I know I have had this discussion with a few members of this forum over the past few years but I can't recall ever starting up a thread about this topic.
Of the 102 executions, one of them was a relative of mine. Martin Burke was from Headford, Co. Galway and my grandfather claims he was a cousin of his. Since I have come up with the actual letter that he wrote to another cousin, the night before he was executed, I have to believe my grandfathers claim. I also have the letter Stephen Joyce wrote to his sister the night before the execution. Stephen is not related. I will try to post the actual letters, so you can read them. They are very fragile and aged and I think I still can get a clean readable copy from them. As you will read in both letters, Martin and Stephen had no regrets for giving up their lives for the fight for Irish freedom.
Martin and four other accomplices, Thomas Hughes, Michael Walsh, Herbert Collis and Stephen Joyce were executed on January 20, 1923 at the Athlone Prison at sunrise. Even though they were tried for treason, I have yet to find out their actual crime.
There were 164 executions in Southern Ireland during the 20th century. 12 men and 1 woman were hanged under British civil jurisdiction between 1900 and 1911. Thereafter there were no more executions for civilian crimes under British rule. However 15 men were executed by firing squad for treason, under British jurisdiction, for their parts in the 1916 Easter Rebellion. (see below). There were 102 executions during the Irish Civil War (1920 - 1923) with 91 men shot and 11 hanged. In September 1922 the Dαil (parliament) Resolution passed a resolution providing for the death penalty for terrorist offences, following trial by military tribunal. As a result, the provisional 26 counties government executed 75 people in the six months from November 1922 to April 1923, all by firing squad at various locations. 35 people, including 1 woman, were hanged for murder between 1922, (after Ireland had achieved independence) and 1954. Annie Walsh of Co. Limerick was executed on the 5th of August 1925 at Dublins Mountjoy prison for the murder of her husband. (The British administration had reprieved all six females sentenced to death in the seventeen years prior to independence). 25-year-old Michael Manning became the last to be executed, for the murder of Catherine Cooper, an elderly nurse. All these executions were carried out by the serving British hangman of the day, who was always an unpopular figure in Ireland.
Capital punishment was partially abolished in 1964, for all but a few very specific forms of murder, notably the murder of police officers (the Garda) or prison officers. The Dαil finally abolished it completely in 1990, when new legislation created a 40-year minimum prison term for exceptional murders. The last to be sentenced to death were Noel Callen and Michael McHugh for the murder of Garda Patrick Morrissey after a robbery in County Louth in 1985. Noel and Marie Murray came close to being the last to be executed, having been convicted of the capital murder of Garda Michael Reynolds following an armed bank robbery in Dublin in 1975. They both refused to seek clemency, so to avoid international embarrassment the president decided to impose it upon them whether they wanted it or not. On the 1st of November 1976 the Supreme Court quashed Noels capital murder conviction and substituted one of common murder and ordered a re-trial for Marie in 1977 - this time she was found guilty of only common murder. They were both released in 1992. Of the 11 people who received death sentences in Eire in the 1970's and 1980's, all have been released except the last two who were sentenced in 1985 - but they will never serve 40 years under the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights, as a judge did not determine the sentence.
Day
Date
Name
Age
Place
Crime
Hangman
Tue
10/04/1900
Patrick Dunphy
34
Waterford
child murder
Thomas Scott
Fri
11/01/1901
Timothy Cadogan
Cork
murder land agent
James Billington
Thur
07/03/1901
John Toole
Dublin
wife murder
Thomas Scott
Wed
23/04/1902
Thomas Keeley
28
Galway
murder landlady
William Billington
Tue
30/12/1902
James Docherty
65
Sligo
murder son
William Billington
Wed
07/01/1903
Joseph Taylor
25
Kilkenny
murder
William Billington
Fri
09/01/1903
Mary Daly
40
Tullamore
murder husband
William Billington
Tue
05/01/1904
Joseph Moran
Londonderry
murder woman
William Billington
Thur
14/04/1904
James Campion
Kilkenny
wife murder
William Billington
Fri
15/04/1904
John Kelly
Kilkenny
wife murder
William Billington
Tue
25/04/1905
John Foster
Cork
murder soldier
William Billington
Tue
04/01/1910
Joseph Hefferman
27
Dublin
murder woman
Henry Pierrepoint
Wed
04/01/1911
William Scanlan
Cork
murder sister in law
John Ellis
Thur
29/11/1923
William Downs
25
Dublin
murder police officer
John Ellis
Wed
12/12/1923
Thomas Delaney
38
Dublin
murder old man
Tom Pierrepoint
Wed
12/12/1923
Thomas M' Donagh
42
Dublin
murder woman
Tom Pierrepoint
Sat
15/12/1923
Peter Hynes
40
Dublin
murder soldier
Tom Pierrepoint
Thur
13/03/1924
Jeremiah Gaffney
23
Dublin
murder
Tom Pierrepoint
Fri
01/08/1924
Felix McMullen
26
Dublin
murder police officer
Tom Pierrepoint
Tue
28/07/1925
Cornelius O' Lleary
40
Dublin
murder brother
Tom Pierrepoint
Wed
05/08/1925
Michael Talbot
24
Dublin
murder
Tom Pierrepoint
Wed
05/08/1925
Annie Walsh
31
Dublin
murder husband
Tom Pierrepoint
Thur
15/07/1926
James Myles
22
Dublin
murder
Tom Pierrepoint
Wed
24/11/1926
James M' Hugh
31
Dublin
murder
Tom Pierrepoint
Thur
09/12/1926
Henry M' Cabe
48
Dublin
murder employers
Tom Pierrepoint
Thur
29/12/1927
William O' Neill
19
Dublin
murder woman
Tom Pierrepoint
Wed
29/08/1928
Gerard Toal
18
Dublin
murder housekeeper
Tom Pierrepoint
Thur
25/04/1929
John Cox
33
Dublin
murder
Tom Pierrepoint
Thur
04/08/1931
David O'Shea
34
Dublin
murder
Tom Pierrepoint
Thur
29/12/1932
Patrick McDermott
26
Dublin
murder
Tom Pierrepoint
Fri
05/01/1934
John Fleming
32
Dublin
murder
Tom Pierrepoint
Fri
17/06/1937
John Hornick
Dublin
murder
Tom Pierrepoint
Sat
07/01/1939
Dermot Smith
33
Dublin
murder
Tom Pierrepoint
Fri
06/09/1940
Patrick McGrath
Dublin
I.R.A. murder
Firing squad
Fri
06/09/1940
Thomas Harte
Dublin
I.R.A. murder
Firing squad
Tue
07/01/1941
Daniel Doherty
29
Dublin
murder woman
Tom Pierrepoint
Wed
23/04/1941
Henry Gleeson
39
Dublin
murder woman
Tom Pierrepoint
Sat
09/08/1941
Richard Goss
26
Maryborough (Portlaoise)
shot at police
Firing squad
Thur
18/12/1941
Patrick Kelly
31
Dublin
murder woman
Not known
Thur
05/03/1942
George Plant
38
Maryborough (Portlaoise)
murder
Firing squad
Thur
12/11/1942
Maurice O' Neill
Dublin
shot at police
Firing squad
Wed
02/06/1943
Bernard Kirwan
39
Dublin
murder brother
Tom Pierrepoint
Thur
12/08/1943
William O' Shea
24
Dublin
wife murder
Tom Pierrepoint
Fri
01/12/1944
Charles Kerins
Dublin
murder police officer
Tom Pierrepoint
Mon
19/03/1945
James Lehman
Dublin
wife murder
Not known
Mon
31/03/1947
Joseph McManus
41
Dublin
murder
Albert Pierrepoint
Wed
24/11/1948
William Gambon
28
Dublin
murder
Albert Pierrepoint
Tue
20/04/1954
Michael Manning
25
Dublin
murder
Albert Pierrepoint
The Easter Rebellion.
In May 1916, 14 men were shot by firing squad in the Quarry Yard at Dublins Kilmainham prison and 1 more (Thomas Kent) at Cork Barracks, having been convicted of treason for their parts in the 1916 Easter Rebellion. Plaques mark the place where these executions were carried out within Kilmainham.
Tom Clarke
Wednesday 3rd May
Thomas MacDonagh
Wednesday 3rd May
Padraic Pearse
Wednesday 3rd May
Joseph Mary Plunkett
Thursday 4th May
William Pearse
Thursday 4th May
Ned Daly
Thursday 4th May
Michael O'Hanrahan
Thursday 4th May
John MacBride
Friday 5th May
Eamonn Ceannt
Monday 8th May
Michael Mallin
Monday 8th May
Conn Colbert
Monday 8th May
Sean Heuston
Monday 8th May
Thomas Kent
Tuesday 9th May
Sean MacDiarmada
Friday 12th May
James Connolly
Friday 12th May
Dublins prisons.
Mountjoy prison, built in 1851, on what is now Dublins North Circular Road, was the scene of 24 of the 20th century hangings. These took place in the two story "hanghouse" at the end of D Wing. The gallows chamber was on the first floor and was destroyed in a prison riot in the 1970s. Mountjoys first execution was that of John Toole in 1901. Previously Dublin executions had been carried out at Kilmainham jail (in public up to 1868, on the first floor balcony over the main door) or at Newgate Prison in Green Street. This was the prison for the City of Dublin while Kilmainham served as the prison for the County of Dublin. Newgate has been demolished and is now a public park. It is said that the underground dungeons may still exist under the park. The gallows at Newgate was very similar to that of Kilmainham and was also located over the front door. The hanghouse at Kilmainham is believed to have been built from bricks salvaged from the old condemned cells that stood in one of the jail's yards. Newgate and Kilmainham prisons both carried public executions at the same period.
Kilmainham ceased to be a civilian prison in 1910. The executions of the Irish Invincibles, Joseph Brady, Tim Kelly, Michael Fagan, Daniel Curley and Thomas Caffrey took place within its walls on the 14th of May 1883. These men had been convicted of the murders on the 6th of May 1882, of Lord Frederick Cavendish, British secretary for Ireland, and Thomas Henry Burke, his under-secretary, in Dublins Phoenix Park. Due to the political nature of the crime, security was tight and Kilmainham prison was surrounded by Grenadier Guards, infantry and police while William Marwood went about his work on a gallows erected in one of the prison yards. Kilmainham Jail has been restored and is now open to the public. It is a fascinating place to visit.
The Civil War period.
102 executions were carried out during the Irish Civil War (War of Independence) for terrorist murders and treason. Most of these were by military firing squad and were typically carried out in batches. John Ellis carried out the hangings in Mountjoy prison, as he was the U.K.s principal executioner at the time.
Wow, very impressive and also very sad. The letters were very touching, what could a person write on the eve of their death, especially a death on what probably amounted to trumped up charges. This post took some effort and I want to thank you for the history lesson.
You may want to contact a museum to see what can be done to protect the letters. There may even be a collection you could loan them to that would not only preserve them but display them with others that may exist as a memorial to those that died in those explosive years.
From what I understand, my cousin in Ireland, still has three other letters. Two written by Martin and one by Herbert Collis. He originally had all five but passed two onto a cousin in New York. The two that were used for this thread. Since all five boys knew each other and the families lived close to each other, the five letters were somehow gathered together and came down through my family.
I have not seen the other three letters, nor do I know who they were addressed to. My understanding, is that they were written to other family members. Hopefully, on one of my trips back to Ireland, I will get to see them.
O see the fleet-foot host of men, who march with faces drawn, From farmstead and from fishers' cot, along the banks of Ban; They come with vengeance in their eyes. Too late! Too late are they, For young Roddy McCorley goes to die on the bridge of Toome today.
Oh Ireland, Mother Ireland, you love them still the best The fearless brave who fighting fall upon your hapless breast, But never a one of all your dead more bravely fell in fray, Than he who marches to his fate on the bridge of Toome today.
Up the narrow street he stepped, so smiling, proud and young. About the hemp-rope on his neck, the golden ringlets clung; There's ne'er a tear in his blue eyes, fearless and brave are they, As young Roddy McCorley goes to die on the bridge of Toome today.
When last this narrow street he trod, his shining pike in hand Behind him marched, in grim array, a earnest stalwart band. To Antrim town! To Antrim town, he led them to the fray, But young Roddy McCorley goes to die on the bridge of Toome today.
The grey coat and its sash of green were brave and stainless then, A banner flashed beneath the sun over the marching men; The coat hath many a rent this noon, the sash is torn away, And Roddy McCorley goes to die on the bridge of Toome today.
Oh, how his pike flashed in the sun! Then found a foeman's heart, Through furious fight, and heavy odds he bore a true man's part And many a red-coat bit the dust before his keen pike-play, But Roddy McCorley goes to die on the bridge of Toome today.
There's never a one of all your dead more bravely died in fray Than he who marches to his fate in Toomebridge town today; True to the last! True to the last, he treads the upwards way, And young Roddy McCorley goes to die on the bridge of Toome today.
--------------------
MacE AKA Steve Ewing
I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. Job 19:25
"Non sibi sed patriae!"
Reviresco (I grow strong again) Clan MacEwen motto
Audaciter (Audacity) My Ewing Family Motto (descendants of Baron William Ewing of Glasgow, born about 1630)
"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt." Abraham Lincoln
"Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum." from "Epitoma Rei Militaris," by Vegetius
This is the newspaper article that my grandfather cut out of one of the New York Irish papers in 1923. He has underlined his cousin, Martin Burke and my mother wrote on the bottom of the article, that she was told that Martin was 17 years old when he was executed.
To me the most vicious and destructive of all wars are the civil wars, there is no doubt in my mind, for all that I have read on wars and there is quite a lot to read about them...civil wars were the most immorals of war because of what it represented...conflicts from within...meaning by "within" is fathers against sons, brothers against brothers and so on...
These letters are full of deep emotions and quite touching; it reflects hard times and the people that lived it.And at the same time facts of real history.
Thank you for sharing it.
LOA
--------------------
"Few men are brave:many become so through training and discipline." Flavius Vegetius Renatus
"I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strenght to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles." Christopher Reeve
I am not in any way condoning the acts that the British did against the Irish in the 1920s' but look at it in the cold light of day. Ireland was still under British rule and as such was part of the Empire. The Irish who were executed were tried and found guilty of insurrection and treason and under British Law, in fact any Law, were condemned to death. The same would have held true if the U.S. had lost the Revolution all the Founding Fathers who were considered Traitors and would have been executed. Let us not also forget that a good many Irishmen and Scots helped the English put the rebellion down.
I think it basically boils down to being a matter of pride. The letters certainly prove that they remained proud of the fact that they were giving up their life for the fight of freedom for Ireland. The pride also goes out to nameless thousands of Irish, who simply were never captured causing treasonous acts and lived to finally see Ireland free to govern themselves. Imagine the joy on their faces when that day arrived.
I just find it fascinating that someone thought so strongly of these letters and preserved them.
Group: Celtic Nation
Posts: 911
Joined: 18-Nov-2003 Zodiac: Oak
Forgive my confusion, but it's not clear whether we are talking about executions by the English prior to and during the War of Independence (prior to establishment of the Irish Free State in 1921), by the Irish Free State (1921 both during the Irish Civil War and until establishment of the Republic of Ireland), by the Republic of Ireland, or by the English in the Northern Counties still under English rule. Probably technicalities to most, but important to some. For examples of the circumstances under which letters were written, I highly recommend the movie The Wind Shakes the Barley, showing just how fratricidal the Irish Civil War was between the faction of the IRA that accepted the Irish Free State and the faction that did not.
Not sure if you can read the fine print of the newspaper article but from November 17, 1922 to April 26, 1923, the "Free" Irish government executed 77 Irish. As I have been told in conversations with people in Ireland, this was done to save face for those Irish government officials who were still basically sleeping with the English. That's their words, not mine. Many deals were made with the English to finally bring peace. Many Irish didn't agree with some of those deals and continued to fight for what they thought was right. The results which were, the 77 executed.
Group: Celtic Nation
Posts: 911
Joined: 18-Nov-2003 Zodiac: Oak
Thanks for the clarification. For some reason, the newspaper articles don't display for me. Whether the Irish Free State government is considered to be patriots who settled for the best they could get under the circumstances or traitors who sold out to the English, they certainly proved to be as capable of brutally suppressing rebellion as the English were. IMHO, the English are responsible for the Troubles in Northern Ireland as well as for creation of the situation resulting in the Irish Civil War.
I suspect you are running Firefox. I can't see the pictures I post either, unless I use IE. Aaediwen thinks it's a code issue but he said Mac has to be the one to fix that problem.
Group: Celtic Nation
Posts: 1
Joined: 07-May-2009 Zodiac: Oak
My late mother was from Headford in Co. Galway which is only 4 miles from Shrule. Her home was always a safe house for republican during the Irish civil war.One night in 1922 she gave her autograph book to one of a group of men who were resting there.As he could not think of a suitable verse he brought the book home with him. That was the last she saw of the book until it was posted back to her with no explaination in 1925.The book had first been in Athlone prison(Costume Barracks)and then Mountjoy prison Dublin where is was signed by Eamonn de Valera, Dan Breen, Liam Deasy,Austin Stack, Sean McBride and his visitor Richard Mulcahy ( who was a member of the free state party) All of those men are now houselold names in Irish history.A budding artist,(who never fully bloomed) in Athlone did some beautiful water colour landscapes.I can only feel that the man who took the book was one of the 5 men who were executed in Athlone. I danced in Shrule ( which is only a small country village)in 1960.I worked in Dublin at the time and rode a motorbike.I remember the first time I went in to the dance hall there was a pronounced silence.I do bit of writing for a past time. I have had 4 short stories published in Ireland's Own and I writing another short story about this autograph book.
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