Ireland

1/ Dublin, (Coffin in Quarry) August 1885

A coffin bearing the words “Giffen aged 45 years” was found in a quarry at Kimmage, Dublin. Inside was the body of a small child, with a cut across its face and blood coming out of the mouth and nostrils. A feeble attempt had been made to bury the coffin.

2/ Dublin, (Four Drown) September 1872

Near the Martello Tower, Sandymount near Dublin, a boat containing four young lads aged between eight & fifteen capsized and unfortunately all four drowned. (No names?)

3/ Bray Head Drownings, September 1885

William Murphy aged twenty-three; Cyril Curtis aged twenty-two and Robert Flynn, only nineteen, hired a pleasure boat to go for a sail around Bray Head. No previous experience was necessary to pilot the craft, then the weather turned and the water’s got a bit choppy and the boat capsized. When no word of the boys came about, the local Dublin Bay fishermen and the tugboat “Flying Scotchman” set off to search for them. Unfortunately, so far nothing has been seen of them, presumably, all three have perished.

4/ County Wicklow Murder, August 1879

5/ Howth and Ireland’s Eye, (Kirwan Murder) November 1882

This place is associated with one of the famous murder mysteries in Irish history. It was in early September in 1852 when William Kirwan went to the island with his wife, Sarah Maria Louisa Kirwan, where she would swim and sunbathe, while he would draw and sketch the surrounding area. It was later on in the day when screams were heard and Sarah Kirwan’s body was found on the other side of the little island, with blood on her face. The first thing you think of is….the husband did it. When he was put on trial for the murder of his missus, the media got hold of the story and lapped it up when they discovered he was having an affair behind her back, with a woman named Teresa Kenny, who he had rented a house for. It also transpired that this had been going on for donkey’s years and with the fact that they had seven kids together! The evidence suggested this is a wife who was epileptic, had a seizure and drowned, with the screams heard over a mile away.(I too suffer from epilepsy, and have been told that I let out a horrendous scream when I have a seizure). Kirwan was found guilty and sentenced to death, which was commuted to a life sentence in Spike Island Prison in Cork. After twenty-seven years inside he was let in 1879 and told he would have to leave Ireland straight away. It is believed he was found guilty because of his affair and siring seven children, rather than the supposed murder of his wife.

November 1882 (Skeleton Found)

This little story is another grisly chapter in Irelands Eye history. A gentleman along with his son visited the island and were walking the beach around it when they stumbled upon a skull, which had pearly white teeth. It was dug up and found to be a whole skeleton and then examined at a post-mortem. There were no signs of violence on the bones and it was thought to be a male in his mid-thirties and had been underground at least a decade or so.

There was a bit of local gossip that told of three men rowing to the island about four years ago, in order to go shooting and that only two were spotted on the return journey. What happened to the third bloke?

6/ County Cork, (Family Killed by Suffocation) December 1878

7/ Wexford, (Fire Suicide) April 1895

Farmer, James White, had been an inmate of a lunatic asylum on a number of occasions but found to be quite well, so then let out and sent home, had lived on a farm with his sister. Last week he locked her out of the house, then the next morning the house was engulfed in flames. When the building was entered, they discovered his charred body and it was deemed to be an act of self-destruction.

8/ Queenstown (Cobh), (Two Soldiers Drown) June 1888

9/ Waterford Storm, January 1890

The coasts of Waterford and Wexford were visited on Saturday night by some of the severest storms experienced for years. A schooner is supposed to have foundered with all hands outside Waterford Harbour and a portion of wreckage was washed ashore on Monday. (Name of the schooner?)

10/  Hacketstown Triple Murder, County Carlow,  December 1876

11/ Phoenix Park, Dublin, July 1893 (Amazing Cricket Match)

I realise the rest of the website contains stories of deaths, murder and suicide and even cannibalism and the odd haunted house, but this is so fantastic I thought I’d put it in. I’m a cricket fan anyway and have seen Ben Stokes and Chris Gayle hit their fair share of “sixes”, but a seven? County Kildare Cricket Club were playing Phoenix Cricket Club and Kildare went to bat first and were 114 for 8, but the tail-enders dug in and took the score to 243 for 9. The Kildare captain thought that was enough runs and declared and gave Phoenix just over two hours to get those 243 runs. Phoenix batted like demons and made the 243 in one hour and forty minutes for the loss of two wickets. It left them half an hour or so and with eight wickets in hand, to score one run. Up comes the Kildare bowler by the name of Ross, to pull off cricket history when he took seven wickets for one run (the run was previously conceded). Seven “ducks” in a row on the Phoenix scorecard. But this doesn’t end there, because during the match three Phoenix batsmen scored a “seven”, they were Hamilton, Cox and Jack Meldon. Apparently, Meldon’s uncle copied the feat for Dublin University when he scored a seven, three sixes, two fives and a handful of fours, in an innings of 114.

12/ Waterford Harbour (Drownings) June 1885

On Saturday evening, a melancholy boat accident occurred on the Wexford side of Waterford Harbour. Six young men were in a sailing boat, which, owing to some mismanagement, was capsized. Three of the occupants named: Michael Thomas Broady, John Broady and Patrick Grant, who were unable to swim, were drowned. The other three clung to the capsized boat and were rescued by the crew of a passing schooner.

13/ Killeentierna, (Lightning Death) May 1899

Hugh O’Connor of Killeentierna was struck by lightning and killed yesterday afternoon while engaged with other men in cutting turf. Afterwards, there was a terrific hailstorm, which caused serious damage to orchards and fruit gardens.

14/ Castleisland (Kerry) June 1899

Two brothers named Boosnan aged nineteen and twelve, the sons of a farmer, were drowned on Sunday evening at Castleisland in County Kerry, whilst bathing.

15/ Waterford Mysterious Murder, November 26th, 1885

Waterford Murder, November 27th, 1885

Waterford Murder, December 23rd, 1885

At the Leinster Winter Assizes on Monday, a boy who was only fourteen-years-old, named McGrath, who stabbed his sister aged eleven, with a penknife at their mother’s residence at Waterford whilst quarrelling, was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to a month’s imprisonment and two years subsequent discipline in a reformatory.

16/ Dublin, (Seducer Attacked at Inquest) May 1878

17/ Cremorgan Woods Suicide, near Timahoe, February 1891

A horrific discovery was made at Cremorgan Woods inTimahoe, when a workman who was employed by Mr Moore, J.P., the property owner, was ambling through the woods when he came across the body of a badly decomposing body which was suspended from a tree. It was identified as thirty-year-old John Egan, who suddenly vanished about ten months ago. Early in April of 1890 Egan had a row with his missus and threatened to kill himself, but then disappeared off the face of the earth. Until now, when his ten-month-old decaying corpse was found swinging from a tree.

18/ Naas Workhouse/ Cavan Asylum Murders, May 1905

19/ Ballindoney Castle Suicide, Tipperary, November 1859

A young servant girl, Mary Meagher, went to dig up some spuds at Coole with a group of others. When they got back they went to a local pub to get drunk. While under the influence of drink, Mary stayed behind with a young fella. When she was at work on Monday she seemed to be depressed and was even having nightmares when she was asleep. She was out one day with a friend of hers, who kept on nagging her about what had happened with Mary and the young fella, when she told her. Then she asked her if someone would die by jumping from the top of Ballindoney Castle, which was about a hundred feet high, but now just a ruin. Mary told her that she could forgive the whole world, except that young man she was with that evening. Presumably, he had molested her or raped her. A couple of days later her mangled body was discovered at the base of the castle, as her previous questioning as to whether someone would die if they leapt off Ballindoney Castle, came true.

20/ Havelock Square, Irishtown, (Accident or Murder?) December 1885

21/ Carlow, (Sister Lives with Brothers Corpse) March 1890

Here’s a newspaper story that is a little bit creepy. It involved a brother and sister named Moore who both lived in Carlow. They both managed to get by, from relatives giving them food and money. The siblings were by all accounts very clever, but the young man hadn’t been seen for quite some time when it turned out that he was, in fact, dead as a dodo. He died a couple of months ago from influenza, but the policeman who was following up on inquiries was told by the sister that he was upstairs in bed. He certainly was, but his decomposed corpse was beyond recognition. The sister was placed in care. Had she kept him because she couldn’t afford a burial? Or was it that she had a mental breakdown and carried on as though he was alive and well?

22/ Limerick, (Eleven Die at Irish Wake) February 1845

A gathering of people at a wake in Change Lane in Limerick was crammed into the room where the body was laid out, when the floor suddenly collapsed and they dropped down to the room below. In a domino effect, that floor also gave way and that floor plus the crowd of mourners were sent to the ground floor. In the rubble and debris, lay the bodies of eleven dead people and around a couple of dozen who are seriously injured, with broken limbs, gashes, head injuries etc. (How many died in this horrendous accident?)

23/ Longford Murder, December 12th, 1885

Longford Murder, December 14th, 1885

At Sligo Assizes on Saturday, John Cronin was found guilty of the murder of Thomas Cronin, his father at Longford and was sentenced to be executed on January 13th.

24/ Spike Island, Cork, (Gunners go Missing) January 1899

On Sunday afternoon four gunners of the Royal Artillery named Brown, Barrett, Friend and Croyan, left Spike Island in Cork Harbour, to spend the evening at Fort Carlisle. At 9-30 p.m. they left in a small boat for the purpose of returning to their quarters. They failed to do so and on Monday their boat was washed up at Corkbeg, with one of the bodies was recovered yesterday afternoon.

25/ Tralee, (Headless Child Found) August 1895

The body of a dead infant was discovered in the house of a marine stores merchant in Tralee. The child was about a week old and had been decapitated. As a result of police inquiries, a servant at the merchant’s residence has been arrested for infanticide.

26/ Queenstown (now Cobh) Harbour, (Fatal Collision) January 1885

27/ Tralee, (Crushed in Machinery) September 1885

A girl named Talbot was attending the drum of a threshing machine on Tuesday, at a place about four miles from Tralee, when her arm caught by the band and torn from its socket. Her hair was also caught and her body was being drawn into the machinery, when the gear was thrown off and she was released. The girl died soon afterwards at the Tralee Infirmary.

28/ Donegal Murder, March 1899

At Cornarvon near Milford in County Donegal, John Williams, aged fifty-five, was found murdered in his house. He was shot through the side and his head was smashed in. Two men have been arrested on suspicion. At the inquest held later, the jury returned an open verdict.

29/ Lough Corrib, County Galway, (Boating Deaths) June 1888

Five men, named respectively Doyle, Dougherty, Ryan, Walsh and Murray, who were engaged in some building work at Oughterard in County Galway, left that place on Sunday to row across Lough Corrib to Cong. By some means, the boat capsized and the three first-named were drowned. Walsh and Murray were afterwards found on the island of Inchagoill, much exhausted.

30/ Millstreet Murder, Co. Cork, June 17th, 1885 (See No.55)

Millstreet Murder, June 25th, 1885

31/ Kilrush Bay, County Clare, (Three Drowned) August 1890

Three children-two sisters named Tarpey and a boy named Creaghen-were collecting shells in Kilrush Bay one Sunday when they were overtaken by the incoming tide and drowned.

32/ Cork Lunatic Asylum Murder, September 1904

At 1-30 a.m. one Wednesday morning there was a disturbance in one the rooms at Cork Lunatic Asylum, which was shared by a couple of inmates of the establishment. Two attendants discovered one of them, by the name of Swanton, was being forced down in his bed by the other. A struggle ensued and when they were broken up, Swanton had blood pouring from a head wound. He was taken to the Infirmary and was found to have a fractured skull. He died shortly afterwards.

33/ Rushbrook Drowning, County Cork, August 1890

At Rushbrook near Queenstown (Now Cobh) early one morning, Mr J.Keeting, the principal teacher of the Male National Schools, was accidentally drowned whilst bathing in front of his house. The sad event was witnessed by his wife.

34/ Shercock Quadruple Murder, County Cavan, February 1898

35/ Annagh near Ballyhaunis, County Mayo, (House Collapse Kills Worker) September 1885

At Annagh near Ballyhaunis, a house occupied by Mr Tyrell whilst undergoing repair, suddenly collapsed, burying a labourer named Waldron who on being extricated was found to be quite dead. Several other persons, including Miss Tyrell, were injured and Mr Tyrell himself had a miraculous escape.

36/ Fermoy, County Cork, (Captain’s Suicide) August 1889

Captain Mansell of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, committed suicide on Tuesday evening by shooting himself with a revolver or air-gun, in his apartments at Fermoy. The circumstances in connection with the sad event have not yet been made public. He was about thirty-three years of age and was unmarried.

37/ Campile Bridge Suicide, County Wexford, September 1833

Eleven-year-old Jeremiah Boyse, son of Mr W.Boyse of Saltmills in Wexford, was corrected at school and in a schoolboy frenzy he legged it back home. His father told him to go back to school and followed him part of the way, then when they got to Campile Bridge (Seen it on Google Maps, and is about 7-8 feet high), he jumped into the stream. His dead body was found a short distance away and was handed over to the father.

38/ Garristown Murder/Suicide, County Dublin, January 1885

39/ Kenmare, County Kerry, (Lady/Servant Drown) August 1885

A young lady, the daughter of Mr Brewen who resided near Kenmare, along with a female servant, were drowned in Kenmare Bay on Tuesday. They went to bathe as the tide was ebbing. The servant got beyond depth and Miss Brewen went to her assistance, but both sank in about twelve feet of water.

40/ Ballyhooly, Waterford, July 1885

While some young men were bathing one Sunday at Ballyhooly on the Waterford coast, Michael Keegan swam a considerable distance out was carried away by the current and drowned.

41/ Tralee Murder, December 1872

A woman named Hannah Nolan was charged at Tralee with the murder of her son Patrick aged seventeen.The youth’s body was found in a ditch near his home with a mark of violence on his neck. An inquest was held and the coroner’s jury returned a verdict of wilful murder against persons unknown. The principal witness against the woman was her daughter aged thirteen, who deposed to an altercation between the deceased and the prisoner. The lad disappeared and the prisoner subsequently confessed that she held him by the throat and beat him till he was dead. The case was adjourned for a week. (What happened to the mother?)

42/ Mitchelstown Murder, County Cork, November 24th, 1885

Mitchelstown Murder, November 25th, 1885

Two arrests have been made in connection with the Araglin murder. The prisoners are Thomas and William Parker, brothers, the latter said to be an evicted tenant on the Buckley estate. Further arrests are expected. The body of the murdered man Tobin was found in a boreen (Irish country lane). Several large stones were on the body and other blood-stained stones with which it appears he was attacked, were found close by.

43/ Dundalk Church Murder, November 1894

A woman named Hacken was murdered in St Patrick’s Church in Dundalk, by a lunatic named Roddy. He was insane and killed her in a fit of insanity and he was ordered to be sent to the nearest lunatic asylum. (Is church still there?)

44/ Clones, County Monaghan, (Murder/Dead Infant) March 1904

The little town of Clones is still trying to get over the murder of Joseph Flanagan when a new discovery shed more gloom over the town. A lifeless corpse of an infant was found by a young chap who was at a funeral in the old abbey graveyard. He spotted an apron drenched in blood behind one of the graves and when he told police they found that it was a baby’s body, which had been brutally beaten.

45/ Waterford Harbour, July 1885

Early on Saturday morning, an Austrian barque came into collision with the fishing smack “Sea Foam”, off Waterford Harbour, where the latter was engaged in herring fishing. The smack sank immediately and two of the crew named John Callaghan and Michael McCarthy were drowned.

46/ Bantry Town Murder, April 1899

47/ Shannon Bridge Pitchfork Murder, October 1897

A Parsonstown telegram reports that Kiernan Kenny, farmer aged seventy, who is alleged to have been stabbed with a pitchfork in the Shannon Bridge affray on Friday night, in connection with a right of way dispute, died on Monday evening. His son Patrick, who was stabbed on the same occasion, survives but is in a critical condition.

48/ Rush, County Dublin, (Gunpowder on the Fire) June 1856

At Rush in County Dublin, the young daughter of a gamekeeper of Sir Roger Palmer was lighting the kitchen stove, when she found the sticks were a bit damp, so having the bright idea of sprinkling a smidgen of gunpowder on them, just to get the fire going. She shook the gunpowder flask over the twigs and the whole lot exploded, with shards of wood travelling everywhere and with one sticking straight into her heart and the poor lass dying within a few minutes.

49/ Carrick-on-Suir (Tipperary) (Wife Murder) March 1885

50/ Cork, (Dead Infant) May 1870

A package from Bristol arrived at the Chief of Police at Cork. When they undid it, a dead infant was found inside. The parcel was originally sent from cork to Bristol, but on finding what the contents were he sent the decaying corpse back to Cork.

51/ Monaghan,(Two Drown) January 1885

Yesterday an inquest was held on the bodies of two boys who were drowned on Monday in a lake near Monaghan. One of them named Christie had gone down in the water, the ice having broken, whereupon a companion named Gillanders who saw the occurrence endeavoured to pull him out. Unhappily Gillanders was also pulled into the water and both sank. The lake was twenty feet deep at the place and both boys were drowned. A verdict of “Accidental Death” was returned.

52/ Kilfaudeen Murder, (near Kilmacabea/Leap in County Cork) February 1885

53/ Valentia Island, County Kerry, October 1896

Two cable operators from the Anglo-American cable station at Valentia Island, County Kerry, were sailing a small boat one Sunday when they were struck by a squall. George Hutton was drowned; William Thompson was picked up in an exhausted condition.

54/ Dublin Filicide, January 1885

At the Dublin police Court yesterday an old man named McGuiness, a cutler, was remanded on a charge of killing his son whom he stabbed with a knife during a quarrel. The father was also stabbed and had been to the hospital.

55/ Millstreet Murder, August 1885 (See No.30 for the other Millstreet murder of Cashman)

56/ Killarney, (Centenarian Run Over) March 1859

Mary Walsh, who would be a phenomenal age in today’s society let alone Victorian Ireland, managed to get to 111 years of age. She was crawling across the road at night when a man in his horse and waggon saw her and tried to pull his horses up, but it was too late and he ran over the centenarian, with the wheels crushing her frail body.

57/ Hatley Manor Deaths, near Carrick-on-Shannon (Leitrim) July 1885

The roof of the house of Mr Cecil Whyte at Hatley Manor near Carrick-on-Shannon fell in last evening at 6-30 p.m. and killed a baby and its nurse. A second child is missing and is believed also to be killed. Both Mr and Mrs Whyte are away from home. Mr Whyte is a Deputy Lieutenant of the county and is a most influential landed proprietor.

58/ Rathgoul Wife Poisoning, County Limerick, June 1885

59/ Waterford, May 1885

Mr St.George Mathews of the Waterford branch of the National Bank was thrown from his bicycle on Saturday and sustained concussion of the brain. He remained insensible until yesterday morning when death ensued.

60/ Kingstown (Turret Suicide) (Dun Laoghaire) August 1863

Captain Sarturus, formerly of the 11th Hussars and currently suffering from mental problems, managed to escape from his cares and threw himself, while stark naked, off the turret of his home, about forty feet to the ground below. He was unconscious and didn’t die until the following morning. Sarturus had had a serious accident while hunting and sustained terrible head injuries, since then his behaviour was abnormal, to say the least. The family hired a couple of attendants to keep their eye on him but he managed to slip away from them. (Where was his residence in Kingstown?).

61/ Monaghan Murder, December 1872

62/ Saggart Church Suicide, County Dublin, August 1907

Minnie Hunt was a young servant girl who had recently become strange in her manner, then did something really weird to get the villagers attention. Minnie climbed the church tower and locked the door behind her, then sat on the parapet and threatened to jump off if anyone tried to come up and rescue her. The local population looked on in horror as she finally plummeted to the ground killing herself instantly.

63/ Castleisland (Kerry) (Trigger Happy Police) March 1885

The young man Murphy who was recently shot by the accidental discharge of a rifle of one of the police patrol guarding the father’s house at Castleisland, County Kerry, had died of his wound. It is stated that two police constables who entered the house while on patrol duty, have been removed from the force.

64/ Clonboo/Galway Gaol Execution, January 1885

65/ Lyons Castle Suicide, (Kildare) April 1869

The owner of Lyons Castle in County Kildare, Lord Cloncurry, killed himself by plunging from his bedroom window in his residence. He had to have attendants watching him 24/7, but he managed to evade them, then the 53-year-old committed suicide.

66/ Fintona Self Immolation, County Tyrone, August 1893

I don’t think there is a more painful and drawn-out method of suicide than self-immolation. Ann Munnagh decided to kill herself by stripping off her clothes and throwing herself onto a fire at Fintona in Tyrone. Her remains were just a charred corpse, with all of her features burned to a crisp.

67/ Cork Cabbie Murder, April 1899

68/ The Commons, County Donegal, (Mad Father Kills Son) May 1890

At The Commons, Donegal, a young man lay in bed suffering from inflammation of the brain, when his father, named McCormack murdered him in cold blood. The father who is clearly mad, killed him because he thought that an evil spirit was haunting his home.

69/ Ballygar Murder, County Galway, (Family Feud) October 1905

A family argument got out of hand at Ballygar, County Galway, when a father and son were in dispute over some land. They began to fight each other when the sister stepped in and held her brother down, while the father stabbed him with a pitchfork in his head. Both prongs entered the eye sockets and the mother joined in, by smacking him with a heavy stone. The young man lingered for a few days but eventually passed away, while the rest of his family were put in the clink.

70/ Lisdoonvarna, County Clare, (Sisters Drown) September 1885

71/ Clanbrassil Street, Dublin, September 1888 (Haunted House)

A residence in Clanbrassil Street in Dublin has a reputation for being haunted, as a handful of tenants have lived there in the past few months and left after a short tenancy. The landlord was that fed up with the spectral goings-on, that he gave the last tenant a year’s free rent if he stayed the distance, but he failed. The supposed phantom smashes furniture and makes loud noises.

72/ Raphoe, County Donegal, March 1875 (Ghostly Lady)

A tale from Raphoe in County Donegal, suggests that the streets of the place are being walked at night by a tall ghostly figure of a woman who has been seen late at night by several of the local population. Many of them are that frightened by the ghostly apparition, that they choose to stay in at night-time, not daring to venture out. (Was it a hoax?)

73/ Galway Murder, January 14th, 1885

Galway Murder, January 21st, 1885

At Galway yesterday, Thomas Parry was hanged for the murder of a young lady, to whom he was engaged, in August last. The execution had been postponed for a week in order that Parry’s mental condition might be ascertained. Two medical gentlemen engaged by the Lord Lieutenant found the convict to be sane; but in a confession written on Monday night, he asserted that his mind was “not right” when he shot the young lady. Berry was the executioner.

74/ Rhebogue Wedding Suicide, Limerick,  September 1876

A suicide at a wedding is the one place I thought that I’d never read about, but this fella put me right. A father by the name of Lawlor was celebrating his daughter’s marriage to Mr Hogan, a farmer and they were having a knees-up at Lawlor’s house. Somebody ventured upstairs and found the sixty-year-old hanging from a rafter in a bedroom. He had stood on a basket, made a noose with his braces and attached to the beam, then kicked away the basket, leaving himself suspended. The only possible reason for this was the giving of his daughter, a £100 and some land and was regretting his decision, so he thought that suicide on her wedding day would solve it!

75/ Glin (Waterford) (Could be The Glen?) July 1885

Mr Burke a farmer, residing at Glin in County Waterford, while shooting rabbits on Friday night incautiously drew his gun by the muzzle out of some furze in which he had placed it for a few minutes. The trigger catching on a twig caused the gun to go off and the contents entered Mr Burke’s body, killing him instantly.

76/ Queenstown (Now Cobh) (Divers Fatal Accident) September 1885

77/ Dungarvan, County Waterford, (Put Child on Fire) January 1885

A woman named Farrel, an inmate of Dungarvan Workhouse, was brought before magistrates on Saturday charged with being a dangerous lunatic. In the absence of sufficient proof of lunacy, the magistrates refused to grant an order for her committal to the asylum. On returning to the workhouse she became very violent, threw her child on the fire and held it there. When rescued the child was fearfully burnt. The woman was subsequently removed to Waterford Asylum.

78/ Kingstown Harbour Drowning (Dun Laoghaire) November 1896

On Sunday evening Christopher Gallagher, a night watchman, was accidentally drowned in Kingstown Harbour while attempting to board a dredger. He was one of the crew of the second lifeboat which attempted to rescue the crew of the shipwrecked vessel “Palmer” last Christmas Eve and the other day had been presented with a reward of £30.

79/ Listowel Wife Murder, County Kerry, July 9th, 1885

Listowel Wife Murder, County Kerry, July 13th, 1885

80/ Clonbrook, County Laois, (Husband Murder) January 1903

Mary Daly was hanged in Tullamore Prison on Friday morning in connection with the murder of her husband in Clonbrook, Queen’s County, in June. The woman’s accomplice was executed for his share in the crime on Wednesday.

81/ Faithlegg, County Waterford, (Victorian Football Violence) October 1889

A quarrel arose on Sunday night amongst a party of young men returning from a football match at Faithlegg in Waterford. One named John Lynch, stabbed Michael Hanlon severely in the abdomen, causing a portion of his intestines to protrude. His depositions have been taken. Lynch was arrested on Monday after a long search.

82/ Cloneen, Tipperary, March 1895 (Exorcising a Witch)

This just goes to prove that Ireland was still a very superstitious nation in the late 19th/early 20th century, ancient beliefs still rang true in more backward parts of Ireland. The story of this woman in Cloneen in Tipperary is a horrific one. A man named Clery, who was a cooper (barrel-maker) in Cloneen, was charged with the death of his wife and several others were charged with aiding and abetting the crime. His missus had a bout of influenza, instead, they believed a witch had possessed her and was given a herbal concoction and then put on top of a fire. Her intestines fell out when the stomach was burnt through, plus numerous other injuries. When she died of her “roasting”, they dumped her body in a ditch and that’s where she was discovered by police.

83/ Bandon Rail Deaths, County Cork, March 19th, 1885

Bandon Railway Deaths, County Cork, March 20th, 1885

84/ Borris, County Carlow, (Rotten Corpses in Well) February 1894

A shocking discovery was made in a well on an empty farmhouse at Borris in County Carlow. A sack was spotted on the surface of the water in the well and when checked they found the decaying remains of a man and a woman. They were so decomposed that identification was impossible. The house near where they were discovered was an “evicted farmstead” and no persons have been reported missing in this area. (Did they ever discover who they were?)

85/ Tramore, Waterford, (Shipwreck) February 1885

The brigantine Camellia of Cork, was on Saturday driven into Tramore Bay by the storm and endeavoured to cast anchor under Bromstorm Head, but her masts were carried away and she drifted towards land. The Tramore lifeboat went out and made several attempts to rescue the crew, but was unable to reach her. The vessel drifted ashore and became a total wreck. The crew, nine in number were all lost.

86/ Dublin Suicide, (Letter Left) May 1891

87/ Lough Mask Murder Victims, County Mayo, October 1882

The corpses of two bailiffs named Huddy who were discovered in Lough Mask chained together and dumped there by the killers, were given a proper burial by the authorities in a churchyard. To their horror, the perpetrators of this horrendous crime have dug up the two bodies with help from locals and dumped them back in Lough Mask. They have broadcast the fact they did this as well, by stating-“The people say we killed them, and we will put them wherever we want, and in the lake, they will stay”.

88/ Holly Brook House Drowning, County Sligo, August 1889

A sad fatality occurred at Holly Brook House in Sligo, the residence of Colonel Ffolliott, D.L. His youngest daughter named Anna aged twenty-three, left the house about noon for the purpose of gathering some water-lilies which were growing on the borders of a small lake within the demesne. While doing so she overbalanced herself and fell into the lake and was drowned.

89/ Moate Murder, Westmeath, February 16th, 1885

A brutal murder was committed on Saturday night near Moate in Westmeath. A farmer named Peter Kelly was waylaid and fatally beaten, his head being completely battered in. The crime is attributed to an agrarian dispute.

Moate Murder, Westmeath, February 1885

90/ Detective Police Station Suicide, Dublin, March 1875

Normally when you see that a suicide was committed in a police station, it’s usually a prisoner in the cells, but to have a Detective Officer do it, well that’s another thing. John Cooke of the Dublin Metropolitan Police killed himself in the main police station in Dublin (Which is where?). It was premeditated as he written letters to friends and family explaining what he intended to do and why. It stems from when he gave evidence in the Fenian conspiracy in 1866 and he was assaulted and got a good kicking for doing so. The head injuries took there effect on him and since then have never been quite right.

91/ Ballyknock Matricide, County Kilkenny, July 1890

The magisterial investigation was opened on Monday into the charge against Edmund Hart of Ballyknock in County Kilkenny, who so brutally murdered and mutilated his mother on Thursday last. The prisoner who was brought into court handcuffed bore traces of the attempts which he made in his cell to commit suicide. He confessed to a warder that he first smothered his mother and then cut her up. The inquiry was adjourned and the prisoner removed to Kilkenny Gaol, being bound to the car in order to prevent him from using violence.

92/ Waterford Fatal Fight, July 14th, 1885 (Sorry, a piece missing, the paper was flimsy)

Waterford Murder, July 15th, 1885

93/ Maynooth, County Kildare, (Siblings Die in Pond) December 1885

Yesterday, Robert and Maria Walsh, brother and sister, aged sixteen and seventeen, the children of a gentleman residing near Maynooth in County Kildare, were drowned while skating on a pond near their residence, through the breaking of the ice.

94/ Dunmore, County Galway, (Accidental Shooting) November 1885

At Dunmore in County Galway on Monday, while a herd named McLoughlin was out of his house for a few minutes, his son, a boy of eleven years of age, took up a loaded gun and pointing it at his father as he was entering the house, accidentally pulled the trigger and killed him on the spot.

95/ Killarney Murder, December 1885

An inquest was held at Killarney on the body of Jeremiah Rahilly, who was murdered on Sunday afternoon within a quarter of a mile of the town. An open verdict was returned. Daniel Shea, Patrick Whetstone and Daniel Sheehan, the latter the son of the tenant evicted from the farm upon which Rahilly was acting as caretaker, have been arrested on suspicion.

96/ Passage West Murder, County Cork, October 1896

97/ Drumhill Manslaughter? Manorcunningham, County Donegal, July 1895

At an inquest held on Monday at Drumehill, Manorcunningham on the body of James Orr, the medical evidence showed that death was caused by one of two incised wounds on the breast, penetrating the heart. At the magisterial investigation subsequently, witnesses stated that Orr and a man named Sheerin, fought together on Saturday and that they fell and were separated. Sheerin returned and renewed the fight, in which Orr received the wounds. The prisoner Sheerin was sent for trial to the Winter Assizes on the charge of murder.

98/ Cape Clear, County Cork, (Seven Drowned) October 1885

Seven fishermen belonging to Long Island near Schull in West Cork were drowned off Cape Clear on Tuesday night. It appears that a fleet of open fishing boats with long sails proceeded on Tuesday night to sea, for the purpose of line fishing. During the night a heavy gale set in and most of the fleet ran for shelter. One boat remained behind and when she failed to turn up the following morning, a search was made and she was found bottom up. There was no trace of the occupants whose names were:- Wholley (three), Sullivan (two), Regan and Jones.

99/ Derrydonnelly Murder near Athenry,(Galway) August 1885

100/ Balls Bridge Suicide, Dublin, December 1908

A body was found in the River Dodder near Balls Bridge in Dublin. It was identified as a previous suicide tryer, Adelaide Earles, who tried to kill herself by throwing herself from some rocks at Howth (See Ireland’s Eye postcard) in mid-November. A tragic mishap occurred in that effort because he sister-in-law Mrs Lloyd tried to stop her from jumping and in the scuffle she fell over the cliff and was killed. Adelaide was put in an asylum but she escaped on Christmas Eve. It is thought that her previous insanity, plus what happened at Howth, made her even more determined to kill herself.

101/ Lixnaw Murderers Execution, Kerry, May 1888

102/ Star Music Hall Stage Death, Dublin, March 1882

An inquest was held into the death of Artois, a trapeze artist who was killed at the Star Music Hall during his “leap for life” stunt. Artois had put all the apparatus together himself, so the music hall proprietor, Mr Lowrey was totally blameless in this case. He also had a safety net with him but refused to use it. The artist’s real name was James Lilly and he left a wife and three kids. Although the music hall closed and has remained so until the inquest was over, they intend to hold a benefit performance in aid of Artois’s family. (What went wrong in the “leap for life”?).

103/ Cloonshanagh Fratricide, County Roscommon,  December 1885

104/ Bowdy’s Lane, Limerick, July 1883 (Four Children Found Dead)

Street scavengers while picking around in Bowdy’s Lane, a passage leading from Thomas Street to Roches Street, came across the bodies of four little kids under the pile of ashes and debris. When found, they were in a pool of water, picked out by some watchmen and at first, it was thought to be the corpse of three children but on closer medical inspection it proved to be four. Two were entire and the other two were only segments and body parts. Three of them were at maturity and were believed to have been born alive, while the fourth was approximately six or seven months old. Time of death was around six months ago and police are treating this most seriously and are trying to obtain clues as to their identity or parentage.

105/ Harold’s Cross Murder, Dublin, May 1885

106/ Dublin Romantic Suicide Pact, August 1867

This is a tale of a “romantic suicide” if there is such a thing. It starts when a group of men heard a splash in the water as they were walking near Ormond Quay near to the Metal Bridge. As none of them could swim they ran to Carlisle Bridge and told the boatmen to go and see what was the matter. They rowed out to the spot and found the bodies of a man and a woman tied together with a black handkerchief, which was wound around her neck and underneath his arms, so that she rested on his chest, in a sort of last loving embrace. They were taken to Hospital but both of them were dead. He was identified as Henry Hartshorn aged twenty-seven and of the 69th Regiment, while she was Amelia Oldham, whose husband was also in the 69th Regiment but from whom she was separated. It turns out that this pair had been seeing quite a lot of each other recently and the 69th Regiment was due to go to Canada as part of their operations. This obviously meant that the two would be apart from each other for ages, so they formed a suicide pact and jumped into the river together. Another little romantic touch was that when the autopsy was being done on Amelia, they found a tattoo with the word “Harry” inscribed on her arm.

107/ Waterford, (Arsonist Causes Death) May 1885

The Lismore Presentment Sessions- The house of a man named Barrett was burnt down last March and Barrett himself was burnt to death, after fighting his way through the flames and with the aid of his wife, rescuing one by one his five young children. The fire was believed to have been caused maliciously- the family having been threatened- and to this theory was accepted by the Court, who now awarded Mrs Barrett £60 compensation.

108/ Lough Derg Fatalities, County Donegal, (N.Ireland border)  August 1885

109/ Clonmel Lunatic Asylum Murder, County Tipperary, June 1833

An inmate from Clonmel Lunatic Asylum killed a fellow patient by beating him to death with an iron bar which he managed to get from his bedstead. Then he took out a knife and proceeded to chop him to bits, then placing those flesh fragments against the door frame. The attendant, who next morning found the door shut, asked the inmate to open up but he wouldn’t. He then coaxed him into putting his hand through an open window to get some drink and when he did, they grabbed hold of him, then managed to force open the door. On entering they found the remnants of the other patient and the perpetrator was immediately put into a solitary cell.

110/ Kingstown (Dun Laoghaire), County Dublin, (Tourists Vanish) April 1885

111/ Cahir Murder, County Tipperary, January 1898

A man’s body was found with his throat slit complete with some serious head injuries, on a cricket ground near to an officer’s mess in Cahir in Tipperary. He was trooper Goodwin of the 8th Hussars and he Major Wood’s servant and he hailed from Grimsby in Lincolnshire and was twenty-one-years-old. It was ascertained that he had been murdered elsewhere in the barracks, then was dragged or carried to the place where his body was discovered. In a coal cellar, there was a broken up rifle and a shovel doused in blood spatter. Goodwin had saved some money, in readiness for a trip back to his home-town and it is believed that robbery was the motive. Two other officer’s servants were arrested during that day on suspicion of murdering Goodwin.

112/ Royal Infirmary Poisoning, Dublin, February 1898

113/ Daily Express Building Corpse, Dublin, December 1891

The lifeless corpse of an unknown man who was about twenty-five, with black hair and beard but no moustache and with a front tooth missing, wearing an old coat and trousers, but no shirt or hat and only one boot on, was discovered in an old lumber-room by the caretaker of the “Daily Express” building in Dublin. He was looking for some papers when he spotted the tweed vest lying on the floor. He lit a match and there was the body. Nobody at the offices has ever seen the man before. (Was he a burglar? Suicide?)

114/ Blackhall Murder, County Wexford, September 1885

115/ Wicklow Infanticide, March 1885

116/ Clonmel Military Barracks Suicides (Tipperary) May 1850

William Williams, a soldier in the 74th Highlanders from Sligo, shot himself in the temple blowing his brains out, at the Military Barracks in Clonmel in County Tipperary. Barely had the suicide of Williams been sorted out than another soldier shot himself in the head and killed himself outright. This was a Scottish man named Duncan Love who was also in the 74th Highlanders and was a tailor back in Scotland. With the two men not knowing each other, there is an added mystery as to why two soldiers would commit suicide within a few hours of other?

117/ Cork/Wexford Death Sentences, March 1892

118/ Kingstown (Dun Laoghaire), (Lady Ribton Fatal Accident) January 1885

119/ Tully Wife Murder, County Offaly, June 1885

120/ Galway Murder Case, December 1885

121/ County Waterford Murder, April 1885

122/ Woodlawn Murder, County Galway, August 1885

123/ Ballyleary, Cobh, County Cork, (Hunting Death) March 1899

Whilst hunting yesterday with the United Hunt Club hounds at Ballyleary, Mr David Moore of Midleton in County Cork aged twenty-six, was thrown from the saddle and injured so severely that he died soon afterwards. His horse bolted when called upon to take a fence.