania,

and taking up a knife attacked his uncle Mr

George Louden, who was with him. The uncle

however managed to knock the knife out of

the maniac’s hand and escaped uninjured. The

maniac procuring a razor, rushed from the

house and attacked and killed a dog. He then

ran off in the direction of his father’s house,

and on the way, cut the head off a goose at

Killedangan. He met his little sister, aged

about eleven, and immediately attacked her

with the razor, inflicting a terrible wound

across her throat. The unfortunate boy

continued on his way in the direction of

Cloona, and after having stabbed a pig there

turned the razor upon himself and inflicted a

ghastly wound, extending from the left ear to

the windpipe. The police having received the

alarm went in search of the youth and found

him lying a few yards from the main road at

Cloona. Dr Johnston of Westport was

promptly on the scene. After getting the

maniac removed to Killedangan House he

drove there himself and attended to the poor

little girl, whose case however, was hopeless,

and who, as already stated, died within two

hours of the attack upon her.

Patrick Louden was subsequently removed to

the union hospital and later convictied to a

lunatic asylum where he spent the rest of his

life.

Page 10: Brutal Irish Murders

Page 10 Ireland History Magazine

THE WEDDING AND MURDER OF THOMAS THOMPSON

I t is not often that one hears

the account of a man who

was murdered on his wedding

day but this is what happened

to Thomas Thompson of

Knocknamuckly, a village

three miles from Lurgan. It

was March 1888 and Thomas

Thompson was a respectable

master spinner employed in the

local linen mill at Gilford. This

would have been an important

job in 1888 and although

Thomas Thompson was only

twenty-five he had been a

widower for just over a year.

On the 2nd March he was to

marry a local girl named Miss

Fanny Jane Moffatt whose

father was a farmer from

Lisnamintry, which was

situated in the locality.

The weddings in the nineteenth

century were small affairs and

the bride and bridegroom were

usually accompanied by a

small group of friends who

made up the wedding party. As

the wedding party began to

walk up the aisle of the village

church the bridegroom passed

a pew where a young man was

sitting. To the horror of the

wedding party this young man

drew a revolver from under his

clothing and fired it at point

blank range at the bridegroom,

Thomas Thompson.

The female members of the

wedding party, Mary Ann

Moffatt, sister of the bride,

Fanny Jane Moffatt, the bride,

and Margaret Dillworth fled

down the aisle to escape the

gunman and the clergyman, the

Rev Oates, stood transfixed on

the alter. Although Thomas

Thompson was wounded he

fell on to the gunman and a

struggle took place for the gun.

The groomsmen began to beat

the gunman until the gun was

released and the Rev. Oates

who had pulled himself

together grabbed the gun and

made it safe. Thomas

William Thompson

Page 11: Brutal Irish Murders

Ireland History Magazine Page 11

Thompson fell the ground and

the gunman left the church and

made his way out to the

graveyard where he walked

among the tombstones and it

was here that he was arrested

shortly after the shooting. He

made no attempt to escape.

It quickly became apparent that

the gunman was known to

Thomas Thompson and was in

fact his brother in law, William

Thompson who was the

brother of Thomas

Thompson’s first wife.

Meanwhile Thomas Thompson

was removed from the church

and when the doctors arrived

to help him they discovered

that the bullet had perforated

his lung and although he fought

for his life for almost twenty-

four hours Thomas Thompson

died from the injuries he

received. It was reported that

on his deathbed when William

Thompson was brought before

him he said:

Oh, Will, I did not think you

would have done this to me; but

I am dying, and I forgive you.

William Thompson was then

charged with the murder of his

brother-in-law Thomas

Thompson and sent for trial at

the Armagh Assizes. In a twist

to the tale William Thompson’s

mother Elizabeth Thompson

was also charged initially with

inciting her son to commit the

murder however this charge

was later dropped.

The jury at the inquest into the

murder returned a verdict that

"the deceased came to his death

from the effects of a bullet

wound caused by a shot fired

by William Thompson". The

jury could not decide whether

William Thompson was insane

at the time of the murder but

they were absolutely sure that

he had committed the murder.

At the trial of William

Thompson evidence was heard

from members of the wedding

party including the bride who

confirmed that she had been

engaged to the deceased man

since Christmas of 1887 and

the accused William

Thompson who conducted

some of his own defence

suggested to her that her future

husband had been seeing other

woman while he was engaged

to her. No evidence was

brought before the court to

substantiate this.

However evidence was given

that William Thompson had

purchased a gun and that he

had spoken about the

impending marriage believing

it to be a bad marriage for his

brother-in-law Thomas and his

sister child. He felt that the

bride to be, Fanny Moffatt, was

from a bad family. William

Thompson's defence at the

assizes, Mr George Hill Smith,

attempted to have the charge

reduced to manslaughter but

the judge would not allow it

and directed the jury that they

must consider the charge of

murder. The jury retuned after

only 10 minutes and found the

accused guilty. His lordship

asked William Thompson if he

wish to say anything before he

passed sentence and this is a

brief account of his speech in

court;

Every time that this man’s

name (Thomas Thompson) was

mentioned I could not

overcome my feelings…. he

was married to my sister and

he told many things to her

which were not proper, and

charged her with

unfaithfulness towards him.

Those things, I believe, were

the curse of bringing the

disease upon her, and the effect

this had upon her mind was the

cause of her death. I was

greatly attached to her…I have

nothing more to say, my lord,

and I know that I deserve

death.

The judge agreed and

sentenced him to be hanged by

the neck at the common place

of execution on the 8th August

1888.

Page 12: Brutal Irish Murders

Page 12 Ireland History Magazine

E ight month old William McKeown, was

the illegitimate child of Mary Faulkner and

William McKeown. McKeown lived with his

wife at number 3 Newtownards Road, Belfast,

and shortly after the birth of her child Mary

Faulkner called here and gave the child to

McKeown telling him that she did not want it

and was off to America. McKeown took the

child and after a short period the whole matter

began to cause problems with his present family.

Not knowing how to resolve the problem

McKeown was told about a woman who lived

in Holywood who took unwanted children in

return for a weekly payment. Eliza Camock was

a cripple who lived in High Street, Holywood.

She was unmarried and had, living with her,

several young children who were unwanted by

their parents. In return she received a weekly

payment of 3s. 6d. for each of the children, all

of whom were illegitimate. McKeown took his

young son to this woman in April 1884, and

agreed to meet her terms. In October 1884, a

woman called to Camock's house and told her

that she was to be married to McKeown and

that she was there to collect the child. The child

was handed over and the woman took it away.

The following day the woman returned and gave

the child back to Camock telling her that

William McKeown will be collecting it.

McKeown never called and no payments were

made afterwards. Camock, not getting any

money for this child, refused to feed it and only

gave it occasional scraps left by the other

children and a small drink of milk in the

mornings and evenings. The woman who called

was lying to Camock, she was there to collect

the child in order to sell it. McKeown had

arranged to sell the child to a sea captain whose

wife wished to adopt a young boy. This plan

CHILD STARVED TO DEATH BECAUSE HE COULD NOT BE SOLDwas quashed when the child was deemed unfit

by a doctor. The woman, now having an

`unsalable' child, returned it to Camock and

McKeown was now stuck with the 'problem.'

The child continued to be kept at Camock's

house and in addition to the constant neglect

the woman was also poisoning it with small

doses of laudanum.

Martha May was a nurse for the sick poor in

Holywood. On the 3rd of November 1884, she

was passing Camock's house when she heard a

young child constantly crying inside. The nurse

knew Camock and was aware how she earned

her money but she was powerless to do anything

about it. She went to the door and demanded to

see the child in order to see what was wrong

with it. She examined the child and observed

that it was very ill and that it had strange sores

on its head. Mrs. May informed Camock that

the child was dying and that she should get a

doctor to look at it. Camock said that she would

and the nurse left. A few days later she returned

and asked Camock if she had got the doctor out

yet and was told that a doctor's line was obtained

but that the doctor had not been sent for yet.

On the 10th of November the nurse came back

to the house with two other ladies to see if the

Baby farming was a massive problem in

Victorian Ireland

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Ireland History Magazine Page 13

child was getting any better. They noticed that

the child's condition was getting worse and one

of the ladies lifted it out of its dirty bed to

examine it. Mrs. May then lifted a milking bottle

from the bed and found that the milk inside was

sour and totally undrinkable. She then seen a

bottle of laudanum and asked Camock if she

had been giving this to the child. Camock told

her that she had not and that it was for personal

use. The nurse then poured it out into the fire.

A doctor was sent for and shortly afterwards

Doctor Dunlop arrived. At the child's inquest

he told the coroner;

"I found the child in a comatose state, and

dreadfully emaciated with sores on various parts

of its body. I remarked at the time that Camock

was starving the child and poisoning it with

laudanum. There was no fat on its body, and it

was in that condition that it would have been

very unwise to allow it to remain in the charge

of the woman."

The child's father was sent for as well as the

police.

Constable Megrath was the first to arrive but

there was very little the police could do in the

case. When William McKeown arrived Dr.

Dunlop informed him that Camock was starving

the child and poisoning it but Mc Keown gave

the impression that he did not care. After some

discussion Mc Keown informed the constable

that he would take the child to his home. The

following day the child was dead. Mc Keown

and Camock were arrested the following

morning.

On Thursday 11th December, 1884, William

McKeown and Eliza Camock appeared in

Belfast Courthouse before Mr. Justice Murphy.

Both were charged with the manslaughter of

the child and both tried to blame the death of

the child on each other. McKeown stated that

the child was in the care of Camock who in

turn stated that McKeown had made no

payments for feeding it. After hearing the

evidence from the medical profession and the

police Judge Murphy told the jury;

"That between the two prisoners they let the

child die of starvation. Such was the clear

evidence of the doctor who told the Court of

emaciation, the result of starvation, sores and

filth, and one of the ordinary results of this

system of baby-farming."

The jury retired and after fifteen minute's

absence, found both prisoners guilty. Judge

Murphy, in passing sentence, said;

"Now McKeown and Camock, you have been

very justly convicted of this charge on very clear

evidence. You allowed the unfortunate child to

be starved to death by your neglect. You,

Camock, could have taken it to the workhouse,

or could have appealed to the ladies in

Holywood; and you, McKeown, could have

done the same. But it was evidently thought by

you better if it were out of the way, the sooner

it ceased to exist, you thought, all the better. I

don't know where the woman was, to take it to

who was to give it to the sea captain's wife, or

what she undertook to do with it provided she

was given a proper consideration, or who she

was. But it was unconventional to receive the

child back there again. We have the history of

the unfortunate little creature's suffering; they

must have been very great up to the time of its

death. This system of baby-farming - that is, of

providing for illegitimate children according to

the convenience or disposition of those who are

the means of their coming into the world - must

be put a stop to. I sentence each of you to

eighteen calendar months imprisonment, with

hard labour, for causing the death of this

unfortunate child."

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FAMILY OF FIVE MURDERED IN GALWAY

On the 17th August 1882

the murders at

Maamtrasna, near Galway,

shocked the people of Ireland

at the time and have continued

to interest Irish people all over

the world ever since.

The curiosity in this event lies

in the brutality of the murders

and also in the results of the

subsequent trial in December

1882.

Five members of one family

were killed – John Joyce of

Maamtrasna, his wife, his

daughter, his mother and his

son were all murdered and

another son was left critically

wounded and left with terrible

injuries for the rest of his life.

The police arrested ten men for

the murders, after they were

given information from other

members of the Joyce family,

Anthony, John and Johns son

Paddy, who were feuding with

their cousins who they named

as the murderers.

The men arrested were Myles

Joyce, his brothers Martin and

Paudeen, Paudeen's sons Tom

who were all from

Cappanacreha; Pat Casey,

Michael Casey and John

Casey, also of Cappanacreha;

Pat Joyce of Shanvalleycahill;

Tom Casey of Glensaul, and

Anthony Philbin of Cappaduff.

The three Joyce brothers and

Tom (Paudeen's son) were not

among the murder gang but

were named anyway out of

spite. Neither were Anthony

Philbin or John Casey in the

murder gang but four men, Pat

Joyce, Pat Casey, Tom Casey

and Michael Casey, admitted

later that they were there when

the murders took place.

At the trail two of the accused

agreed to give evidence for the

prosecution, confirming what

the Joyce informers had told

the police, to save their own

lives, even though they knew

that they were lying to the

court. They were Anthony

Philbin and Thomas Casey.

Pat Joyce, Pat Casey and

Myles Joyce pleaded not

guilty, were tried, found guilty

and sentenced to be hanged.

The other five accused were

persuaded by the local priest

from Clonbur to plead guilty to

the murders to save themselves

from the hangman’s noose.

One of the five, Michael Casey,

broke down and admitted that

he had been at Maamtrasna but

that the other four were not

there and neither was Myles

Joyce but these five were all

found guilty and sentenced to

be hanged but this was

appealed and the five received

life imprisonment.

Myles Joyce, Pat Joyce and Pat

Casey were hanged in Galway

Jail on the 15th December

Maamtrasna where the murders occured

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Ireland History Magazine Page 15

1882. Myles Joyce maintained

that he was innocent right to

the end and Pat Joyce and Pat

Casey tried in vain to have

Myles reprieved and they

admitted their part in the

murders as they went to the

hangman’s noose but stated

that Myles was innocent as was

his brothers Paudeen and

Martin, Paudeen's son, Tom

Joyce, and John Casey.

Myles was very agitated on the

day of the hanging and when

Marwood the executioner

came to put the noose around

his neck he left Myles standing

for a few minutes with the

noose around his neck and

Myles got his arm caught in the

rope so when the men were

suspended Myles did not die

immediately and Marwood had

to use his foot to keep Myles

down as he struggled.

The jury at the inquest into the

hanged men were very

unhappy about why Myles

Joyce had been hanged despite

the insistence of the other men

that he was innocent, and also

that the authorities had not

dealt with his distress at the

hanging as he continued to

plead his innocence. They felt

that his involvement in the

murder had not been

investigated fully and also felt

that the manner in which he

had died was one which the

court should address but the

coroner refused to answer their

questions and told them that

this was not their concern and

that they only had to decide on

how the men had died. Their

verdict was that Myles Joyce

had died of strangulation and

that Pat Joyce and Pat Casey

died from fractures of the neck

due to hanging.

In 1884 Tom Casey of

Glensaul who had been granted

immunity by the crown made

a full confession in

Tourmakeady Church, in front

of the bishop, that he had lied

in the court and that Myles

Joyce was innocent and that the

men who had been imprisoned

were also innocent.

Many people tried to get the

case reopened such as

Archbishop McEvilly and then

the case was taken up by Tim

Harrington M.P., Parnell and

the Irish Party fought long and

hard in the British House of

Commons to have justice done

for these poor men but all

attempts failed and ultimately

the Government in England

fell due to their refusal to

reopen the Maamtrasna case.

Tom Casey died a violent death

a few years later in America but

it is a dramatic part of our

history of how a murder in a

small remote village in the

west of Ireland could have such

significant consequences in the

parliament in England.

This story tells us much of

what life was like in rural areas

of Ireland at that time, the

terrible murders, how easy it

was for the men to give false

evidence, the distrust of the

local people of the crown and

its officers, the hanging of an

innocent man, the suppression

of vital evidence so that the

police could be seen to have

punished the perpetrators and

the forcing of innocent men to

plead guilty, and the

subsequent imprisonment of

these men, the admitting of

perjury by a crown witness and

the refusal by the government

of the time to reopen the case

and have justice done.

The case still generates

interest to this very day

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"Two charges from a shotgun into his

shoulders resulted in the death of a thirty

year old farmer, John McDermott, who

was found shot at the gateway of his

house at Rosmoylan, seven miles from

Roscommon and two miles from the

village of Cregg, shortly before 1 o’clock

this morning.

Hearing the shots, McDemotts brother

and sister, with whom he lived, ran out

from the house to the gate, about thirty

yards away, where they found the man

dying. The wounds were apparently

caused by the discharge from a double-

barrelled shotgun.

McDermott was unmarried and was well

known in the Cregg district."

This was the report published in the Irish

Times on Monday, September 5th 1932.

Shortly after the report was published

Patrick McDermott, the brother of the

victim, was arrested and charged with the

murder of his brother.

On the night of the shooting John

McDermott left his home with a man

named John Timothy who was engaged

to Kate McDermott. On his way back he

was shot dead at his own gate and the

body was left on the road way all night.

The State submitted that Patrick

McDermott with deliberate and malicious

aforethought perpetrated the crime of

murder – that he was lying in wait for his

brother and that he borrowed a gun for

this express purpose and he shot him

down in cold blood as he came in through

his own gate.

ROSSCOMMON MAN HANGED FOR THE MURDER OF HIS OWN BROTHER

On the 3rd of September Patrick

McDermott borrowed a gun and three

cartridges from Michael Connolly,

remarking that the crows were destroying

the oat crop. He came into his house at

9pm and John came in shortly afterwards.

Patrick borrowed some tobacco from

John and then went out of the house and

went to the house of Ellen Ward. Patrick

returned to the house at 11.30 pm, leaving

shortly afterwards and then a few minutes

later two shots rang out on the roadway

outside the McDermott’s house.

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Ireland History Magazine Page 17

Kate McDermott went out to investigate

the noise and bumped into her brother

Patrick who asked her if she had heard

any shots. He then set off to find out what

had happened when he shouted out to his

sister, "Jack is shot down by the road. He

is dead, I shook him and there is no life

in him". Kate and Patrick set off to get

help but their closest neighbour Nora

Ward was not around so Patrick set off

for another neighbour but instead went

to the Connolly house looking for

Michael. A short time later the police

arrived at the McDermott cottage.

The police immediately began to collect

evidence from the scene. The dead mans

clothes were collected and pieces of cloth

gathered from the murder scene included

stained rags. A lead pellet was found

embedded in a beech tree and it was

reported at the time that Patrick shed no

tears for his brother at the funeral, which

was brought to the court as evidence of

Patrick’s guilt. At the four day trial over

47 witnesses were called and evidence

was heard about Patrick borrowing a gun

from his neighbour Michael Connolly

and the defence stated that many people

in the area knew that John McDermott

carried money on his person and that he

could easily be a victim of robbery.

The judge summed up the evidence in

directing the jury. The judge said that

among the Irish there was a land hunger

that led to many crimes. The dead mans

father had forty acres of land, proved to

worth about £700. John McDermott had

been left the farm and the other children;

Kate and Patrick had received £100 each.

Patrick had wanted to go to America and

it was suggested to the jury that this was

a motive so that the farm could be shared

between two siblings only. Opposed to

this motive the court had heard evidence

from several local people who visited the

McDermott house and all said that the

family got along well and were great

friends as well as siblings. The judge also

made reference to the fact that neither

Patrick nor Kate had sought a priest for

their brother and that they had also

delayed in calling the police. It was

thought that John McDermott had died a

slow death, bleeding to death at his own

gate, when perhaps medical help could

have been sought earlier. However the

Judge urged the jury to give Patrick

McDermott the benefit of any reasonable

doubt.

The jury retired for over three hours

before returning with the verdict of guilty

of murder. Patrick McDermott stated that

he was not guilty and the date of

execution was set for December 15th.

Over 100 people were outside Mountjoy

Prison when the official notice of the

execution was posted on the gate a few

minutes after eight o’clock. A small

protest also took place outside the prison

when a number of men and women

carried banners stating "British hangman

destroys Irishman. Abolish the system

and abolish crime. Pierpoint the British

hangman, hangs Irishman, Is this

justice?".

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They say that fact is stranger

than fiction and when it comes

to Belfast’s history this is

certainly the case. One aspect

of this history is the Crumlin

Road Prison and the events

which occurred there over its

long history. For example how

many people are aware that the

first person hanged there was

done so in a military uniform

by an executioner in a convicts

uniform? Very few I assume.

The story began on the 22nd

August 1853 in one of the

common rooms of the Belfast

Infantry Barracks, Private

Robert Henry O’Neill wreaked

a horrible revenge on Corporal

Robert Brown.

Both men were stationed at the

Barracks at the time, being

members of the 1st Battalion

of the 12th (East

Worcestershire) Regiment of

Foot. Corporal Brown had

earlier put Private O’Neill on

report for a minor misconduct.

Between eight and nine

o’clock that same evening,

when several soldiers,

including the ill-fated corporal,

were assembled in the Barrack

room, Private O’Neill

deliberately raised his musket

and fired at his victim as he was

writing at the table. As O’Neill

tried to flee from the scene, he

was arrested.

JUDGE WEEPS AS HE PASSES DEATH SENTENCEThe following day a verdict of

wilful murder was found

against him by a coroners jury.

The trial came on at the Spring

Assizes for County Antrim

before Sergeant Howley, and

the result was that he was

ordered for execution on May

5th 1854. The defence counsel,

Mr. Ferguson, having in the

course of the trial, raised two

points of law in O’Neill’s

favour - one relating to the

constitution of the jury, and the

other to the omission of certain

words in the sentence of the

judge - these points were

argued in Error before the

Judges of the Queen’s Bench

in Dublin.

Successive reprieves finally

ended with a verdict of guilty.

It was reported at the time that

when the dreadful moment

came for the judge to don the

black cap and pass the death

sentence tears were streaming

down his face and his apparent

unease and grief was equally

matched by O’Neill’s

convulsive sobbing as he was

supported by warders in the

dock.

The convict was returned to the

condemned cell and three

priests visited to comfort and

console him. On the morning

of his execution he expressed

his desire to be executed in his

military uniform, stating that it

would completely unnerve him

to appear before the crowds in

his grave clothes. This request

was subsequently complied

with.

Crowds began to assemble at

the gaol from an early hour. By

twelve noon it was estimated

that the crowd numbered no

fewer than twenty thousand.

The throngs covered the road,

the fields adjoining, and every

eminence in the

neighbourhood, from which

even the most imperfect view

of the scaffold could be

obtained.

The final moment for O’Neill’s

execution arrived and a

melancholy procession moved

towards the gallows. The

hangman led the procession,

next was O’Neill, his face and

neck covered with the dreaded

white hood, his arms pinioned

behind his back and supported

by his clergymen. He was

helped up the step ladder to the

drop. As the hangman came

into view, there was a sudden

thrill in the crowd, as though

the multitude had been awed

by the scene for the first time.

On this occasion however it

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Ireland History Magazine Page 19

was noted that the actual

hangman, even though his

identity was hidden by a crepe

hood, his prison garb was plain

to be seen. He was himself a

prisoner at Belfast Prison,

having been sentenced to three

successive terms of

imprisonment by the

magistrates for assaults

committed during his stay in

Belfast.

The crowd began murmuring

when O’Neill appeared on the

scaffold and his prayers along

with those of the clergy could

be heard resounding off the

prison walls. When everything

was ready the hangman

withdrew the bolt. The drop

fell. The sharp chucking of the

cord announcing to those

inside the descent of the

condemned man. The fall was

measured at eleven feet and

death was judged to have been

instantaneous, for the limbs

barely shrunk up and quivered

for a little while, the hands

grew black, and in less than a

minute the corpse was

motionless, except that it

swayed slightly to and fro with

the momentum of the fall. At

the fatal moment, a loud and

general scream went up from

the crowd. The cries and

wailing of the women were

reported to have been most

distressing and as the whole

scene occupied but a few

minutes the large crowds

quickly dispersed.

Victorian map of Belfast showing the Belfast Prison on the Crumlin Road

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Page 20 Ireland History Magazine

ARMAGH LOVERS HANGED TOGETHER

The crime of passion has

been committed

throughout history and today

this type of offence still attracts

the public’s attention through

magazines and newspapers.

Often the public has some

sympathy for an

unpremeditated act when it

involves love, marriage and

infidelity but when a murder is

committed with meticulous

planning there is little

sympathy from the press or the

public.

Such was the case in 1815

when Reid Mulholland was

beaten with a hatchet and then

had his throat cut and left to

die. He lived outside Armagh

in Hamiltonsbawn with his

wife Jane. His elderly father

lived in the house next door

and at this time was very ill and

confined to his bed. On

February 13th Reid

Mulholland had been to Belfast

on business and returned

exhausted to his home where

he retired almost immediately

to bed. His wife Jane stayed

up and a short time later a local

man Robert Edgar, with whom

she had been having an affair,

called to the house. The couple

went to her husband’s bedroom

where Robert Edgar proceeded

to attack Mulholland with a

hatchet on his head. When

Mulholland finally fell to the

floor Edgar picked him up,

dragged to his bed and then

took out a knife and slit his

throat. He calmly cleaned

himself up, took the weapons

and some money and made his

escape through a hole in the

house wall.

Jane Mulholland waited while

Edgar made his escape and

when she knew he would be

some distance away she ran to

her neighbours house shouting

that her husband had been

attacked by two robbers and

that he had been murdered.

Immediately suspicion fell on

Jane Mulholland and her lover

Robert Edgar as many people

in this small community were

aware of their affair. A search

was made of Edgar’s property

and there the police found the

axe that he had borrowed from

his neighbour Ann Cully, and

a gun that he had stolen from

Mulholland was found buried

in his garden.

The authorities approached

Jane Mulholland and offered

her immunity from prosecution

if she would give evidence

against Edgar but she refused

as advised by her legal counsel.

He had told Edgar and Jane

Mulholland if they stuck to

their plea of innocent that they

would not be convicted. How

wrong this advice was and it

cost Jane Edgar her life. Jane

Mulholland under pressure

confessed to the crime and told

how Robert had actually done

the killing although the murder

plan had been discussed by

them both a long time before

the murder. They were both

charged with the murder of

Reid Mulholland and the

callousness of their crime

became apparent when

evidence against them was

given in court. The jury heard

how Edgar had visited the dead

mans father and read from the

bible to comfort him just days

before he carried out the

dreadful and brutal murder.

The couple had meticulously

planned all aspects of their

crime and in court Jane

Mulholland was chastised by

the judge not only for the

murder of her husband but also

for her infidelity. It was also

discovered that Jane

Mulholland had called for

Edgar to shave the head of her

dead husband before he was

interred.

The crime was described at the

time as "a foul, black and

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Ireland History Magazine Page 21

deliberate crime" and Jane

Mulholland actions as "having

burst asunder the strongest

bonds of God and nature and

violated every obligation

known to society, virtue and

religion".

The jury took just seven hours

to pronounce a verdict of guilty

for both defendants and the

judge, Hon. Baron McClelland

on passing sentence of death on

the pair said;

It is not the purpose of

distressing or afflicting your

minds, that I have thus

addressed you both. To me it

has proved a painful task. (the

judge became distressed and

agitated at this point). But it is

for the purpose of impressing

you with the enormity of your

guilt, in the sight of God to lead

you to seek that mercy in

another world, which the

injured laws of your country

deny you in this. Your time in

life is now very short, for the

law of this land, holding such

a crime as your’s in the utmost

abhorrence, appoints the

sentence of death to be carried

into execution within the space

of forty-eight hours after the

prisoner has been found guilty.

You therefore, the day after

tomorrow shall be lopped off

from society as a withered

injurious branch. Go prostrate

yourself before the throne of

Gods grace and ask

forgiveness, through the merits

and death of our Lord Jesus

Christ, the only redeemer.

Robert Edgar’s and Jane

Mulholland were both

executed by hanging in front of

the new jail at Armagh in the

presence of a huge crowd and

their bodies dissected

afterwards in July 1815. Just

before their execution the

couple made a full confession

to the brutal murder and both

appeared resigned to their fate.

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Page 22 Ireland History Magazine

In the early hours of 27th

November 1908 Thomas

Barden awoke with a start.

Someone was battering at his

front door pleading with him

to get up out of bed but by the

time Barden had got up there

was no one there. Barden was

completely wide awake by

now and he decided to go next

door to his neighbour Simon

Langtons to investigate the

matter further. As he went up

the lane to the Langton house

he saw that the lights were still

on and he could hear people

talking. As he got within

earshot he heard, "Where did

you fall? I did not touch you.

Who came in before me?"

Barden returned home without

going in thinking that perhaps

it was some family dispute and

he didn’t want to become

involved.

Later that day Thomas Barden

decided to visit the Langtons

house and went upstairs, where

he saw the dead body of Simon

Langton lying stretched out on

the floor. Barden was shocked

at the sight and realised that the

police had not yet been called.

The barracks at Cuffeagrange

outside Kilkenny were

informed and a Sergeant Tunny

came out to the house. An

examination of the deceased

SON MURDERS HIS OWN FATHER IN KILKENNYman was made and a noticeable

wound was found to his face.

The cut was across the

forehead and another over the

left eyebrow which suggested

that hair appeared to have been

pulled from the poor mans

face. The bed in the room had

been broken down and there

was considerable amount of

blood on the floor.

Immediately the police

arrested John Langton the dead

mans son and when cautioned

he denied any knowledge of his

fathers murder. The police

doctor found further wounds to

the dead mans throat such as

would be caused by the

pressure of fingers and nearly

all the ribs in the mans body

had been broken, probably due

to a man jumping on the

deceased’s body with his boots

on.

At the trial of John Langton for

his fathers’ murder the facts of

the case were briefly sketched

out by the Attorney General,

who concluded by saying that

this was a clear and convincing

case. There was no alternative,

no possibility of any other

suggestion, as to how this poor

man met his death, but that he

was deliberately killed at the

hands of the man in the dock,

the deceased’s son, John

Langton.

Mr O’Connell the local

publican gave evidence that

John Langton had arrived in his

shop looking for a drink at 5.00

p.m. but he refused him stating

that he had already had too

much to drink and he told the

court that he advised John

Langton to go home. Ellen

Hogan the Langtons servant

stated that she had seen Simon

Langton alive at around 6.00

p.m. on the 26th November

when she left him sitting by the

fire. There did not appear to

be anything unusual in his

demeanour and all was well.

The clothes, which John

Langton had been wearing,

were examined and his coat

found to be saturated in human

blood. The front of the legs of

his trousers were also covered

with blood and the ends were

so saturated with blood that, it

was in the opinion of Professor

McWeeney of Dublin, the

person wearing them must

have walked through a pool of

blood. It was also revealed in

court that the will of Simon

Langton instructed that £50

was to be given to each of his

daughters, Bridget and Annie

and that all his properties, two

farms and a house, were to be

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Ireland History Magazine Page 23

given to his son John Langton.

The prosecution felt they had

established a motive for the

murder.

The defence claimed that

Simon Langton had fallen from

bed and that an unknown

person had broken into the

house and attacked Simon

Langton as he lay sleeping,

however, they asked the jury

that if they came to the

conclusion that the injuries

were caused by John Langton

that they would consider that

the prisoner was not guilty of

murder, but of the lesser crime

of manslaughter. In other

words he did not deliberately

set out with murder in his mind

and that his fathers death

therefore resulted from a tragic

and violent confrontation. The

jury took just twenty minutes

to return a verdict of

manslaughter with a

recommendation to mercy.

The judge in sentencing John

to twenty years’ penal

servitude said that he would

have handed down a life

sentence had it not been for the

recommendation of the jury.

He said that there was not

doubt that the prisoner slew his

father and then went through

the country making the

pretence that it was some other

hand that his that took the life

of his father.

This was a crime which all

people did not want to believe,

the crime of wilful murder not

against a stranger, an enemy,

someone you have a grudge

against, but your own father, a

man whom all people believe

should be cherished, nourished

and sustained.

Page 24: Brutal Irish Murders

Page 24 Ireland History Magazine

On Wednesday, July 31st, 1895 the

inquest on the bodies of Mary Ellen

Bailey and Driver Denis Donovan, 67th

Field Battery, Royal Artillery, who were

found in the river Blackwater three weeks

previous was resumed and concluded. The

greatest excitement prevailed, as for some

time past it has been believed that the

deceased weere murdered and the evidence

today showed that this belief was fully

justified.

District-Inspector Ball represented the

Constabulary authorities, and Captain

Gubbins attended to watch the intrests of

the battery to which the deceased, Donovan

belonged.

Dr Williams deposed to making an

examination of the body of Donovan. There

werre two wounds on the head with great

effusion of blood underneath, showing that

great violence had been used. His face was

badly battered and he was either dead or

utterly insensible when thrown into the

water. Death was caused by syncope

resulting from concussion of the brain. The

girl Bailey had also been severely beaten

and had previously been outraged. She

scarcely breathed after being flung into the

river.

Dr Dilworth concurred with this evidence.

In his opinion the wounds on Donovan’s

head were probably caused by a kick from

a spur on a boot, but might have been caused

by a sharp stone or other instrument of a

like nature. Donovan’s wounds could not

have been inflicted by one person.

Agnes Cooke deposed that on the night of

the occurrence she met four artillerymen on

FERMOY MURDER MYSTERYthe bridge, who said, Good night, Polly,"

when passing, and used words to the effect

that they would "do" for him or it that night.

Thomas Shea deposed that at 11 o’clock on

the night of July 1st he heard a loud piercing

scream from a female and a few minutes

after, looking out of the window, he saw

four artillery soldiers coming out from the

direction from which the scream proceeded.

A number of military witnesses were

examined, but nothing important was

elicited.

Director Inspector Ball read a letter which

Donovan had written to his mother, in which

he stated his life was a misery to him and

appealing to her to get him out of the

artillery regiment.

Coroner Rice, having summed up at length,

the jury found a verdict that the deceased

were on the night of July 1st wilfully

murdered at Fermoy by some person or

persons unknown, and added a rider

commending District Inspector Ball for the

zeal and ability he displayed in prosecuting

the inquiry and Captain Gubbins for the

manner in which the Royal Artillery aided

the investigation. They also expressed their

dissatisfaction at the manner in which the

ajority of the military witnesses gave their

evidence.

District Inspector Ball said the constabulary

would continue to do their best in the matter.

He wished that some of the thirty or forty

persons who were up the river walking on

the night in question would come forward

and give the police information of what was

within their knowledge.

The brutal crime remained unsolved.

Page 25: Brutal Irish Murders

Ireland History Magazine Page 25

ARMAGH BABY DROWNED IN KITCHEN BOILER

On Tuesday, March 27th 1888 the daughter of the late Colonel Prior, who had been the commander of the military in Armagh, was

arrested and charged with the murder of a four-year-old child named Ann Slavin. Miss Belina Prior was arrested in her mother’s

house at Vicar’s Hill, Armagh on a charge of having drowned the infant in a kitchen boiler. The child victim of this brutal attack was the

daughter of Joseph Slavin, a whitewasher from the same area. On Wednesday July 12th 1888 Belina Prior appeared before Mr Justice

Murphy and was indicted with having on the 27th March 1888, wilfully, feloniously and of malice afterthought, killed and murdered

one Ann Slavin at Armagh.

Mr Orr in stating the case for the crown said the circumstances of the case were straightforward. The accused, a young girl just out of

their teens, without any motive whatever, stood charged on her own statement, with the wilful murder of that child. Miss Prior lived

with her mother, two brothers and a sister, in a house at Lettuce Hill, Armagh. It was suggested that there was a tin can next to the boiler

and it was also suggested that the child overbalanced and fell into the boiler. Miss Prior, losing her presence of mind at not being able

to save the child’s life, falsely accused herself of murder. They would have to consider whether or not Miss Prior was insane at the time

she committed the crime and the medical evidence which the Crown would produce would, he hoped, enable them to determine that

question.

The court was told how on the day of the tragedy a young girl named Catherine Slavin, brought her sister up to Mrs Prior’s house. Miss

Prior asked to mind the little girl and told her sister to come back in an hour for her. It appears that Belina Prior brought the infant into

the dining room of the house where she was given some sweets. Belina’s sister Adele was present. The child was kept there for a short

while before being brought down into the kitchen. According to Adele Prior they had only been in the kitchen for fifteen minutes when

Belina came back without the child. She was as white as a ghost and her dress was wet. Adele asked what was wrong. She instinctively

knew that something terrible had happened. Belina just muttered, " run down, I did not do it." She then changed her claim by saying that

she did do it, "I have killed the child.". Adele went down into the kitchen where she found the dead child in the boiler with its head

down. The water was cold and she lifted its limp body out. It was too late.

Mr Gerrard explained how easily his client frightened, insinuating that perhaps the child fell into the boiler by accident and that perhaps

through fright the girl lost her senses and abandoned the child. The previous summer, he claimed, she saw the face of a man at the

scullery window and that paralysed her.

However it transpired in the court proceedings that maybe something more sinister was afoot. The court heard the deposition of Rev

Benjamin Wade.. He stated that on the afternoon of that tragic day Mrs Prior called on him and asked him to go to the house. On

arriving, Belina was standing in the parlour and he said to her, "What is it that you have done?" She replied, "I will give you no answer."

He asked her again and she said, "I will not answer a word." The prisoner, looking at her mother, said, "I have paid you off. Everyone

has been unkind me." Rev Wade went over to the accused and said, "Now, don’t you know you have deprived that poor child of its life

and what the consequence might be?" Belina Prior replied, "Well I am sure I will be hanged, and I will be glad of it."

The court was then presented with evidence from various eminent medical witnesses explaining that in their evidence when she was

examined she appeared to be in an excited state. This could have been because of the shock of witnessing the deceased die although she

could have been like this before the death. It was this evidence which was vital in ascertaining whether or not Belina Prior was insane

at the time of the child’s death. The court heard that while she was in prison she had tried to commit suicide by cutting her own throat.

She was removed from the prison to the lunatic asylum. Mr Gerrard tried to find out if there were any marks of violence on the body of

the child and also, considering that there were stones at the bottom of the boiler, were there any marks which would have proven that the

child’s head had been forced against them. There were none.

In the end of the day the jury retired and returned with the verdict of guilty but that she was indeed insane at the time of the committal

of the act. Belina Prior was ordered to be kept in custody as a criminal lunatic in Her Majesty’s Gaol until Her Majesty’s pleasure be

known.

Page 26: Brutal Irish Murders

Page 26 Ireland History Magazine

Edward Gillespie aged 40,

was charged with the

murder of his wife Jane

Gillespie on the 27th

September 1900. The

Gillespie’s lived in the small

town of Carndonagh in Co

Donegal and they lived

humble lives. Edward

Gillespie had at one time been

in the navy, leaving when he

came to live in Carndonagh

and marry Jane Devlin.

Shortly after Jane and Edward

got married Edward was

appointed as the warder of the

"idiots’ ward" in the

Carndonagh Workhouse,

which was situated between

the Derry Road and the

Donagh River. Edward spent

his nights living at the

workhouse while Jane lived in

a small house in the town.

Their lives were simple and

routine and they did nothing

to attract any particular

attention until the morning of

the 28th September when the

dead body of Jane was found

by Patrick McAleaney in the

Donagh River, lying on a heap

of stones. Jane was dressed

in a petticoat but she had

neither skirt nor shawl on.

Her skirt was found a short

distance away at Thompson’s

bridge, turned inside out and

torn from top to bottom.

THE UNSOLVED MURDER OF JANE GILLESPIE

An inquest was held and as

the Gillespie house was close

to Thompson’s Bridge it was

assumed that she fell into the

river when in a state of

drunkenness, and the matter

of her death was treated as

misadventure.

However on the 1st of

October Jane’s shawl was

found, attached to a

whitethorn bush, in the river

and it was obvious that she

must have got into the river

Page 27: Brutal Irish Murders

Ireland History Magazine Page 27

where the shawl was found.

The police examined the

scene on the riverbank and

they found marks of a

struggle as well as portions of

a sally bush torn and broken

and on one of the torn bushes

they found a piece of thread

which corresponded exactly

to the skirt of the deceased at

the part of the river where it

came close to the workhouse.

The police questioned

Edward Gillespie and he

swore that the last time he had

seen his wife was on the

morning of the 28th

September and that he could

think of no reason why

anyone would hurt his wife.

Jane Gillespie was

subsequently buried at

Cockill but after the police

continued their inquiries her

body was exhumed on the

11th October when it was

discovered that she was

unconscious when she

entered the water.

Gillespie then decided to

change his first statement to

the police by telling them that

he believed that his wife was

having an affair with one of

the inmates of the workhouse,

Patrick McGready, and

Edward Gillespie claimed

that on the night of his wife’s

death he heard McGready go

out of the workhouse and he

suggested to the police that

McGready went to the river

for the purpose of murdering

his wife.

The police did not believe this

story and instead they put

forward evidence and motive

to the trial of Edward

Gillespie, which opened in

Lifford in July 1901. They

believed that Jane was an

alcoholic and that on the day

of her murder she had gone

down to see her husband at

the workhouse looking for

drink. It was well known in

Carndonagh that Edward

Gillespie did not approve of

his wife’s drinking and he had

been heard berating her in

public about the people she

had been drinking with. It

was also suggested that there

were many men callers at

their home while Edward was

at work but this was only

rumour and supposition and

the judge warned the jury that

there was no evidence that

these rumours were true.

The police were convinced

that Edward was guilty and

did little to investigate his

claims that McGready had

threatened him and his family

and that this was over a sum

of money that had gone

missing from the workhouse.

A local woman called Mary

Toy told the court that she had

seen Edward with his wife on

the evening before she died

and that they were in good

terms with each other and that

Jane seemed sober but that

she had in recent weeks not

been herself and had been

more aggressive that normal.

The medical evidence at the

trial came from two experts

who confirmed that Jane

Gillespie was unconscious or

dead before she entered the

water. There was no water in

her lungs and both experts

believed that if Jane had fallen

into the water drunk the cold

water would have revived her

enough to either get out of the

water or she would have

drowned.

In his summing up Mr Justice

Kenny advised the jury that

they should remember that no

motive had been suggested by

the crown why Gillespie

should murder his wife. The

jury retired and within 45

minutes returned to the court

with a verdict of not guilty.

Edward Gillespie was

discharged and no one was

ever convicted of the murder

of Jane Gillespie.

Page 28: Brutal Irish Murders

Page 28 Ireland History Magazine

On the 11th July

1908 Elizabeth

Farrelly was put on

trial before Justice

Gibson at Cavan

Assizes for attempting

to murder her husband

Patrick Farrelly at

Clifferna, near

Bailieborough on the

14th June. It was

alleged that she had

tried to poison him at

his home. On the day

of the trial the

courtroom was packed

as this was an unusual

case, not often heard in

Cavan and there had

been much speculation

and newspaper interest

in the story.

Mrs Farrelly appeared

in court drawn and

looking very unwell,

so much so that she

had to be attended by

a warder into the dock

and she seemed hardly

able to stand.

As she stood in the

dock the clerk of the

court read out the

charge that she,

Elizabeth Farrelly was

charged with

feloniously and

u n l a w f u l l y

CURIOUS CAVAN POISON CASEadministering a large

quantity of tartar

emetic, with intent to

inflict bodily harm.

Elizabeth Farrelly had

been born in Cavan

and had left Ireland to

live in America in the

early 1900’s. She

returned to Stragh in

Cavan in 1907 and

moved in with her

family. A short time

later she met Patrick

Farrelly and after a

whirlwind romance

they got married on the

1st March 1908. She

then moved in with

Patrick and his parents

in a small house at

Clifferna. When

Elizabeth returned to

Ireland she had

brought with her a

considerable sum of

money, which she had

earned in America.

She was quite an

independent and

confident woman, a

very different one that

appeared in the dock in

the Cavan court.

The prosecution set

out their evidence that

on the 14th June

Patrick had

complained of

suffering from a sore

throat and a cold.

They described how

immediately his wife,

Elizabeth had offered

him a drink to cure his

illness and that she had

given him a dose of a

deadly emetic known

as tartar emetic, which

was concealed in a jar

of cream of tartar. At

this early stage in the

proceedings Elizabeth

began to sway in the

dock and turned very

white and the judge

who had observed this,

directed that she

should be allowed to

sit down, a privilege,

which Mrs Farrelly

accepted with relief.

The proceedings

continued when

counsel for the crown

described how

although the drink that

Elizabeth gave to

Patrick had not been

fatal but that evidence

they had would show

that it might have

been. After taking the

drink Patrick began to

vomit violently for

several hours and took

cramps. This went on

from about eleven o’

clock in the morning

until four o’clock in

the afternoon. Farrelly

sent for the local

medic, Dr Ryan who

visited him later that

afternoon. A few days

later the police in the

course of their

investigations, after

being alerted by the

doctor, took a sample

of the vomit and sent

it to be analysed. The

analysis by Mr

Barklie, used newly

discovered forensic

techniques, and

revealed that the tartar

emetic and the cream

of tartar had been

mixed skilfully and

uniformly throughout

the whole body of the

contents of the

package. Three and a

half grains of tartar

emetic were found in

the vomit sample, two

grains of which would

normally cause death.

The evidence clearly

suggested that the

poison had been mixed

into the cream of tartar

on purpose.

Page 29: Brutal Irish Murders

Ireland History Magazine Page 29

When questioned

about the mixture Mrs

Farrelly said nothing,

she could not say

where the deadly

poison had been

purchased and the

police at first did not

suspect Elizabeth.

They had questioned

the family and local

community and

everyone agreed that

the newly weds were

very happy and that

Elizabeth had mixed

well with the

neighbours and that

there were no

disagreements within

the family. Patrick

himself could not

come up with any

reason why his wife

would try to kill him

but the police became

suspicious when

Elizabeth refused to

answer their questions.

When Patrick took the

stand the crown asked

him about a further

incident when he was

unwell and he

described an event on

the 6th June 1908. He

had been feeling a

littlie unwell and his

wife had offered him a

drink of cream of

tartar. When she gave

it to him he had

complained of a

strange smell from the

drink, but took it

anyway. As he was

drinking it he tasted

grains in his mouth

and stopped drinking.

The next day he

vomited a couple of

times, but this time

recovered quite

quickly. Again a few

days later he had

another drink made

from the cream of

tartar and this time he

was so sick that he had

to be helped to his bed

by his wife and

mother. Each time he

had taken a drink his

wife and mother had

been present.

The defence then

questioned Patrick and

asked him about his

drinking habits and it

became clear in the

court that Patrick often

took a fair amount of

whisky but this did not

make him aggressive

or violent, but often

made him sick. The

defence pointed out to

the court that no one

else in the house had

been questioned about

how the cream of tartar

had come into the

house and that in fact

it was quite possible

that the cream of tartar

had been in the house

long before Elizabeth

Farrelly had moved

into the house.

No more evidence was

heard and the jury

retired to consider

their verdict but

returned within a few

minutes finding Mrs

Farrelly not guilty on

all charges and she

was immediately

discharged.

No further

investigations were

ever carried out to find

out how the poison

had got into the house.

Patrick Farrelly did

not suffer any further

sickness and the

Farrellys lived happily

in Clifferna for many

years.

Page 30: Brutal Irish Murders

Page 30 Ireland History Magazine

THROAT SLASHED FROM EAR TO EAR IN DUBLIN

The Doyle family had been living at No

13 Grants Row for seven months.

Three months previously, in October 1909,

Josephine Doyle left the family home and

only returned to it in January 1910. There

was bad feeling between Josephine and her

brother Thomas and on the evening of 15th

January 1910 he warned her not to remain

in the house for another night. Their

parents were dead and the two brothers

Thomas and William in the recent absence

of the sister had occupied a single

apartment. That night, however, ignoring

her brother’s threats, Josephine Doyle

remained in the house. At around 3.00 am

in the early hours of the 16th Thomas

returned to the house and finding his sister

in the room quickly drew a razor across

his sisters throat, causing a deep wound

from ear to ear. He then attacked his

brother William who struggled to save

himself. He received two wounds on the

head and several on his fingers.

None of the other residents of the house

heard any of the scuffles in the Doyle’s

room. They were only made aware of what

had occurred when William Doyle after

freeing himself from the struggle with his

brother, rushed down the stairs and

knocked on the Duffy’s room, a family who

also lived in the house. He called out

"Duffy, Duffy, get up, Tom is after killing

my poor sister". Duffy got up and almost

immediately Tom Doyle rushed downstairs

behind his brother and on entering Duffy’s

apartment, stated in a furious tone that he

was after "doing" her and threw the razor

on the floor. William Doyle’s injures were

attended to at the Sir Patrick Dun’s

Hospital, but it was not considered

necessary to detain him.

The police immediately visited the scene

and found the girl, Josephine, already dead

and lying in a pool of blood. Blood was

also scattered over the bed and blood was

also smeared on a table and other furniture

in the room. On examination it was found

that a deep wound had been inflicted to her

throat, all the veins and arteries and

windpipe had been severed. The wound

extended from ear to ear and around by the

back of the neck, almost severing the head

from the body. The police called in Dr

Dallas Pratt, of Fitzwilliam Square, and

when the doctor arrived and saw the nature

of the wound he pronounced that death

must have been instantaneous, "the wound

being of such a character that one so injured

could not live for a minute".

Thomas J Doyle was indicted for the wilful

murder of Josephine Doyle and evidence

heard in court revealed that on 22nd

October 1906 the accused was convicted

of unlawfully wounding Josephine so

seriously that he was sentenced to three

years penal servitude. He was discharged

The horrific murder of Josephine Doyle sent

shockwaves throughout Dublin

Page 31: Brutal Irish Murders

Ireland History Magazine Page 31

in 1908 and returned to the family home

as he had no where else to go and remained

there with his brother. The accused also

had been wounded in the Boar War and

was discharged from the army in 1904.

William Doyle was called to give evidence

and he explained how the family unit had

broken up but the day before her death,

Josephine, his sister, had returned to the

house again at Grants Row. Thomas had

been out and William met his sister at

Duffy’s room for a drink. He claimed that

there had been a bit of a singsong in the

room and then he and his sister went to his

room along with Mrs Duffy where they

drank another bottle of stout. Later on, his

brother, Thomas, came in bringing a young

woman with him. William Doyle claimed

that he protested at this and said that he

would pay no more rent for the place if his

brother was going to bring people like that

into the house. The young woman then

went out followed by Thomas Doyle.

William Doyle claimed that he went and

closed the door after them but 20 minutes

later he heard his brother knocking the

door. William tried to stop Thomas coming

in but he forced his way in and after taking

just two steps to where his sister was

sitting, he drew a razor straight across her

throat. Thomas then attacked him and tried

to cut his throat but as he still had his

clothes on and a heavy coat, he was saved.

Thomas Doyle’s defence rested on the

accusation that William and Josephine

Doyle were engaged in an inappropriate

relationship for a brother and sister and that

he got into such a frenzy about the relations

between the two that the took his razor and

killed his sister and attacked his brother.

Mr Hanna, his counsel, stated that the law

was that a man in a case of this kind was

not to be held guilty of the extreme crime

where there had been provocation of that

kind.

The jury retired and deliberated for just

over an hour and returned a verdict of not

guilty to murder but guilty of manslaughter.

Thomas Doyle was sentenced to fifteen

years of penal servitude.

The accused had been injured in the Boar War

Page 32: Brutal Irish Murders

Page 32 Ireland History Magazine

WAS AN INNOCENT MAN HANGED IN GALWAY?

O n Sunday April 24th

1881 the house of John

Leyden was broken into by a

group of six or seven people

and the occupants, John

Leyden and his son Martin

were taken from their beds

and brought outside. Both

men were shot, the father

John, receiving three bullet

wounds to the chest and his

son Martin was shot twice in

the groin, once in the lung and

twice in the wrist.

John Leyden died at the scene

and his son Martin was very

critically injured.

Several days after the

shooting a young man named

Patrick Walsh was arrested

and was identified by Martin

Leyden as being one of the

men who had carried out the

attack on the him and his

father.

The whole incident was

shrouded in mystery and the

motive for the attack was

unknown as both men and all

their relatives were known

locally as quiet and in

offensive people. The brutal

attack had been

overshadowed in the press by

the death of Lord

Beaconsfield, Disraeli, and

the Irish Land Bill was also

being read before the House

of Commons and there was

much civil strife relate to this

land question.

Just several weeks after the

trial Patrick Walsh was

executed at the jail in Galway

City for the murder of John

Leyden Patrick Walsh. At the

time there was a great deal of

doubt over the sentence of

death and that many believed

that Patrick Walsh was

innocent of this crime.

On the day of his death people

were heard to say that his

death was "nothing more than

judicial murder", while others

said that "God alone had the

right to take a life".

Walsh’s fortitude and self

possession, the kind words

spoken of him by the priest,

his youth and sensibility and

above all his final words,

marked him as a man on

whom it were most difficult

to believe the guilt of the

murderer lay. Preparations for

his execution were elaborate

and the scaffold was

positioned so that the gaze of

other prisoners could not fall

on Walsh. Captain Mason of

the jail humanely arranged for

the scaffold to be placed in a

large work yard adjoining, but

walled out from the main

building.

Here a sloping mound of

stones and clay was placed,

the upper portion being

extended by the addition of a

rough wooden inclined plane

with steps and on this was the

platform trapdoor and the

gallows. The last execution

in Galway Jail was that of

McHugo in 1880 and Walsh

was confined in the same

death cell – in the hospital

section of the building.

Walsh attended mass before

his death and received the last

rites of the church. At eight

o’clock the bells tolled and

from his cell the condemned

man came with the Priest. In

front of him were the

governor and the sub sheriff.

Father Greaven recited the

Litany. Walsh walked with

his arms free and his head

bowed as if in constant prayer.

When Walsh met the

executioner his arms were

strapped to this side although

he continued to hold his hands

up in the attitude of prayer. It

was at this point that the

strength of Walsh seemed to

waver but he remained clear

and calm in his responses to

the Litany.

Page 33: Brutal Irish Murders

Ireland History Magazine Page 33

Walsh whose face was said to

have born an expression of

placidity and gentleness said

in a clear firm tone- "I am

going to my doom. Going

before my maker, I have

declared my innocence of the

murder. Certainly I have

never committed the murder.

I was not there at all.

Witnesses came and swore

falsely against me."

He then turned his face again

towards the scaffold.

Marwood the executioner

pinioned his extremities and

place the rope around his neck

as the priest continued the

prayers and Walsh was still

speaking he responses. The

white cap was then drawn

over his face the words "Jesus

have mercy" could be heard

and the trap door swung open.

Walsh was dead in seconds

and the black flag was

immediately hoisted.

From outside the prison walls

it was reported you could hear

the wails of his mother and

sisters when they saw the

black flag appear over the

prison walls.

In an interview with a local

paper at the time the prison

chaplain, Rev Greaven told

the paper that he seldom, if

ever, met a more single

minded and truthful man that

poor Patrick Walsh and that he

believed implicitly in his

innocence, that his conduct

during the time he was

confined was most

exemplary, his piety and

devotion remarkable, and his

whole bearing one of

resignation and fortitude. He

told the paper that Walsh had

written to all of his friends

telling them that he was

innocent and that he had

written to the Lord Lieutenant

reiterating his innocence.

The trial of Patrick Walsh and

the verdict of death by

hanging changed attitudes to

the capital sentence for ever

in Ireland. There was no

desire in the people to see

criminals and murderers

punished in this way.

Page 34: Brutal Irish Murders

Page 34 Ireland History Magazine

STABBED TO DEATH AT CLONBROCK

On the morning of

Tuesday June

17th 1902, a man by

the name of John Daly,

was found stabbed to

death in a field near his

home at Clonbrock.

The previous day,

Daly, who was a coal

carter, was making

deliveries at Killesig,

Carlow. He left the

town at 9.30pm and

when he arrived home

he led his horse around

to the back of the

house. His wife

claimed that she had

waited up for him until

11.00pm and when he

hadn’t returned by

then she retired to bed,

where, she claimed,

she fell into a deep

sleep from which she

awakened at 7.00am

the following

morning.

Thinking that her

husband had not come

home she went outside

to check and when she

saw the cart out front

and the horse in the

field she assumed her

husband had got up

early and gone out to

the fields to work. She

sent her 11-year-old

son to fetch her

husband and after

searching for a short

while the boy returned

home to tell his mother

that his father was

lying out in one of the

fields, dead.

The police were

i m m e d i a t e l y

summoned and they

reported finding the

body as the boy said,

lying dead against the

incline of some rising

ground, the back of his

head in a pool of

blood. There were

some marks of a

struggle and from

where the man had

fallen there appeared

to be a pool of blood

no more than three or

four feet away. When

the body was

examined more

closely, they found a

gash, which stretched,

over the left temple to

under the left eye. Mr

Daly’s head was a

mass of perforations,

made by some very

sharp tool and a

pitchfork was found

close to the body.

Another fork with

blood on it was later

found at the Daly

home.

A local man called

Joseph Taylor was

soon arrested as the

main suspect in the

murder and Mary Daly

the dead mans wife

was also arrested.

Both Taylor and Mary

Daly were indicted for

the murder of John

Daly.

At the trial of Taylor

the Crown suggested

that he had been

having an adulterous

affair with Mary Daly.

On the day of the

murder Taylor had

been drinking heavily

and John Daly the son

of the deceased swore

that Taylor was in his

father’s house on the

afternoon of the

murder. He was sitting

by the fire with Mary

Daly and they were

talking in a low tone to

each other. The young

boy claimed that he

and his young sister

were put to bed but he

awoke when he heard

shouting outside and

saw his father being

attacked by Taylor in

the yard. The boy then

claimed that he saw

Taylor dragging his

father over the garden

and out into the field.

Taylor’s defence

suggested that it was

Mary Daly who had

murdered her husband

and that the children

told this story to

protect her. They

suggested that Mary

Daly hated her

husband, and lay in

wait for him on the

night of the murder

with a prong in her

hand, that when she

first attacked him, the

poor man ran away

and that he received

the first blow of the

prong probably on the

spot where one of the

pools of blood lay in

the field. She broke

the first prong and had

to go back for another,

which she also broke

in her attack on him,

and then finished him

off with a stone.

The jury deliberated

for 50 minutes and

returned a verdict of

Page 35: Brutal Irish Murders

Ireland History Magazine Page 35

guilty. Joseph Taylor

was sentenced to be

hanged at Kilkenny on

the 7th January 1903.

As soon as Taylor was

found guilty the trial of

Mary Daly began. The

first witness was little

John Daly who

described again the

scene of Taylor

beating his father in

the yard. The next

witness was the boys

sister, Lizzie, who

confirmed her

brother’s story.

Sergeant Conlan who

attended the scene

gave evidence

regarding the finding

of the prong behind the

door in Daly’s house.

There had been blood

on it and when he took

it out Mrs Daly said;

"He had that himself

on Sunday morning."

and that he had been

beating her. He then

asked her how the

blood came to be on it,

to which she claimed

he had cut her hands

with it. Upon further

examination of her

hands the Sergeant

claimed that the cuts

were only scratches,

similar to those you

would get from

fingernails.

The jury retired and

deliberated for 55

minutes returning a

guilty verdict with a

recommendation to

mercy. His Lordship,

in passing sentence,

said that another jury

had already returned a

verdict of guilty

against Joseph Taylor,

and he felt bound to

say he agreed with

both verdicts. The

sentence andTullamore where Mary Daly was executed

judgement of the court

was that Mary Daly

should be hanged in

the 9th January 1903 at

Tullamore, just two

days after the hanging

of Taylor. Mary Daly

was one of the last

female prisoners to be

hanged in Ireland.

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Page 36 Ireland History Magazine

DEATH UNDER SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES

In August 1872 the police in Carrickfergus arrested

John Gardner after the body of his wife Agnes was

found in their home by a neighbouring relative who

had become concerned that there was no activity in

and about the house. Blood was found on the bed

where Agnes Gardner died and the police immediately

suspected foul play.

Agnes Gardner was in her forties, a mother, and wife

who was married to a man who enjoyed the drink.

She had a gentle temperament and was a weak and

delicate woman.

On the 19th August Agnes went to bed early as usual

as she was an early riser. Her husband was not yet at

home so Agnes asked her eldest son, aged ten, to wait

up a little longer in case his father returned. He was

instructed to fasten the latch on the door and to unlock

the latch if his father returned. The young boy fell

asleep and did not hear if his father returned to the

family home that evening.

John Gardner had left the house early on the morning

of the 19th August 1872 in order to visit his sheep

that were grazing on the Commons. He attended to

his livestock and then bumped into some friends and

went drinking. He drank with his friends until the

afternoon and then set off for home but he called on

another friend, a watchman named John Boal, on the

way and the two men began to drink whiskey together.

John Gardner described himself as very "full" after

drinking the whiskey and it was eleven o’clock that

evening before he set off again for home. He had

been drinking almost non-stop for over 12 hours.

Somewhere on route to his home John Gardner passed

out as he told the police he could not remember

anything after leaving his watchman friend until he

woke up the next morning around five o’clock and

he found that he was lying beside a haystack in the

Prospect area of Carrickfergus.

At this point John Gardner got up and went straight

to work, unaware that his wife was lying dead in their

home and it was several hours later when the police

came to arrest him that he discovered that his wife

was dead.

However, rumours were quickly circulating in the area

that John Gardner was seen at around 4.30am in the

morning of the 20th August leaving his house. It was

these rumours, which ensured that the police held him

in custody until the outcome of the inquest into his

wife’s death.

On Monday August 24th the inquest was held in the

premises of William Donnelly, a local publican.

Despite many locals being called to give evidence as

to the whereabouts of John Gardner on the night his

wife died no one would confirm that they had seen

him leaving his house. They each said that they had

heard it from someone else and the source of the

rumour was never established. Agnes Gardner’s

eldest son was called to give evidence and he stated

that after his father left the house he did not return

until after the death of his mother. He did confirm

that his mother had not complained of being unwell

and that he did not wake until his aunt called at their

home to find out why no one was up.

As no evidence was gathered from the local

community that either exonerated or found Gardner

culpable, the coroner called for medical evidence

from Dr Josias Patrick. Dr Patrick deposed that he

had made a full examination of the body and he had

found one lung completely congested with blood.

Agnes also had fatty degeneration of the heart

although her other organs were healthy. Dr Patrick

believed that the cause of death was due to disease of

the heart and there was no real evidence of violence

against her. The blood he concluded could have come

from her coughing up blood due to her congested

lungs and the immediate cause of death was syncope,

a loss of consciousness due to lack of oxygen to the

brain.

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Ireland History Magazine Page 37

The jury requested a visit to the Gardner house to

have a look around and after the visit they concluded

that the flimsy latch, which secured the door, was so

weak and without a bar that anyone could get into

the Gardner house without creating a noise.

After the medical evidence and the home visit by the

jury the coroner summed up the evidence and

although he commented on the fact that the conduct

of John Gardner in being absent in a drunken state

from his wife and family, for such a length of time

was a disgrace, there was no evidence to prove that

he was an accessory to his wife’s death,

notwithstanding this he should be ashamed of his

behaviour.

The jury returned a verdict of death by natural causes

and John Gardner was released from custody, lucky

that the medical evidence was able to prove his

innocence.

The Lamentation of Hugh Reynolds

My name is Hugh Reynolds I came from honest parents,

Near cavan I was born as you may plainly see

For the loving of a maid one catherine McCabe

mt life has been betrayed she’s the dear maid to me.

The country was bewailing my doleful situation

But still I’d expectation this maid would see me free

Boy O, she was ungrateful, her parents proved deceitful

And though I loved her faithful, she’s the dear maid to me.

Young men and tender maidens throughout this Irish nation

Who hear my lamentation, I hope you’ll pray for me

The truth I will unfold, that my precious blood she sold

In the grave I must lie cold; she’s the dear maid to me.

For now my glass has run, the last hour it has come,

And I must die for love and the height of loyalty!

I thought it was no harm to embrace her in my arms,

Or take her from her parents; but she’s the dear maid to me.

Adieu my loving father, and you my tender mother,

Farewell my dearest brother, who has suffered sore for me;

With irons I’m surrounded, in grief I lie confounded,

By perjury unbounded; she the dear maid to me.

Now I can say no more; to the Law Board I must go,

There to take my last farewell of my friends and conterie;

May the angels shining bright, receive my soul this night,

And convey me into heaven with the Blessed Trinity.

An 1826 ‘execution ballad’ from County Cavan which

told the story of Hugh Reynolds who was wrongly

accused by Catherine McCabe on the charge of

breaking and entering.

The charge was considered a capital offence back then

for which, if convicted, the culprit would have been

hanged. The execution was set for the 28th of March,

1826, but the perjury was discovered and reynolds was

freed much to the disappointment of the ballads

author!

Page 38: Brutal Irish Murders

Page 38 Ireland History Magazine

A MURDER “REVOLTING BEYOND MEASURE”

On Tuesday January 4th,

1910 at exactly 8

o’clock at Kilmainham Jail,

(bottom right) Joseph

Heffernan was executed for

the wilful murder of Mary

Walker. Miss Walker had

been a telegraphist employed

at Mullingar Post Office and

her murder caused fear and

revulsion throughout Ireland.

The Freeman’s Journal at the

time stated ‘the details

surrounding the murder were

such as to make it revolting

beyond measure’.

On 7th July 1899 a body was

found lying in a hollow at the

foot of a sloping bank beside

the canal, close to Mullingar.

Her throat had been cut and

it appeared that she had met

a violent end. The remains

were later identified as those

of a Miss Mary Walker who

lived in the town. It was said

that she loved to walk this

path when out for an evening

stroll and so on the fatal

afternoon she left her friends

and she was not seen alive

again by them.

Her lifeless body was found

partly covered by grass and

her throat had been cut from

ear to ear.

Joseph Heffernan, a labourer,

was eventually arrested and

charged with the killing. At

Heffernan’s trial the local

police described how Mary’s

body was found and that her

face was covered with blood

and her clothing was torn.

The ground around her body

appeared to be cut up

suggesting that a fearful

struggle between the poor

defenceless girl and her

assailant. The ground, which

was marshy, had been

trampled down as Mary

Walker was murdered trying

to defend herself. There was

no doubt at all that her death

had been caused by the

wound to her throat.

Miss Walker had been 25

years old at the time of the

murder and she had held

down her job at the Post

Office for nine years. Due to

the nature of the job she was

well known and liked in

Mullingar. On the 7th July

she left the Post Office at

about 2.00 pm and went to her

lodgings at Mrs Daly’s house

to have her lunch. After lunch

she left, as was her habit, at

3.15pm to have a walk along

the bank of the canal. Her

dead body was brought home

at 11.00 pm the same night.

Earlier around 4.00 pm it

turned out that she had been

spotted walking along the

canal opposite Merlehan’s

field by Thomas and Matthew

Nooney. She was then going

in the direction of the

racecourse. Thomas Nooney,

who was employed in the

Post Office and had many

opportunities of seeing Miss

Walker claimed that he

recognised her the moment he

saw her on the canal bank.

Mullingar

Page 39: Brutal Irish Murders

Ireland History Magazine Page 39

The evidence of these two

witnesses showed that after

the brothers passed, Miss

Walker sat down on the bank

at the point where it sloped

down to the railway. At

around 4.30 pm, a stable boy

named Monaghan, saw a girl

pursued by a man who

overtook her. The boy was

exercising a horse in a field

at the opposite side of the

canal so he had a good

viewpoint. The boy claimed

that the man then forced her

down the bank until both

disappeared from sight.

There was no doubt that the

man was Joseph Heffernan.

A plea of insanity was raised

on Heffernan’s behalf and the

Lord Chief Justice said that it

was up to the jury to decide

whether there was any doubt

about the mans guilt.

Heffernan was close to the

scene of the murder and had

possession of a blood stained

knife and another knife was

found near the canal. The

judge advised the jury that

they had to decide if the

accused could tell the

difference between right and

wrong and if they felt that

Heffernan could not

distinguish between them

there was a reasonable doubt.

The jury were advised that

most criminals that came

before the courts where of a

degenerate type and that if

they came to the conclusion

that the prisoner was the

author of the crime, it was

their duty, to find an

unqualified verdict of guilty.

Heffernan was said to have

made a confession to a prison

warder and this statement was

used as evidence in his trial.

"There is no use denying. I

killed the poor girl right

enough. Everybody knows it.

I don’t know what came over

me – the devil I suppose I was

drinking all that day. I put my

arm around her neck and

knocked her down. I also cut

a hole under her ear. The poor

girl died easy."

Heffernan was found guilty

and sentenced to death. After

his sentence he appeared to be

very repentant as he awaited

his death. The Sisters of

Charity attended him every

day from Basin Lane and they

prayed with him as he

attended to the ministrations

of the Church with great

devotion.

Outside the prison a crowd of 300

people had gathered to await the

proceedings. At eight o’clock the

prison bell tolled to inform those

outside the prison that the law had

taken its course.

Page 40: Brutal Irish Murders

Page 40 Ireland History Magazine

The murder of Lord

Mountmorres in

September 1880

became a significant

event in Ireland due to

the political

consequences more

than the physical result

of his murder.

Lord Mountmorres was

quite a poor Viscount in

that his income came

solely from his estate;

he lived on and by his

land, which was by no

means a large estate in

comparison with the

other large estates in

Ireland at that time.

Most other Lords also

had other income by

which to live. Lord

Mountmorres had also

become extremely

unpopular, owing both

to his inability and also

his unwillingness to

reduce rents to his

tenants.

At the time of his death

he was reported to be

about to issue decree’s

to his tenants, either to

leave their land by the

bailiff, or to pay what

was owing to him. On

the day of his death

there was a secret

meeting of the Land

THE MURDER OF LORD MOUNTMORRESLeague in Clonbar and

it was decided at this

meeting that Lord

Mountmorres would

have to be "done away

with".

In April 1878 Lord

Leitrim, while driving

near Milford, on the

shore of Mulroy Bay

was shot by persons

lying in ambush. His

car driver was also

killed, also shot, and his

private clerk was shot

twice and died later.

Lord Leitrim’s skull

was fractured and his

revolver had been taken

from him and was used

against him. No one

was ever caught for his

murder, but four men

were believed to have

carried out the murder.

The murder of Lord

Mountmorres took

place at Rusheen, near

Ballinrobe, on County

Mayo on the 25th

September 1880. He

had been in Clonbar

shopping and left town

at 8 o’clock in the

evening to return to his

residence Ebor Hall.

(pictured right) At

around 9 o’clock he

was found lying in the

road with six bullet

wounds, any one of

which would have

proved fatal. He was

carried to the house of

Hugh Flanagan, around

300 yards away, but

Flanagan refused him

admission, even though

Lord Mountmorres was

still alive. Lord

Mountmorres died a

short time later.

As far away as New

York the murder was

reported and discussed

especially among what

was then called the

respectable classes.

The Irish landowners

experienced alarm,

little short of panic after

these two high profile

murders, and political

differences between the

rich were set aside in

the presence of what

they described as

"common and

imminent danger".

These landowners felt

that there was no longer

any security for their

life or property and that

nobody could feel safe

who was connected

with the possession,

occupation, or

management of land.

At the same time the

tenants were becoming

more militant and their

rights for fair rents and

the opportunity to

purchase their own land

was being taken up by

Parnell in London and

Dublin.

Many local men were

arrested and released as

the police investigated

the murder but they

received no cooperation

from the local

community. A tenant

farmer Patrick Sweeney

was arrested two days

after the murder, he had

been given notice to

quit by Lord

Mountmorres and he

was remanded to stand

trial but later acquitted.

Patrick Hennelly was

arrested in Tipton, in

December 1880 and

charged with the

murder. He was a local

man, son of the Clonbar

butcher, but he was later

acquitted of the murder.

In the months after the

death of Lord

Mountmorres some of

his diary extracts were

published:

Ebor Hall, Aug 26 1879

..I have received

yours……As for rents,

you dare not ask for

Page 41: Brutal Irish Murders

Ireland History Magazine Page 41

them; else you would

get a threatening notice.

Ebor Hall, Clonbar,

June 4 1880

I am very sorry to have

(to say) my tenants

have not paid one

penny yet, and I do not

expect they will until I

take law proceedings

against them, which I

shall do at the end of

next month or

beginning of August.

Some of them have now

four years rent due last

month, and will neither

give up their farms not

pay part. I have offered

them 20 per cent

reduction but no use.

Ebor Hall, Clonbar,

September 8 1880

None of my tenants

have yet settled with

me, and those that I

took proceedings

against, the county

court Judge gave them

time for payment…..

Ebor Hall, Clonbar,

September 11 1880

I received yours of the

9th….I do not know

what will become of

this unfortunate

country.

After the death of Lord

Mountmorres his

widow and children

were boycotted by the

community and were

effectively ostracised

and it came that they

were no longer able to

survive in Ireland and

they had to take refuge

in England and leave

Ebor Hall for ever.

Queen Victoria set

aside apartments in

Hampton Court Palace

for the Mountmorres

family’s disposal.

No one else was

charged with the

murders but in 1892,

out of the blue, a

prisoner in Glasgow

confessed to being

involved in the murders

of Lord Leitrim and

Lord Mountmorres.

His name was

Anderson and was a

well known and

lifelong criminal and

was often convicted of

various offences. His

mind was at the time

said to be "weak", and

no charges were ever

brought, but his story is

of great interest and

gives us some idea of

the criminal fraternity

at that time.

He told the police in

Scotland that he had

assisted at the murder of

Lord Leitrim and also

of Lord Mountmorres.

He also claimed that he

had been hired to kill

the notorious informer

James Carey. Carey

was a well to do

tradesman and a town

councillor in Dublin.

Carey gave evidence

which convicted the

murderers of Lord

Frederick Cavendish,

the newly appointed

Chief Secretary for

Ireland in 1882 who

was shot dead in

Phoenix Park. Carey,

who, by dropping a

handkerchief, gave the

signal for the murderers

to do their work, gave

up the murderers in

exchange for immunity.

Carey was given

passage out of Ireland

but due to his own

indiscretions was

tracked down by

Patrick O’Donnell, who

helped by Anderson,

shot and killed Carey

on board the steamer

Melrose, at Port

Elizabeth in South

Africa. O’Donnell was

arrested and convicted

of the murder and was

executed at Newgate in

December 1883.

If Anderson was to be

believed there were a

group of hired assassins

who travelled far and

wide murdering

landowners and

establishment figures

connected with Ireland

in the late nineteenth

century.

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Page 42 Ireland History Magazine

MYSTERIOUS SUICIDE AT CARLINGFORD

A strange and disturbing incident was

reported in the winter of 1935 in the North

Louth area. The whole community was shocked

when the body of a young local farmer John

Patterson was found in a small pool of water

on the 23rd February of that year. Mr Patterson

was only 22 years old and when his body was

discovered it was found bound with ropes and

a gag of stocking type material was stuffed in

his mouth.

At first the police were suspicious about how

Patterson died but quickly ruled out foul play

despite pleas from the young man’s family that

he had been killed by a group of men.

Patterson’s last hours began when he left the

house near Carlingford that he shared with his

mother, Mrs Lucinda Patterson. On the evening

of the 22nd February he had tea with his mother,

got dressed and told her that he was going to a

wake at Greenore. It was the last time Mrs

Patterson was to see her son. John Patterson

was in fact going to visit a girl he had been

going out with secretly for over two years. Her

name was Annie Marmion and John knew that

his family would never accept that she was his

girlfriend as they were of different religions.

After John left his mother’s house he went to

Annie’s employers house where they had tea

together and began to talk about their future

together, he had told her that he would marry

her back in 1934, and now that she was with

child she told him that night that if he did not

marry her she would be put out of her job as

well as her home at Rallagan. After they talked,

Patterson began to cry and he left the house

shortly after midnight. When he left he told

her that his family objected to his keeping

company with her, they would never be able to

marry. She was worried about him as he was

in a very emotional state and she wrapped a

white handkerchief around her arm and told him

as he walked away that if anything happened

to him that the cloth would be a mourning band

for him.

What happened next no one really knows but

Patterson was found 20 yards from the Greenore

road, close to a spot where the tide rose when

at full flood. He was lying on his back, his feet

bound together with a rope, the rope was also

passed twice around his body and his hands

were behind and underneath his body. White

froth had formed around his mouth, indicating

that he had drowned, and that he was most

probably conscious when he drowned. A brown

stocking was pushed into his mouth, but not

tied in place, and when he was lifted from the

pool of water the ropes were loose enough that

they had not caused any marks or bruising on

his wrists and ankles.

An inquest was held during which Patterson’s

family pleaded with the police and the coroner

to instigate an investigation in to their beloved

sons’ death. They were sure that their son

would not have killed himself and that they felt

that it was possible that John Patterson had been

assaulted elsewhere and carried, bound and

gagged, to the spot where he was left to drown

in a pool of water. The medical evidence did

not indicate a struggle and Dr McGrath told the

inquest that he believed that the cause of death

was asphyxia, due to drowning. There was no

evidence of any resistance by Patterson to the

ropes which bound him.

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Ireland History Magazine Page 43

A witness was called who relayed an interesting

story to the coroner and jury. Thomas Kelly of

Ballytrasna, a fisherman, identified the rope

used on Patterson as similar to rope which

Patterson had borrowed from him a few months

earlier. A friend of Patterson’s, Daniel

O’Rourke, stated that Patterson often

experimented with ropes and would ask

O’Rourke to tie him up with ropes so that he

could not escape. Every time Patterson was

able to release himself except for one time when

Patterson asked him to tie a knot on the rope at

his back and Patterson was unable to get out of

the rope.

The jury took a long time deliberating the

evidence but eventually returned a verdict of

suicide by drowning. The manner of which was

most unusual in 1935 and would incur great

suspicion today despite the emotional distress

that Patterson was experiencing at the time the

motivation and manner of his death were weak

and out of the ordinary.

The jury said, after delivering the verdict, that

they wanted to congratulate the police for the

manner of which the matter had been

investigated and they were convinced that no

suggestion of murder could be entertained.

Page 44: Brutal Irish Murders

Page 44 Ireland History Magazine

Over 100 years ago a particularly barbarous incident

was reported in which a woman was tortured to death

because it was believed she was a witch. The woman was

Bridget Cleary and her dead body was discovered buried

in the bottom of a dyke not far from her home in March

1895. When her body was discovered it was found that

one side of her body had been dreadfully burned form the

face down to the legs.

William Simpson of Ballyvadha stated that he visited the

house of Patrick Boland one night in March with his wife

and when they arrived at the Boland house Mrs Cleary

was being given some herbs which had been bought from

Louis Ganey. Mr Simpson and his wife could hear cries

coming from the house and some raised male voices but

they could not see in as the shutters were closed and the

door was locked.

A short time later the Simpson’s went into the cottage and

there they saw Mrs Cleary being held down on the bed

surrounded by her husband, father, and four others. They

were trying to force the herbs into her mouth and they

appeared to also be throwing liquid over the woman. Mrs

Cleary was held down by force, and was screaming as the

crowd shouted, "Come home Bridget Boland" (Boland was

her maiden name). Some time later one of the men, John

Dunne, said that they should start a fire to get Bridget to

talk. Mrs Cleary was carried from her bed and she was

held in front of the kitchen fire while her father and husband

asked her questions. She was placed sideways on the hot

grate and her hip rested on it but she did not scream and

did not seem to be in any pain..

The following day Bridget Cleary disappeared from her

home and was not seen alive again and the police charged

all those who were in the house that evening with assault,

ill-treatment and actual bodily harm.

At the magisterial proceedings the jury were told how Mrs

Cleary had burned to death in front of friends and relatives.

They were Michael Cleary her husband, Patrick Boland,

her father, Patrick Kennedy, James Kennedy, Michael

Kennedy, John Dunne, William Ahearn, Dennis Ganey,

Mary Kennedy and Mrs Burke. Mrs Burke’s testimony in

court explained how Bridget was tortured by her husband

who believing his wife to be a witch sent for herbs from a

local herbalist named Ganey who was known locally as

WOMAN TORTURED TO DEATH FOR BEING A WITCHthe "fairy doctor". He believed that he could drive the evil

spirits from his wife and according to Mrs Burke this is

what he tried to do before her very eyes.

Mrs Burke went on to recall how Michael Cleary had

accused his wife of keeping the company of fairies and

how he had put her through certain tests which would seem

absurd to us today but were normal for that time. She was

also forced to drink a herb concoction and he asked her in

the name of God who she was. He then required her to eat

bread and jam three times in order to see whether she was

a human being or a fairy and when he became convinced

that she was not human, he attacked her and jumped on

her chest while she lay on the floor. He then stripped her,

and after she had been placed over the fire he tried to drive

out the fairies. He threw paraffin oil over her and then

placed her on the fire where the body became disfigured

and burned and some of those gathered in the room fainted

at the smell and smoke in the room.

Mr Cleary afterwards came up and got some sacks and

with the assistance of the others took away the body, the

party taking with them also a spade and a shovel. This

occurred in the middle of the night and the next day Michael

Cleary allegedly made Mrs Burke swear on her knees that

his wife had vanished and no one knew what had become

of her. He told her that it was not his wife that he was

burning but a fairy and that she would see the fairy

disappearing up the chimney. Michael Cleary, apparently

after burying the body still believed that it was a witch he

buried and not his wife, whom, he believed was still a

prisoner of the fairies at Kylenagrapagh Hill. He believed

that this ancient fort was now a fairy inhabitancy and Cleary

expected to meet her at the fort. He told Simpson that if

he went up to the fort his wife would appear riding a grey

horse

Before the trial the charges against Denis Ganey were

dismissed. He claimed he only administered herbs to the

sick woman and had no part in torturing her, Michael Cleary

asked that he be allowed to withdraw his plea of not guilty

to murder and plead guilty to manslaughter. The crown

accepted this and the jury brought in a guilty verdict. The

jury after a deliberation of forty minutes found all the

prisoners guilty of wounding her but not killing her – almost

as strange as the case itself!

Page 45: Brutal Irish Murders

Ireland History Magazine Page 45

START MID MARCH

Page 46: Brutal Irish Murders

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ISSN 2047-3443

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We hope that you enjoyed this fascinating collection of true Irish

murders. We plan to compile another edition around June 2012

but before that we hope you will enjoy the next editions of the

Ireland History Magazine which will be released on the dates below