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?

Cairo replaced Gibraltar on Saturday 25th March 1809.

British Press - 16 March 1809:

Barker also had a Panorama in the Strand, where interesting views of Dover and Copenhagen could be seen in the summer of 1809 (Morning Post 28 July 1809).

Cairo and Dublin were still on view at the Leicester Square Panorama in September (Morning Herald (London) 30 September 1809)

The Dublin exhibit was closed on 27th February 1810, replaced by Flushing. Cairo was to continue for a short time. ( Morning Chronicle 17 February 1810). The Flushing view showed the recent attack by land and sea, with the town in flames.

A diagram of the Leicester Square Panorama building here

Some background to Barker and the Panorama in The Stage 17 November 1988

These were all the rage in the 19th century, spectacular artefacts made possible by a Scottish artist Robert Barker who discovered a means of presenting an all-embracing view, by painting on the inside of an enormous cylinder and placing the spectator at its centre.

It was a technical problem of considerable complexity. In a picture painted round a circumference of 360 degrees, straight lines had to be curved, and curved lines straightened. Distances called for finely graduated brush- work to create the illusion of depth and perspective had to be observed.

Barker called the picture a Panorama, patented the process in 1787 and first exhibited "Mr Baker's Interesting and novel view of the City and Castle of Edinburgh and the whole adjacent and surrounding Country" in 1788 exactly 200 years ago.

In 1789, Barker's Panorama came to London. It was so successful the artist had it permanently housed in a vast brick rotunda he built for it near Leicester Square in 1793. There it continued to draw the town at the moderate entrance fee of one shilling.

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