On 4 July 1898 Ellen Lawlor, about 70 years of age, was found dead in her home near Paulstown. She had been murdered.[1] While murder has always occurred, no doubt the news of an elderly woman being killed sent shockwaves throughout the area. Patrick Holmes, a farm labourer, and a man by the name of Brophy were caught within a couple of weeks. They were charged with Mrs. Lawlor’s murder and remanded in custody.[2] Lawlor lived alone in a secluded house “from where she ran a huckster’s business and the local people thought her to be a wealthy woman”.[3]
At the Leinster Winter Assizes in Waterford the jury failed to reach a verdict so a second trial was ordered. [4] The evidence presented showed how Holmes robbed her then battered her to death to prevent her identifying him.[5] Before the end of the year Holmes was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged in Kilkenny in January 1899. [6] Kilkenny had long been considered one of the more peaceful counties in Ireland, with the Tithe Wars of the 1830s providing the last serious violence in the county. The authorities had to erect a new scaffold as it was over fifty years since the last execution in the county. Before his execution Holmes left a statement with the governor of the gaol.[7] A man by the name of Scott was the hangman and Holmes “walked firmly to the scaffold and betrayed no emotion”.[8] He was executed on Saturday 7 January 1899.[9]
[1] Fielding, Steven. 1994. The Hangman’s Record Volume 1. London: Chancery House.
[2] Author Unknown, News from Ireland in The Irish World (Leinster – Kilkenny section), 20 August 1898, p.3; America’s Historical Newspapers http://www.newsbank.com: accessed 24 May 2011
[3] Fielding, Steven. 1994.
[4] Author Unknown, Execution in Ireland in Western Mail, 9 January 1899, p.5; 19th Century British Newspapers http://www.newspapers.bl.uk :accessed 26 May 2011
[5] Ibid.
[6] Author Unknown, News from Ireland in The Irish World (Leinster – Kilkenny section), 31 December 1898, p.3
[7] Author Unknown, Execution in Ireland in Western Mail, 9 January 1899, p.5
[8] Ibid.
[9] Fielding, Steven. 1994.
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