1/ Belfast Lough Boating Fatalities April 1892
2/ Port Stewart (Child Abuse/Murder) February 1892
3/ Carlisle Bridge Suicide, Londonderry, July 1914
John Flynn, a patient of Gransha Auxiliary Lunatic Asylum in Londonderry, suddenly attacked some warders with a bill-hook. He cut the throat of one, knocked down a couple of others, then made a run for it. He got outside the building and headed for Londonderry itself while being pursued by some warders on bikes chasing him. Flynn was halfway across Carlisle Bridge when realising he was about to be captured he plummeted over the edge, into the river. All this happened while a large crowd was looking on.
4/ Knockamuckley Church, Armagh, July 1888
William Thompson murdered his brother-in-law, Thomas Thompson at Knocknamuckley church, when about to be married. He was later given the death sentence.
5/ Belfast Lunatic Asylum Murder, August 1863
This is the account of a murder in the Lunatic Asylum at Belfast. The victim was one Thomas Fearon, who was an in-patient and he was strangled while he slept by William Smith, a lunatic in the same dormitory. The keeper unlocked the door at six a.m. and didn’t see anything wrong, but when he passed onto another dormitory, Smith tried to leap out of the window and to the ground below, a drop of twenty feet. The keeper, when he caught him, was informed by Smith that he had killed Fearon. They found Fearon lying on the ground with a piece of cord around his neck. Smith was charged with “Wilful Murder” and sent to the County gaol.
6/ Camlough Wife Murder, Newry, March 1885
Camlough, Newry July 1885
At the Armagh Assizes James Torleyof Camlough near Newry was sentenced to ten years penal servitude for killing his wife in March last, by beating out her brains with stones.
7/ Warrenpoint Train Station Death, County Down, July 1908
A dreadful fatality occurred at Warrenpoint in County Down, when a young woman named Alice Brady who had come from Dublin with her parents and boyfriend as members of a temperance excursion was trying to get on to the train as it arrived at the station. The crowd jostling for position themselves shoved her accidentally between the moving train and the platform. The result was horrific as she fell and was decapitated, in full view of a number of witnesses and killing her straight away.
8/ Forkhill near Newry December 29th, 1885
A farmer named Patrick McParland was charged at Forkhill near Newry, yesterday, with the murder of another farmer, James McParland, whom he attacked with a pair of tongs by beating him about the head. The prisoner was remanded pending the inquest.
Forkhill near Newry December 31st, 1885
Peter McParland charged with the murder of his uncle, John McParland on Christmas night at Forkhill near Newry, was remanded yesterday in consequence of James McParland, son of the deceased, not yet being out of danger. (What happened?)
9/ Belfast Triple Murder, April 1892
10/ Teoum Las, Isle of Man, (Double Infanticide) April 1894
Less than a month ago, Clementina Smith from Liverpool, went to lodge at a labourer’s house. She also seemed to be ill and locals were suspicious that the young woman had given birth. When she was questioned about this she immediately confessed that she had given birth to a set of twins. Police searched the building and found the bodies of a boy and a girl, in a box, with Smith being rushed off to hospital. The post-mortem results have not been released as of yet.
11/ Port Erin Drowning, April 1899
12/ Kesh, County Fermanagh, May 1885
A farmer named Johnson, while cutting turf yesterday near Kesh in County Fermanagh was struck by lightning and instantly killed.
13/ Middleton, County Armagh, (Eaten by Rats) July 1908
An elderly woman named Mrs Scott aged seventy-two, who lived on her own, hadn’t been seen by neighbours for a number of days. They forced their way into her home and discovered her lying dead on the kitchen floor with parts of her face and fingers having been nibbled away by the local rat population.
14/ Armagh Murder, December 1885
An Armagh telegram reports that at an inquest held yesterday at Clay near Keady, a verdict of wilful murder was returned against Thomas Nesbitt, who is in custody for causing the death of Francis McKee in a dispute about the ownership of a cow.
15/ Port Erin Mystery, Isle of Man, April 15th, 1899
16/ Giant’s Causeway Drownings, December 1885
Four fishermen were drowned near Portmoon, Giant’s Causeway, on Wednesday afternoon. While hauling in the nets a heavy sea capsized their boats. They mounted the keel, but before assistance arrived, they were washed off and perished.
17/ Derryleckagh River Fatality, July 1885 (There’s a Derryleckagh Lake?)
A verdict of accidentally drowned whilst bathing was returned on a young man named James McManus, who drowned in the Derryleckagh river near Newry yesterday evening whilst bathing. Several companions made unavailing efforts to save him.
18/ Lough Foyle, Londonderry, August 1885
A young man named Austin, an employee in the factory of Hogg and McIntyre, was drowned in Rosser Bay at Lough Foyle in Londonderry on Saturday evening. The young man jumped out of a boat and dived, but did not return to the surface.
19/ Ramsey Harbour Fatality, Isle of Man, February 1899
20/ Ramsey Harbour Death, April 1899 (Another fall into the Harbour)
21/ Holywell Street, Londonderry, August 1908 (Haunted House?)
Londonderry police are looking into the supposed haunting of a house, which has caused excitement amongst the population. A workman named McFadden and his wife and children, live in a cottage in Holywell Street and were constantly woken by various noises which kept them awake at night. One of the family members claims that they have observed a spectral lady, wearing a grey robe. The family was moved to other premises and the previous tenant came in late one night and told his wife to start packing, as they would be leaving in the morning. (What was it in the end?/A hoax?)
22/ Ballymena, (Girl on Fire) July 1885
Miss Sarah Strahan aged seventeen, who had returned home from a Belfast boarding school for her holidays, has died from burns sustained in consequence of her dress catching fire when standing near the parlour grate. The unfortunate young lady had carried off the chief prizes at the school.
23/ Belfast Suicide, January 1890
24/ Ballycregga Suicide, Isle of Man, May 1885
On Wednesday a most determined attempt at suicide was made by Sarah Hope, wife of a photographer residing in Ballycregga, Isle of Man. She had been low-spirited lately, when on Wednesday she took a gun belonging to a shooting gallery and placing it to her breast, fired. The bullet lodged near the heart and as it is not yet extracted, death must almost inevitably ensue.
25/ Ballakillowey, Isle of Man, February 1864 (Awful Treatment of Lunatic)
A number of years ago a young chap named Waterson was literally scared out of his wits by an apprentice who thought it would be a good laugh to dress up as a ghost, in a white sheet and scare him. He was frightened to such an extent, that for the last seventeen years he was kept in an outbuilding in Ballakillowey on the Isle of Man. The conditions were deplorable and were described thus:- “A filthy cowhouse, the walls damp and unsightly, the cold clay floor not even strewn with clean straw, the morsel there is being old and dank. Barred in, almost excluded from the light, unseen except by some curious visitor, untended, his food lowered down to him, here in this terrible prison he has existed for seventeen years”.
26/ Isle of Man, (Five Drown) March 1885
27/ Belfast Empire Theatre, November 1901 (There’s only one way to find out…..Fight!)
A riot occurred at the Belfast Empire Theatre when the artiste on stage had done his gig and refused to do an encore. Pat Rafferty had sung seven songs and as the crowd applauded, the curtain fell. They wanted an encore and as he didn’t come back on stage, they got violent and a riot ensued. Curtains were torn and an iron stanchion was pulled down then thrown into the stalls. Police were trying to maintain a modicum of control and it was down to them that nobody was seriously injured.
28/ Portadown Manslaughter, March 1885
An inquest was held at Portadown yesterday as to the death of a man named Cooke. Deceased and a neighbour named Brown had an altercation in the street and it is alleged that Brown, after changing his coat and hat, returned with an iron bar with which he struck Cooke on the head twice. The latter died a few hours afterwards from concussion of the brain. Seventeen out of twenty-three jurors returned a verdict of “Manslaughter”.
29/ Belfast Human Remains, February 1894
While excavating foundations at Messrs Steeles establishment, which was completely burned down at the end of 1893, some human remains were discovered. They were two male skeletons, a woman and a child, buried four feet underground. One of the skeletons had signs of blunt force trauma to the head, probably made by a hatchet or similar weapon. They are thought to be remains of people emigrating to Australia, U.S.A.etc, who were murdered for there meagre belongings, about a century ago.
30/ Armagh Railway Disaster, July 1889 (80 died and over 250 were injured)
31/ Douglas Promenade Suicide, Isle of Man, November 1902
A tragic suicide and a gallant attempt at rescue were witnessed off Douglas Promenade on Saturday afternoon. About 3-30 p.m. a middle-aged man named John Duggan divested himself of his coat and shoes and sprang into the sea. A crowd soon gathered and William Crellin, a grocer of Castle Street, plunged in to effect a rescue. He got hold of the drowning man but in the struggle to keep his head above water became exhausted. A lifebuoy rope was thrown to Crellin and by this means he managed to get ashore. Then another man dived into the sea to Duggan’s assistance but he became exhausted and had to be pulled out with the aid of a rope. A third attempt at rescue, however, was made by Walter Weston, a marine engineer, who managed to grasp hold of Duggan. A rope was thrown to him and both men were drawn to the wall of the Promenade, where it was found impossible to land them owing to the heavy sea running. They were accordingly dragged through the waves towards some steps a hundred yards away, but before reaching these Weston had to let Duggan go and he was drowned. Weston just managed to save himself.
32/ Broadway Fire Deaths, Douglas, Isle of Man, September 1895
At four a.m. on Friday, a huge inferno broke out in two large boarding-house in Broadway in Douglas. The fire took hold of the top floor of the building. After the fire was extinguished the fire brigade found the two charred corpses of a couple of domestic servant girls, who were asleep in the attic room. Nobody else was killed or injured.
33/ Finch Road Fatal Accident, Douglas, Isle of Man, June 1899
34/ Belfast, (Icy Grave) December 1885
Last evening a young man named John Howard ventured upon the ice on a sheet of water in a brickfield in the vicinity of Belfast. The ice broke and he sank. A man named James Lavery, who witnessed the occurrence, at once endeavoured to rescue him, but some time elapsed before he was brought from under the ice and by then he was quite dead.
35/ Portrush Murder? October 1909 (Bride Found Dead)
Sophia Thompson, who worked at the Alexandra Hotel in Portrush, was married to a young fella named Hackett who was the son of the huntsman of the North Antrim Hunt, on Saturday. The wedding went well and as family and guests made their way home, the happy couple went to their new home in Portrush. That same evening, Sophia was found dead in the home and police arrested a murder suspect. (Was it Hackett?)
36/ Ardglass Harbour Drownings, February 1885
Four men, named Edward Kelly and Michael Hart of Dublin and John Smith and William Magreevy of Ardglass, were drowned in Ardglass Harbour in County Down, during the storm on Saturday evening, by the swamping of their boat as they were proceeding to place a light on the steam dredge.
37/ Belfast Docks Fatal Explosion, April 1889
38/ Falcon Cliff Terrace Suicide, Douglas, Isle of Man, September 1881
Forty-one-year-old baker Robert Peel Crellin of Liverpool, stood in the porch at No 1, Falcon Cliff Terrace in Douglas and popped a gun in his mouth, then pulled the trigger. His wife had left him in Liverpool about a year ago and moved to Douglas on the Isle of Man for a fresh start in her home-town and she moved into Falcon Cliff Terrace. Crellin decided to pay his ex-missus and kids a little visit. He knocked on the door and tried to gain entry, she held him off, so that’s when he shot himself on her front porch. The next door neighbour saw the body lying there and went to get the police. When they arrived with the doctor, Crellin was already dead.
39/ The steamer “Fenella”, February 1899
40/ Ballynahinch, County Down, (Dogs Kill Owner) March 1892
Abigail McDonald, residing at Ballynahinch in County Down, while attempting on Monday night to separate four dogs that were fighting, was attacked by them and received such terrible bites upon her neck and other parts of her body that she died after two hours of suffering. The dogs which were her own property were afterwards destroyed.
41/ Belfast, January 1884 (Woman Lived as a Man)
A doctor at the Royal Hospital in Belfast got a shock when tending to the injuries of one John Coulter. The poor man died of the injuries and then a post-mortem examination took place. It turned out that John, could, in fact, have been a Jane, instead, as she had worked as a quay labourer and was always dressed as a bloke. She fooled hundreds of people over the years.
42/ Rathfriland, County Down, March 1899 (Self-immolation)
At Rathfriland in County Down, one Sunday night, a married woman named Carter poured a quantity of paraffin oil over her head and clothing and set fire to herself. She was discovered by her brother who put out the flames, but she is not likely to recover. She had been an inmate of Downpatrick Asylum for a considerable period of time.
43/ Londonderry Shooting, January 1885
44/ Lough Neagh, August 1904 (Six Drowned)
Seven men and women set off one afternoon for a pleasure trip in a boat on Lough Neagh and only one of them made it back to shore. William Green of Kinnegoe, owned some pleasure boats on the Lough and his family was visited by two cousins from Belfast and they brought two lads named Catchpole who had come from Guernsey. Frank Green, Miss Dorothy Green and Miss Winifred Green, also set out in the boat. The craft capsized when then tried to turn around and they were precipitated into the water. One by one they sank and drowned, except for Winifred Green, who clung on to the boat keel for approximately four hours. The boat drifted on the Lough and ended up near Avamore Point, where Winifred, who was about a hundred feet from the shore and exhausted, made a swim for it and then managed to crawl back to her house after landing.
Deceased are- Frank and Dorothy Green of Lurgan; Hugh and Frank Green of Belfast; and John Catchpole from Guernsey.
45/ Ballinamallard (Enniskillen) June 1885
previously taken a poisonous dose of laudanum, he at the time labouring under insanity.
46/ Douglas, Isle of Man, (Concealment of Birth) June 1893
A shocking discovery was made in the back garden of the Reverend W.T. Hobson’s, vicar of St Barnabas’s, home. A woman by the name of Ellen Flynn, in her late twenties and a servant at the Athol Hotel, was seen going towards the garden with a parcel and when she was spotted again, she had got rid of the suspect package. Flynn had lobbed it over an eight-foot-high hedge. A witness to the strange goings on stopped her and asked what was in the parcel and she refused to give an answer. Police were told of the occurrence and they searched the said garden. Not surprisingly, they discovered the body of a newly-born infant, wrapped in a towel and then swathed in newspaper. Police tracked her down to the Athol Hotel and put her under arrest to which crime she confessed to. The child, she said, was born the previous morning. Flynn was taken to the hospital, as she was in a weak state of health.
47/ People’s Park Pond Deaths, Lisburn? 1899
A little boy named Rice aged eleven, fell into a pond in the People’s Park in Lisburn in County Antrim on Monday afternoon and was drowned. His sister aged nine went to his rescue and also lost her life.
48/ Belfast Harbour, June 1899
A respectably dressed man, whose identity has not been ascertained, walked in Belfast Harbour yesterday at Queen’s Quay, and before assistance could be rendered, he was drowned.
49/ Lough Erne Fatality, near Kesh (Fermanagh) June 1899
A youth named Allan was drowned in Lough Erne near Kesh in County Fermanagh one Sunday. In diving from a boat while bathing he got entangled in the mud and before his companions could extricate him, life was extinct.
50/ Carndonagh, County Donegal, (Siblings Burn to Death) May 1899
51/ Ballymena, June 1899
Augustus McCusker aged nineteen and Patrick McTrustry aged thirty-five, employees of Messrs James McAllister and Son in Ballymena, were drowned yesterday while bathing in the River Braid.
52/ Londonderry Fatality, May 1899 (Another dies waiting for Lady Balfour!)
53/ Dungannon Fatal Shooting, March 1885
54/ Tullyallon (Guessing its in Northern Ireland, says Dungannon) August 1889
55/ Poyntzpass Railway Station Death, August 1896
56/ Maghera Murder, County Down, May 1888
57/ County Down Murder, August 1870.
A murder has been committed in County Down, the victim being John Gallagher, bailiff on Colonel Forbes Sleaforde estates. Gallagher was last seen on Friday evening going into a plantation. His body was found next morning with a wound on the head. It is believed he was murdered for the purpose of robbery, a sum of £16 having been taken from his person. No arrests have yet been made.