MAAMTRASNA: THE MURDERS AND THE MYSTERY
By Jarlath Waldron
Review by Tómas ó hÉanachain
The Maamtrasna Murders have remained in the minds of people--in fact they have fascinated people in Ireland and also Irish people beyond the seas ever since they were committed on the 17th August, 1882. Firstly, it was a particularly brutal murder where five members of one family were killed -- John Joyce of Maamtrasna, his wife, his daughter, his mother and his son and another young boy left for dead with terrible injuries. Secondly, a terrible miscarriage of justice took place in the subsequent trials and an innocent man was hanged and four other innocent men were jailed for life as a result. This unjust result arose because one set of brothers who were feuding bitterly with their first cousins (three brothers and a nephew) came to the police and swore they saw the murderers going to the murdered man's house that night and they named the ten men they said they saw. Among those named were their cousins and nephew aforementioned and six other men. It is certain that their evidence was false and that they did not see the men on that night .
The police were delighted, of course, and they arrested the ten men named: Maolra (Myles) Joyce (Maolra Sheain), his brother Martin and his brother Paudeen and Paudeen's son Tom, all of Cappanacreha; Pat Casey, Michael Casey and John Casey, also of Cappancreha; Pat Joyce of Shanvalleycahill; Tom Casey of Glensaul, and Anthony Philbin of Cappaduff. The three Joyce brothers and Tom (son of Paudeen) were not among the murder gang and were named by the informers, their cousins, Anthony and JohnJoyce and John's son, Paddy, out of deep and bitter enmity. Neither were Anthony Philbin or John Casey among the gang. However, four of the ten men -- Pat Joyce, Pat Casey, Tom Casey and Michael Casey -- admitted later that they were there. It was no trouble to the informers to name some of the people who were involved because there was a secret society in the area and almost everyone knew who would be involved .
QUEEN'S EVIDENCE
As the day of the trial approached, two of the prisoners agreed with the Crown prosecutor to turn Queen's evidence and give the same evidence as the Joyce informers, even though they knew it was false. They did this to save their own lives. They were Anthony Philbin and Thomas Casey.
The first three prisoners -- Pat Joyce, Pat Casey and Myles Joyce-- were tried, found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. The remaining five were urged to plead guilty to save being hanged and were ultimately persuaded by a priest from Clonbur that it was the only hope they had to avoid the hangman's rope.
One of the five Michael Casey - broke down and admitted to his lawyer that he was there but that the other four were not there and neither was Myles Joyce who had been sentenced to be hanged. However, these five were also found guilty and sentenced to be hanged but this was later changed to life imprisonment.
Myles Joyce, Pat Joyce and Pat Casey were hanged in Galway jail on the 15th December, 1882. Myles Joyce loudly proclaimed his innocence until the end; The two men who were hanged with him tried a few days before their execution to have Myles reprieved. They admitted their part in the murder but in their dying statement said that Myles was as innocent as the child unborn and also were his brother, Paudeen and Martin, and Tom Joyce, son of Paudeen, and John Casey.
Then in August, 1884, the truth began to come out when Tom Casey of Glensaul made an open confession to the congregation in Tourmakeady Church on the occasion of the Confirmation. He confessed before the bishop and people that he swore falsely and brought about the death of innocent Myles Joyce and the imprisonment of our other innocent men .
Then the struggle began to get the Government to reopen the case. Archbishop McEvilly demanded a re-opening. 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. All attempts failed and ultimately the Government fell in England directly because of their refusal to reopen the Maamtrasna case and other issues.
Many people have written of the case. The first was Tim Harrington, M.P., followed by many newspaper correspondents down to our own time.
Now, however, we have the most complete history of the whole Maamtrasna case ever written in this book by Fr. Jarlath Waldron, P.P., Partry. Fr. Waldron has spent the best part of twenty years researching the history of the locality around Lough Mask, Clonbur, Cloughbrack and Maamtrasna in the years of the Land War (1879-1884). He has researched the events leading up to the killing of Lord Mountmorres, the Huddymurders and Maamtrasna. It is certain that no other historian has ever uncovered the events of those years in that area so well. He has left no stone unturned to get at the truth of the Maamtrasna story. He searched through newspaper reports, police records, State papers and every written record as well as consulting with older people who knew something of the traditions handed down from previous generations about the case. We are unlikely to get a fuller treatment of the story.
In his book he shows a great understanding of the people of the area in those times; of their poverty, hard labour, poor housing and unremitting struggle to live. It is also clear that the people had not great trust in the law, the courts, the police or the Government and that they sought at times their own "law" through their secret "ribbon" societies.
Fr. Waldron tells the story in clear, easy-flowing language. Included are many interesting incidental and fascinating details which throw a light on the main story from the remote village of Maamtrasna to the seats of power in the Mother of Parliament in London -- from the open confession in a country church by Tom Casey to his violent death in America .
This book tells a terrible but dramatic story -- the terrible murders, the false evidence, the hanging of an innocent man, the suppression of vital evidence by the Crown Prosecutor so that the law officers would be seen to have punished the culprits, the forcing of innocent men to plead guilty, the imprisonment of these same innocent men, the admitting of perjury by a principle witness and the refusal by Government to reopen the case and have justice done .