Murders of Martin and John Lydon

The murders of John Lydon (died 24 April 1881) and his son Martin Lydon (died 21 May 1881) occurred in Letterfrack, County Galway, Ireland during the Irish Land War.[1]

The Land War was a period of huge unrest and violence in Ireland, with crime particularly prevalent in County Galway. Dozens of murders occurred, all concerning tenants' rights and ownership of land.

John Lydon and his son, Martin, 20, were attacked at their home at Bannogaes, Letterfrack on the night of Sunday, 24 April 1881. At about 10 or 11 at night, seven or eight men rushed into their cabin, where they punched, beat, and kicked the Lydons. The two were then dragged outside into the road and shot with pistols "while Lydon's wife, terror-stricken, stood at the window expecting that she and her young children would share their fate."[2] John was killed outright but Martin, who had been shot four times including through the lung, lived long enough to identify one of the killers as Patrick Walsh, telling a Constable the next day and also giving a sworn deposition to a magistrate who visited his bedside.[1] He died on 21 May, and an inquest was held on 24 May by Coroner Charles Cottingham. The murders shocked many because John Lydon "was not a process-server or agent, or a man who had taken a farm from which another had been evicted. He was a caretaker of cattle on a large farm, which was reclaimed some years earlier at the expense of Mr. Graham, the owner, who borrowed money for the purpose from the Board of Works, and by means of it afforded employment to people in the district."[2]

According to newspaper accounts, Walsh's father, Stephen Walsh, had previously rented out the land for 500 pounds, but had been removed following a dispute with the landowner, who replaced him with John Lydon.[1]

On the night of 21 May 1881, the house of Michael Lydon, the nephew of John Lydon, herd for Mr. McDonnell, Letterfrack, and agent to Francis Graham of Fermanagh, "was burned to the ground. Since the murder of his uncle, his family did not sleep in their house, which is situated in a remote mountain glen. Lyden [sic] and his wife used to go there every morning to attend to their business during the day and return at nightfall to sleep with their children in the house of a relation. The furniture, clothes, and everything else in the house were reduced to ashes."[3]

Under powers granted by The Crimes Act of 1881, the trial of Patrick Walsh was moved to Dublin from Galway upon the strong recommendation of Henry Brackenberry, assistant undersecretary for police and crime. Brackenberry had read a report written by S.I. Horne, the man in charge of the Walsh murder case, in which Horne stated: "So demoralized by fear owning to the recent outrages and the general state of intimidation which prevails, that not only no jury dare find Pat Walsh guilty, but that no one man on such a jury dare propose to find him guilty, and that there is a certainty of acquittal." [4]

Patrick Walsh was hanged in Galway Gaol on 22 September 1882.[1]

A leading witness for the prosecution of the murders, Constable Kavanagh, was shot dead outside Letterfrack barracks on 15 February 1882. Walsh's brother, Michael, was tried, found guilty and sentenced to death but had it commuted to penal servitude for life.

The turbulent times in the area in which these events took place gave rise to many injustices including the execution and imprisonment of innocent people. There are notable similarities between the hanging of Patrick Walsh and the subsequent prosecution and execution of Myles Joyce for the so called Maamtrasna murders now acknowledged as the hanging of an entirely innocent man. Coincidentally an article on the Maamtrasna murders appears just above the report of the execution of Patrick Walsh in The Galway Express of 23 September 1882. Both men were fluent Irish speakers who were convicted in English speaking courts having had their cases moved to Green Street Dublin.

Walsh and Joyce were hanged by the same executioner William Marwood in Galway gaol. Both had appealed to Lord Spencer on their innocence and had been answered that "The Law must take its course". Both men made strikingly similar declarations of innocence on the gallows. Patrick Walsh proclaimed "I am going before my God and tied up like a criminal who has deserved death. I never committed the murders; the witnesses swore falsely against me". This and other parallels between the cases can be found by reviewing the Irish Times article of 20 May 2016 entitled "A wrongful hanging in Connemara, 1882". When initially questioned by magistrate Gillman Browne, in the presence of Head Constable Brooke and Constable Butler, Martin Lydon stated "I cannot identify any of the party that fired the shots" It was only when subsequently visited by the magistrate J C Hall that Patrick Walsh’s name became implicated.

Further doubt over the conviction of Patrick Walsh is cast by the following report in The Freeman’s Journal of Tuesday 11 December 1883.
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"The Letterfrack Murders, Edward Vallely and seven other men were indicted for complicity in the murder of the Lydens at Letterfrack in the county of Galway. They were also indicted for conspiracy to murder. Edward Vallely and six of the other prisoners pleaded guilty to the minor charge of conspiracy. Mr George Orme Malley, who with Mr Bird appeared for the prisoners, said that they had pleaded guilty to the minor offence of which they were charged with the full concurrence and by the advice of his learned brother and himself. He then addressed his lordship in favour of the mitigation of punishment. The Attorney-General, who with Sergeant Robinson QC, and Mr French appeared for the Crown, said that under the special circumstances of the case the Crown had determined on the merciful course of entering a nolle prosequi on the more serious charge of murder. He trusted this lesson would teach the people, if anything could teach them, the danger as well as the criminality involved in the entrance into those secret societies. His Lordship (a Mr Justice O’Brien) said he would give the utmost consideration to the observations of Mr Malley. He would read the informations again before delivering sentence. " Martin Flaherty, who was the only one of the eight prisoners who refused to plead guilty to any offence, was also put back."
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The extraordinary decision by the Crown not to prosecute the men for the murders, may be explained by the understandable reluctance of the Authorities to draw attention to a case in which they had a year before already executed an innocent man for that very same offence.