Sylvester Poff, who with James Barrett was hanged on 23 January 1883 for the murder of Thomas Browne, was evicted from his farm at Mountnicholas, Co Kerry, in 1881. The dwelling house was demolished at the time of the eviction but the foundations remained. About twenty years later, the farm was sold by the…… Continue Reading
John Twiss of Castleisland: A ‘Pure Brave Soul’
John Twiss of Cordal, Castleisland, was arrested in April 1894 for the murder of James Donovan at Glenlara, Co Cork, and the police subsequently sought evidence against him. This circumstance was remarked on by Jeremy Dein and Sasha Wass, the barristers who recently investigated the case for the documentary, Murder Mystery and My Family. …… Continue Reading
Poff and Barrett: Last Words
The most remarkable fact in connection with the case is that both the men, though in separate cells, without any communication with each other, protested all through, and above all, at the last supreme moment, their absolute innocence. Derry Journal, 26 January 1883 In 1919, it was remarked that ‘Tralee Gaol contains the calcined remains…… Continue Reading
Poff and Barrett: Caught in the Crossfire
Murder never goes unavenged, the blood of the murdered cries to Heaven for vengeance – George Raymond, BL, for Mrs Browne About one week before William Marwood, the executioner, arrived in Tralee to begin erecting the gallows on which Sylvester Poff and James Barrett would die, two appeals were submitted to the Lord Lieutenant of…… Continue Reading
Poff and Barrett: The Testimony of Bridget Brosnan
‘The case should stand or fall on the evidence of Bridget Brosnan’1 On the day after Sylvester Poff and James Barrett were hanged in Tralee prison for the murder of Thomas Browne, a reporter remarked that it was ‘a matter for note’ that Mrs Brosnan, one of the chief witnesses at the trial, swore at…… Continue Reading
Poff and Barrett: Final Hours
‘A universal belief in the innocence of the prisoners prevails in this county’ On Tuesday 23 January 1883, the day of the execution of Sylvester Poff and James Barrett, the shops in Castleisland remained closed all day, as a mark of sympathy with the condemned men. The situation was the same in Tralee, the town…… Continue Reading
The Bard, the Folklorist and Peig Sayers
Wandering bard, Eoghan Roe Ward, left a touching snapshot of Peig Sayers in her twilight years when he visited her in her home in Vicarstown, Dunquin, in 1944. Peig was, he said, one of the hidden souls of Ireland seldom shown to the stranger and recalled how her voice settled in the depths of his…… Continue Reading
John Twiss and his Legal Representatives
It was at the Cork assizes my enemies all swore That I shot James Donovan and laid him in his gore. The Jury found me guilty, the judge to me did say: On the ninth of February, ninety-five, will be your dying day. From the song, ‘The Trial of John Twiss’1 The voice of…… Continue Reading
John B Keane and the Importance of Home
The Kerryman In Tanganyika, yes, my boy, that’s very far away, But wait you lad that’s nothing, for I haven’t had my say, In Singapore, Sumatra, or where would you like to go You’ll find them tough and rugged and they’ll never say you no. These Kerrymen are hearty men and handy men, and…… Continue Reading
Kilmurry Castle, Castleisland: In Search of its History
For more than 800 years, Kilmurry Castle has stood with its face to the elements. The magnificent ruin finds its roots in regal history, purportedly built in about 1200 by Meiler Fitzhenry, Justiciar of Ireland, after he was granted the northern part of the county of Kerry by King John.[1] Meiler (or Miles /…… Continue Reading