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| Lord Mountmorres |
THE MURDER OF LORD MOUNTMORRES
Lord Mountmorres. was murdered at a place called Rusheen,within a mile of Clonbur, where was his residence in Galway. He bad attended a meeting of the magistrates on Saturday afternoon, September 25, at the courthouse, Clonbur, at which a resolution had been passed calling upon the Government to take coercive measures, and left the town about 8 o'clock in the evening. Half-an-hour afterwards his horse and carriage arrived at Ebor Hall, a mile distant, without him. Search was made, and he was found lying at the side of the road in a pool of blood and lifeless. He had received one rifle bullet in the head, which penetrated his skull, three in the neck, and two in the body. Lord Mountmorres had most unhappy relations with his tenants, and had recently obtained ejectment decrees against two of them.As a magistrate he was also unpopular, and until quite recently he was guarded by an escort of police. A lantern was found near where tho body was lying, and a bottle of whisky in the well of his carnage. The police arrested a man named Sweeney on suspicion.
The inquest on the remains of Viscount Mountmorres was held on Monday evening, September 27, by Mr C. G. Cottingham, coroner, at Ebor Hall, the residence of the deceased situated on the banks of Lough Corib. Sweeney, the tenant who has been arrested by the police, was not present. The inquest was held in the study. The jury having viewed the body, the face of the deceased being mangled with the wounds he had received, the following evidence was taken. Sub-Inspector Law said he saw Lord Mountmorres on Saturday last in Clonbur about 7 in the evening. He spoke to him for a quarter of an hour, and shortly afterwards saw him speaking to head-constable O'Callaghan. His lordship was then quite well.
He did not see him afterwards until he saw his murdered body. The body was found at a place called Dooray.
'To the jury: The deceased had no police protection. Some time ago he had a guard of two constables, but he dispensed with it. There was a house within 300 yards of where the body was found. The body was lying on the back across the road, the feet being about 4 feet from the wall on one side, and the head about 4 feet
from the wall on the other . His lordship had no signs of drink on him. No car could have passed near him. He was armed with a pistol. Head-constable O'Callaghan deposed that on Saturday he saw his Iordship speaking to sub-inspector M'Ardle, of Ballinrobe. Witness had a conversation with his lordship in reference to the land meeting fixed for Sunday. About half-past 9 that night a messenger came to the barracks to say that Lord Mountmorres's horse and car had come to Ebor Hall without him. Wîtness sent a patrol along the road in the direction his lordship had taken. The next thing he heard was that his lordship was found on the road in a dangerous way. Dr Hegarty was sent for, and the body was removed to the house of a man named Hugh Flanagan, but Flanagan refused to allow it in, and it was then taken on to Ebor Hall. A shot could have been heard at Flanagan's house. His lordship had a loaded pistol in his pocket. Hugh Flanagan was next examined, and said he was afraid of having the body in for fear that something belonging to him might not be alive that day 12 months.
Dr.Hegarty said he was called to attend Lord Mountmorres on Saturday night at about 10 o'clock. He found him lying on the road about a mile from Clonbur. He was removed to Ebor Hall, where witness examined him and found a bullet wound in the forehead, two in the neck, two in the abdomen, and one on the right thumb. The wound on the forehead had marks as if of powder surrounding the orafice which showed that the bullet that had entered had been fired at a short distance. Witness had that day made a post-mortem examination of the body, assisted by Dr. Maguire Cong and Dr. O'Connor, Oughterard. "They found the bullet, which had entered the forehead nearly in the centre. It had passed obliuely downwards, and to the
right, and was lodged in the floor of the orbit. The bullet fired into the front of the neck had made its exit about three inches below the right ear. Another bullet that had entered on the left side of the neck was found lodged in the soft tissue of the side of the neck, having in its passage traversed the spinal column. They found a bullet-wound on the left side of the abdomen about the level of the twelfth rib, and another immediately behind that on the same level, and also a fracture of the right thumb. The wound in the forehead was quite sufficient to cause death. The jury after being some time in deliberation, found about 7 o'clock, a verdict of ; "Willful murder against someone unknown"
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| 1. Ebor Hall, the house of Lord Mountmorres. 2. The spot where he was murdered, and 3. Flanagan's cottage. |
THE LATE LORD MOUNTMORRES MURDERED AT CLONBUR, COUNTY GALWAY
Illustrated London News October 8, 1880
Viscount Mountmorres, Sir William Browne de Montmorency, Baron Mountmorres of the Peerage of Ireland was born April 21, 1832. He succeeded his father as the fifth Peer and eleventh Baronet in January 1871. He was descendant of a Captain in Cromwell's Army. The family had once been wealthy but by William Browne's time were left with a small estate near Clonbur "in the narrow strip of rocky moorland that separates two considerable lakes, Laugh Carrib and Laugh Mask, forming a natural peninsula of Connemara."
He was said to have only 15 small holdings tenants with an income of only £300 a year. The house was "modest"... "with a space of lawn and wood around it on the slope of the hill, overlooking the beautiful expanse of Lough Carrib and its multitude of picturesque island."
Michael Davitt, the Irish national agrarian agitator, "held" that "Lord Mountmorres was murdered because he 'eked our his wretched income as a landlord' by doing spy's work for the Castle, and taking bribes".
(Diary of the Parnell Commission: Rev. from "The Daily News.". By John MacDonald, Great Britain. Special Commission to Inquire into Charges and Allegations against Certain)
It was pointed out in the Parnell Commission that Lord Mountmorres had become "unpopular long before he took eviction proceedings against Sweeney, which started in July, 1880". The finger was pointed at Pat Sweeney and several others as possible assailants. Pat Sweeney who had been a herdsman on the Mountmorres estate was arrested in Queenstown as he was about to emigrate. He was sent to Sligo for trial but nothing came of it.
The local population believed that "their landlord" had been "in constant communication with Dublin Castle" and that this had added to his increasing unpopularity. He was also vocally opposed to the Land League.
"Lord Mountmorres became unpopular because of his known opposition to the League — an opposition which he professed in public" Witness, a police-Constable
"It came out that Lord Mountmorres had been under police protection months before the League was started in the district"
Diary of the Parnell commission By John Macdonald
The death of Lord Mountmorres was of international interest and was covered by the New York Times which shed a bit of light on potential reasons for Mountmorres's unpopularity with his tenants.
RECENT MURDERS IN IRELAND LORD MOUNTMORRES'S VIOLENT DEATH
The meeting of magistrates, which was attended by Lord Mountmorres just previous to his death, had passed a resolution calling on the Government to adopt coercive measures in Ireland.New York Times, September 28, 1880
In October 1880 all of the suspects in the Mountmorris case were dismissed.
Lady Mountmorres was granted £3,000 for the murder of her husband under the Crimes Act. However, she was boycotted by the local population and she and her children were forced to leave Ebor Hall and move to England.
Lord Mountmorres; A sympathetic view
"An Irish nobleman, of ancient family and title, but of extremely impoverished state, resided in a lonely district of Galway with his wife and children; one of the poorest of country gentlemen, living the plainest style, hopeless of improving his fortunes, and deprived by comparative indigence of the enjoyment of social pleasures and honours befitting his legitimate rank. Of a quite, homely, studious disposition, and willing to do any good among his humblest neighbors.... He had but few tenants, and these had ever found him a consistent and indulgent landlord. But his position, not his personal character or conduct, made him a mark for the class hatred systematically provoked and organized to deeds of blood by the infamous conspirators of the Land League....."the poor half-ruined, well intentioned nobleman, endeavoring to do his duty as a county magistrate, and to keep up friendly relations with all classes of the people about him."
"Lord Mountmorres, we are told, never evicted any of his tenants for nonpayment of rent, though he must have wanted the rents badly to support his moderate household expenses."
"He lately had some fault to find with a herdsman in his employment, and dismissed the man from service, requiring him, at the same time, to quit the cottage allotted for the herdsman's dwelling. This man, however, claimed to be an agricultural tenant, and to have a right to hold the cottage and bit of ground. In order therefore to settle the question regarding the legal character of a piece of property, Lord Mountmorris sued for a formal degree of eviction, which was granted upon sufficient evidence."
Two hours after the murder the body was still laying in the road. The Flanagan family who lived in a cottage not far from the site of the murder refused to allow the body to be brought into their cabin. The Flanagans said "if they admitted it, nothing belonging to him would be alive that day twelve months". In other words their animals would be killed or maimed.
The body of Lord Mountmorres was left in the yard until arrangements could be made to cart it away.
Hugh Flanagan and his wife were later suspected of being connected with the murder and were arrested. At the inquest into the death of Lord Viscount Mountmorris, Patrick Sweeney, an Irish speaker and the disgruntled former herd for Lord Mountmorres needed a translator in the court.
A £1,000 reward was offered for information leading to a conviction of the murder (or murderers) of Lord Mountmorres.
In October 1883 it was reported that a tinker (or a man named Tinker) who was present at the murder of Lord Mountmorres turned informer and gave the name of the assassins some of whom had left the country. However, no possible assassins were ever caught and the crime remained unsolved.
Interestingly enough there had been a threat in 1855 on a previous Lord Mountmorres, who may have been William Browne's father, Hervey.
OUTRAGE ON VISCOUNT MOUNTMORRES
We regret very much to find that a threatening notice has been served on Count MOUNTMORRES, Dean of Achonry, menacing him with assassination. The Roman Catholic clergy of the parish, we are glad to say, denounced those who were connected with the outrage in the most indignant terms. Lord MOUNTMORRES, when in this county, during the famine period, was most benevolent towards the poor, and built the Farrahy Agricultural School, now one of the most flourishing of these establishments. We should rejoice to learn that the cowardly rascals concerned in this proceeding were discovered and punished, as they so richly deserve to be. The offence for which his lordship has been threatened with assassination is the simple expression of the desire that interments should not take place in the grave ground of Achonry on Sundays while divine service was being celebrated in the church. -Cork Reporter.Cumberland and Westmorland Newspaper Carlisle Journal September 21 1855
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