printsanddrawings

There is a book about it in the library: catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000020443 Here are some quotes from the book: "In August, 1842, Mrs. Ellen Byrne was tried at the Commission Court, Dublin, for the murder of her husband, Augustine Byrne, by strangulation, suffocation, or other violence. The prisoner and deceased, who were in a respectable condition of life, were in the habit of drinking to excess." "No motive could be assigned for the murder, nor for her remaining shut up in the same room with her husband, as it was alleged, for four or five days. Under these circumstances, with the admission by some of the scientific witnesses that the protrusion of the eye and tongue might have been caused by putrefaction, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty." Source: www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/charles-meymott-tidy/legal...

Michiel2005 Thank you! They certainly didn't hang about for the arraignment, if Mr Byrne's body was only examined on Saturday 9 July.

Eeew! The details in the ebook are revolting - quite put me off my dinner (lamb chops and veggies).

From the account of the trial in Freeman's August 16th 1842

Her appearance in court produced a great sensation, and the utmost curiosity was evinced to catch a glimpse of her face or person. She was attired in the deepest weeds, made according to the most modern fashion, and wore a double veil of dense crepe, which, even when lifted, fell around her face in such thick drapery as to render her face almost invisible. In her hand she held a rich bouquet, and her demeanour throughout the whole proceedings was characterised by the most unruffled composure, and the utmost self-possession.

The trial certainly excited a great deal of public interest. Freeman's Journal devoted well over a page to coverage of each of the 2 days of the trial. The coverage began with this paragraph (Freeman's Journal and Daily Commercial Advertiser, Tuesday, August 16, 1842):

Yesterday being the day fixed for the trial of Ellen Byrne, for the alleged murder of her husband, the utmost excitement was manifested in the public mind throughout every district of the city, and more particularly in the vicinity of Green-street, which, with all the adjoining avenues, comprising the whole line of streets lying in the direction of Capel-street, Great Britain-street, Henry-street, Essex-bridge, &c. &c., was crowded at an early hour of the morning to such an excess as to be rendered almost wholly impassable. Indeed the crowds of the idle and the curious who congregated in this portion of the city were so dense as to be wholly incalculable, and it is not a little surprising that no accident or fatality of any description whatsoever should have occurred amid so vast a multitude, naturally excited by a proceeding of deep popular interest, and who, one and all, evidenced the deepest anxiety as to every circumstance connected with the melancholy and mysterious occurrence which furnished the occasion for yesterday's investigation.

and ended, after what looks like a verbatim account of the cross-examinations with this (Freeman's Journal and Daily Commercial Advertiser, Wednesday, August 17, 1842):

The jury retired at twenty minutes to four, and having been absent from court about half an hour, returned with a verdict of NOT GUILTY. The announcement of this finding was received with murmurs in the court-house. Clerk of the Crown. - Discharge the prisoner. The ponderous bolt of the dock was shot back, and the prisoner was free as the freest of the eager spectators who had assembled to witness her trial. The court adjourned till the 26th of October. The crowds which congregated in front of Newgate were enormous, and the most marked dissatisfaction was manifested by the populace at the result of the trial. Mrs. Byrne remained for an hour and a half in the court-house, after the rising of the court, in the hope that the patience of the crowds assembled without would be exhausted at length, and that when they saw that the object of their curiosity did not appear, that they would quietly separate. In this expectation, however, she was mistaken; the mob was not to be baffled, and were it not for a ruse of the police she might have remained in the court-house till midnight. At seven o'clock, however. Mr Inspector Wade ordered a covered car to be drawn up at the entrance to Newgate, and he conducted into the vehicle a female resembling the prisoner in stature, but who was dressed in such deep weeds that her face was rendered wholly invisible. The pseudo Mrs. Byrne entered the car with the inspector, and away rolled the jarvey, escorted by a number of the horse police, amid the hooting and angry exclamations of the infuriate populace. As soon as the car arrived at the corner of Harcourt-street the widow got out and walked quietly about her business. Mr Wade returned to Green-street, which was as desolate as if there had never been 5 people together there since the world began. Another car as then procured. Mrs Byrne, "the true and genuine," drove away in the company of her sons amid the utmost tranquillity.

John Spooner Does it say who the lawyers were? Perchance?

Beautiful engraving !

Rebecca Lockhart was the daughter of Alexander Lockhart, Lord Covington. She married James Hay, 15th Earl of Erroll, son of William Boyd, 4th Earl of Kilmarnock and Lady Anne Livingston, on 15 September 1749.1 She died on 2 May 1761. Her married name became Hay. As a result of her marriage, Rebecca Lockhart was styled as Countess of Erroll on 19 August 1758

Olivier Thank you!

DannyM8 Thank you, resident canophile! :) So this 1749 engraving might have been published to tie in with her wedding in September 1749 then?

Same engraving is in the National Portrait Gallery - www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw36014/Rebecc...

London Times, Thursday, Aug 18, 1814

The Grand Jubilee was celebrated at Dublin by the procession of the Corporation, Charity-schools, and Lord lieutenant to divine service, at St. Patrick's cathedral; after which there was a good dinner at the Castle; and in the evening the Vice-regal party went to Stephen's Green to see "the grand display of fire-works". The Theatre was opened an hour and a half sooner than usual, and the boxes were "free to the ladies."

Edit: not sure if this is the same dinner. On the 17th, the Bury Advertiser says that Jubilee (the procession to the cathedral etc) is due to take place. So the 17th not the 13th.

Looks like the Bury Advertiser was misleading. The lengthy account of the festivities in The Morning Post, Wednesday, August 17, 1814 confirms that it was the 13th.

His Excellency returned to the Castle, and gave a grand dinner. at half-past six, to the principal Nobility and Gentry of the city and its vicinity.

I also noticed that this was shoehorned into the celebrations:

Some time after the service at St. Patrick's had ended, the LORD LIEUTENANT and his suite, attended by the LORD MAYOR, Sheriffs, and a vast multitude, repaired to Sackville-street, where the ceremony of the laying of the foundation-stone of the new Post-office took place.

Hmmm. Still not sure. The Morning Post article is dates the 13th, and refers to the previous day, and the Wikipedia article on the Post Office says the foundation stone was laid on the 12th.

John Spooner From the Freeman's Journal on Tuesday, 2 August 1814, a notice urging Persons to book early for the Dinner and the Ball, "particularly the Dinner, as the number is limited". It cost £2 5s 6d for the Dinner; the Ball cost £1 5s for Gentlemen and £1 for Ladies; and Entrance to the Green was 3s 4d...

John Spooner I'm starting to think there were a few Jublilee Dinners in Dublin on that Saturday 13th August. However the Lord Mayor attended the one at the Rotunda according to the Freeman's Journal, while the Lord Lieutenant "was not present". As our ticket here is "Under the Patronage and Direction of the Corporation of the City of Dublin, a Dinner at the Rotunda attended by the Lord Mayor of Dublin looks like a better bet?? Meanwhile, up at Stephen's Green (and showing that even 200 years ago, Dublin Corporation were taking stick for "street furniture" decisions:

The Paving Corporation practised a curious piece of economy on Friday night. They took away all the lamps from Stephen's Green, to obviate even the chance of losing one by an unlucky explosion! The entire square was, of course, in utter darkness after eleven o'clock, though thousands of people straggled about until near sun-rise. There were, in consequence, some occasional immersions into the dyke, pocket-pickings, and encounterings of unruly horses and more unruly riders, but we have not heard of any lives lives being lost. Demi-smotherings, wet-clothes, and broken limbs are of course objects of little consideration, but how would the account stand if the lives of any of the King's subjects had been lost. At one side of the book we should have written, with all clerical formality - "lost three lives" - at the other, "saved three lamps!"

Plus and lastly, I found this on the G.P.O. re Foundation Stone, in The new Picture of Dublin: or Stranger's Guide through the Irish Metropolis...:

... This superb edifice is built of mountain granite, except the portico, which is of Portland stone. The expense was something more than £50,000. The first stone of this magnificent edifice was laid by his Excellency Earl Whitworth, on the 12th of August, 1815.

Bing Aerial view of the spot. Wikipedia has a short article.

Niall McAuley Thanks Niall. That map now added to our map! Plus, down at the bottom of the Wikipedia article: "...The catastrophe at Ballinamuck left a strong imprint on social memory and featured strongly in local folklore. Numerous oral traditions were later collected about this episode, principally in the 1930s by the historian Richard Hayes and by the Irish Folklore Commission." Richard Hayes was Director of the National Library of Ireland from 1940-1967, and a very interesting man! Here's just one example (from the Dictionary of Irish Biography):

Soon after the outbreak of the second world war, he was seconded from his post as head of the National Library to work as code-breaker with the Irish army. His skills in linguistics, combined with his highly organised mind and fine memory, led to considerable successes in this field, which included the foiling of an attempt by the German agent Hermann Goertz to establish a power base in Ireland. Although deeply involved in intelligence work (and also, during this period, carrying out scientific experiments on the culture of plants), Hayes continued to administer the Library.

Memorial of the battle (photo by dr_urbanus):


Streetview: maps.google.com/maps?q=loc:53.866667,-7.716667&hl=en&...

National Library of Ireland on The Commons Was it Richard Hayes that saved the Laurence collection from becoming a glass house?

National Library of Ireland on The Commons Saw your lock out exhibition yesterday - I would recommend it to all and sundry