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The Trial Of The Other JFK – A.K.A. The Dalkey Island Murder
by Dermot Mara
Format: Paperback
Publication date: 2nd June 2011
ISBN: 978-1-908282-97-2
Price: €14.95
A lady is found drowned on picturesque Dalkey Island.
Rumour and innuendo suggest she may not have drowned accidently. Suspicion falls on the husband. The body is exhumed and he is charged with her murder.
Is there a motive?
This compelling tale captures the courtroom atmosphere of a trial set in the Irish criminal justice system.
It is a story of triumph and defeat.
Does truth and justice emerge?
Does justice operate in quite the way we expect?
Based on a true life Irish murder trial of the 19th century it leaves the reader with the mystifying question….was justice served?
Read it yourself and you decide.
About the Author
Dermot Mara B.L. is a practising Barrister.
He was called to the Bar of Ireland at King’s Inns, Dublin, in 1993.
Introduction
Based on a true Irish murder story of the nineteenth century my colleague and friend, barrister Dermot Mara has skilfully and cleverly resurrected and reconstructed the trial of that time to be more relevant in a twenty-first century context.
In the 1800’s when passing a sentence of death for murder his Lordship, the Judge, would place a black cap on his head which would often cause a shudder to pass through the crowded court and would say the following words; “The sentence is, that you, (prisoner), be taken from the place where you now stand to the place from which you came, the gaol, and that from thence you be taken to the place of execution, the gallows, and that you be there hanged by the neck until you are dead, and that your body be buried within the precincts of the prison in which you are now confined. May the Lord have mercy upon your soul”.
Capital punishment has been abolished in the Republic of Ireland. The last execution was in 1954. The last person executed in the State was Michael Manning. He was hanged by executioner Pierrepoint for murder on 20th April 1954. From then until 1990 while capital punishment remained on the Statute books a practice arose whereby every death sentence was commuted by the Irish President. The death penalty was abolished in law in 1990 and has been specifically prohibited by the Constitution since 2002.
If you like murder trials and courtroom drama is your scene then this book is for you. Enjoy it. I certainly did.
Maurice P. Gaffney S.C.
Senior Counsel and Bencher of the Honorable Society of King’s Inns
Cover image by Terry McDonagh
www.terrymcdonagh.com
