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The recent ITV documentary "Executed" pointed out that the death penalty remained in force in Northern Ireland until 1973, after it's abolition in the rest of the United Kingdom in 1965. The programme included an interview with the last man sentenced to death in Northern Ireland immediately prior to the abolition of hanging there in 1973, and we were shown the interior of the condemned cell and execution chamber in Crumlin Road Gaol in Belfast, which have been preserved.
I assume that if the last execution in the United Kingdom had indeed been carried out in Belfast in 1973, either Harry Allen or Leslie Stewart, the last two official British hangmen, would have officiated.
The death penalty remained in force in the Republic of Ireland for certain categories of murder until the 1980s, including the murder of an officer of the Garda Siochana. In 1976 Noel and Marie Murray were sentenced to death by the Special Criminal Court in Dublin for murder of an off-duty Garda during a robbery, although the death sentences were later commuted to life imprisonment.
I remember reading that at the time there was a real possibility that the death sentences might have been carried out on the Murrays. I presume that these would have taken place at Mountjoy Gaol. Does anyone know whether the gallows was still operational there at the time? This would certainly be required if the death sentence could still be enforced by law.
Also, where would an executioner have been found? The Republic of Ireland never had a hangman of its own in the twentieth century but had always used one of the British executioners such as Albert Pierrepoint. If it seemed likely that the Murrays would indeed hang might the Irish authorities have contacted their counterparts in the UK in 1976 to ascertain whether Allen or Stewart might still be able and willing to provide their services? I believe that several other death sentences were handed down by the Special Criminal Court after 1976 but that none of them were carried out.
Was there any real prospect that a death sentence might have been carried out in the Republic of Ireland in the 1970s and early 1980s, or was it more or less a formality with no real prospect of being enforced in much the same was as it was in the Isle of Man and Jersey at this time?
I would be interested to hear if any other contributors can add to this subject.
I assume that if the last execution in the United Kingdom had indeed been carried out in Belfast in 1973, either Harry Allen or Leslie Stewart, the last two official British hangmen, would have officiated.
The death penalty remained in force in the Republic of Ireland for certain categories of murder until the 1980s, including the murder of an officer of the Garda Siochana. In 1976 Noel and Marie Murray were sentenced to death by the Special Criminal Court in Dublin for murder of an off-duty Garda during a robbery, although the death sentences were later commuted to life imprisonment.
I remember reading that at the time there was a real possibility that the death sentences might have been carried out on the Murrays. I presume that these would have taken place at Mountjoy Gaol. Does anyone know whether the gallows was still operational there at the time? This would certainly be required if the death sentence could still be enforced by law.
Also, where would an executioner have been found? The Republic of Ireland never had a hangman of its own in the twentieth century but had always used one of the British executioners such as Albert Pierrepoint. If it seemed likely that the Murrays would indeed hang might the Irish authorities have contacted their counterparts in the UK in 1976 to ascertain whether Allen or Stewart might still be able and willing to provide their services? I believe that several other death sentences were handed down by the Special Criminal Court after 1976 but that none of them were carried out.
Was there any real prospect that a death sentence might have been carried out in the Republic of Ireland in the 1970s and early 1980s, or was it more or less a formality with no real prospect of being enforced in much the same was as it was in the Isle of Man and Jersey at this time?
I would be interested to hear if any other contributors can add to this subject.
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