In 1973, seven-year-old John Horgan was murdered by his teenage neighbour in one of the most disturbing crimes in Irish history. This episode looks at the killing, the occult and religious imagery surrounding it, and the question of why the case seemed to almost disappear from public memory. It is a story about a child’s murder, but also about Catholic Ireland, secrecy, respectability, and the silence that followed.

The Boy In The Attic by David Malone

The Devil Is In The Detail

Kidnapped child was murdered in satanic rite

Murder in suburbia

The Satanic Murder Ireland Forgot

Coroner hears evidence of violent death of boy in 1973

Public servant and pillar of the church…

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In 1992, Grace Livingstone was murdered inside her home in Malahide, Dublin, but the investigation soon became almost as controversial as the crime itself.

With a husband under suspicion, an unidentified young man seen near the house, and a possible link to Revenue investigations into oil smuggling and IRA-linked crime, this is one of Ireland’s most frustrating unsolved cases.

Presented, written and produced by Jenny Claffey. Researched by Karl O'Reilly.

Sources:

Unsolved Crimes: How Grace Livingstone's killer got away with murder

Minister and AG face court action over Livingstone murder inquiry

The Brutal Murder of Grace Livingstone: A Cold Case That Destroyed a Family's Faith in Justice | True Crime Write-Ups

‘Very slim’ chance man killed wife

Sergeant deliberately misled gardaí, court hears. 

Inside Slab Murphy's multi-million euro, cross-border smuggling empire

Livingstone damages case is settled. RTE.ie

Minister and AG face court action over Livingstone murder inquiry

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In this episode, I’m joined by bestselling author and crime journalist Barry Cummins to discuss his new book, Buried Secrets, the definitive account of the murder of Tina Satchwell.

Barry takes us inside the case that haunted Ireland for six and a half years, from Tina’s disappearance in Youghal, how he came to be the first journalist invited into Richard Satchwell’s home, sitting, unbeknownst to him, metres away from Tina Satchwell’s remains.

Buy Buried Secrets here

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In 1940, Mary “Moll” McCarthy was found shot dead in a field in rural Tipperary. Within months, Harry Gleeson, the farm labourer who reported her body to Gardaí, was convicted and hanged for her murder. Decades later, the Irish State admitted his conviction was unsafe, leaving behind the story of two victims, one unsolved murder, and a community shaped by silence.

Written and hosted by Jenny Claffey. Researched by Karl O’Reilly.

Source

Time to right injustice that cost two lives 73 years ago | Irish Independent

Ireland's most infamous murder: 11 facts about the killing of Moll McCarthy and execution of innocent man Harry Gleeson

Prime Time - Hanged Man

Scannal tells the story of Harry Gleeson - Tipperary Live

Harry Gleeson: A pardoned man finally laid to rest

Leaving Mountjoy, 83 years on: Harry Gleeson's remains are brought home

Hanged After a Trial He Couldn’t Understand, and Pardoned 136 Years Later - The New York Times

Two men executed in Ireland 1883 given presidential pardon

History: The story of Harry Gleeson and Moll McCarthy - Tipperary Live

Murder at Marlhill, New Inn, Tipperary « Thurles Information.

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Anne Devlin was a woman long remembered as a loyal housekeeper to an infamous revolutionary, when she was really a courier, conspirator and trusted rebel operative. In this episode, we look at Anne’s role in Robert Emmet’s uprising, the women who helped keep the revolution moving in secret, and the brutal price she paid for refusing to talk.

Written and hosted by Jenny Claffey. Researched by Karl O’Reilly.

Sources

Anne Devlin - Infinite Women

Marriage, Decline and Death - Anne Devlin

The Rebellion of 1803.

NGA.ie - Graves - 1803 - Anne Devlin

Anne Devlin: The Woman Behind the Myth

Regency History Guide to the History of Ireland

Devlin, Anne | Dictionary of Irish Biography

Michael Collins’s women: spies, couriers and mothers – The Irish Times

On This Day: Irish patriot Robert Emmet executed in Dublin in 1803

Is this the face of Ireland’s lost patriot Robert Emmet? – The Irish Times

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25-year-old Honour Bright was found shot and killed in Ticknock in June 1925. Despite multiple eyewitnesses placing her in a car with a Doctor and a Garda Superintendent, the two men who would be charged and tried for her murder were acquitted by a Dublin jury in 1926.

Honour was a single mother, and likely turned to sex work to support herself and pay for her son's foster care. After the trial, the media used her story as a way to scare young women who were prone to becoming "wayward", rather than focusing on the fact that her killer roamed free.

Links

On a quiet South Dublin road, a plaque serves as a reminder of a long unsolved murderDeath, Danger, and Decadence in 1920s Dublin: The Murder of Honor BrightAn Honour Killing

Clodagh Finn: Restoring some honour to Honour Bright, 100 years onThe Murder of Lily O'Neill, known as Honor Bright, in 1925 – The Wild Geese

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Today we’re looking at the case of Annie Walsh, the last woman ever executed in Ireland. Convicted of murdering her husband in 1925, her story is often reduced to a scandalous love triangle, but there’s far more going on beneath the surface.

Annie wasn’t the only woman sentenced to death in Ireland, she was just one of the very few who wasn’t spared. So in this episode, we’re breaking down the murder, the trial, and the bigger question of why Annie Walsh was hanged, when so many other women weren’t.

Episode written & narrated by me, researched by Karl O'Reilly

https://archive.is/EYYc7#selection-4643.110-4647.148

Women and the death penalty in Ireland

Annie Walsh and Michael Talbot for the Murder of Annie’s Husband – Capital Punishment UK

Limerick woman and alleged poisoner was the last woman in Ireland sentenced to burning

Full article: Crime in the nineteenth-century Irish home

When loss of liberty is extended long after leaving a prison cell

Gender and Punishment in Ireland: Women, Murder and the Death Penalty, 1922-1964 – Estudios Irlandeses

Limerick woman and alleged poisoner was the last woman in Ireland sentenced to burning

Prison mugshot of Elizabeth Buchanan on transfer to Grangegorman Female... | Download Scientific Diagram

Donnybrook

When loss of liberty is extended long after leaving a prison cell

The very strange tale of the O'Leary family murder | Southern Star

Full article: Crime in the nineteenth-century Irish home

Gender and Punishment in Ireland: Women, Murder and the Death Penalty, 1922-1964 – Estudios Irlandeses

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Burke and Hare are two of the most infamous serial killers in history, but they weren’t typical murderers. In 1828, Edinburgh, they killed at least 16 people and sold their bodies to medical schools in a booming underground body trade. This episode explores the real story behind the murders, the anatomy trade, and how they were finally caught.

This episode was written & hosted by me, Jenny Claffey. Researched by Karl O’Reilly.

Links

Fever & Famine 1817-18 – In The News | Co. Tyrone People From The Past.

21 May 1947 - GRIM MURDER PARTNERSHIP HELPED MAKE EDINBURGH'S MEDICAL FAME - Trove

The Burke and Hare murders

Life in Ulster in the 1800s

The Perpetrators, Burke and Hare

The Story of Burke and Hare - Edinburgh.

The William Burke Museum | The Cadies & Witchery Tours

Bodies and bureaucracy: The demise of the body snatchers in 19th century Britain - Philp - 2022 - The Anatomical Record - Wiley Online Library

Burke and Hare: The body snatchers - BBC Bitesize

Procuring Corpses: The English Anatomy Inspectorate, 1842 to 1858 - PMC

The gruesome true story of the bodysnatchers who robbed graves and resorted to murder in 18th-century Britain

The untold story of serial killer William Burke's wife and her mysterious disappearance from Glasgow

Pull factors affecting immigrants - Immigration to Scotland 1830s-1939 - National 5 History Revision - BBC Bitesize

Irish immigration to Scotland

An immigrant Irish contingent in the crowd at the execution of William Burke in Edinburgh in 1829 - Ken Donaldson, Christopher Henry, 2025

Who were Burke & Hare? Edinburgh’s Infamous “Body Snatchers"

Burke and Hare: Two Edinburgh Murderers - geriwalton.com

Body Snatchers | The London Dungeon

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An Irish Fenian bombing in Victorian London led to mass panic, a controversial trial, and the execution of Michael Barrett., who would become the last man hanged in Britain.

Join Patreon for ad-free episodes & Wednesday Deep Dives

"The Irish invasion": how the Irish Famine changed Scotland

Irish immigration to Scotland

t18680406-412 | The Proceedings of the Old Bailey

https://www.theirishstory.com/category/history/irish-history/

https://www.irishdemocrat.co.uk/features/michael-barrett/

Executed men remembered in London | An Phoblacht

Michael Barrett (1841-1868) - The forgotten Fenian from Fermanagh: By Fr Joe McVeigh | An Phoblacht

Irish Republicanism in Scotland, 1858–1916: Fenians in exile – History Ireland

Michael Barrett: a Fenian remembered

Barrett, Michael | Dictionary of Irish Biography

On This Day: The Clerkenwell Outrage, 13th December, 1867 – Turbulent Isles

150 years ago today, a Fenian became the last person to be publicly executed in England

Burke, Ricard O'Sullivan | Dictionary of Irish Biography

The Times Report of the Last Public Hanging in England

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Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone! To celebrate, I thought I'd rerelease an episode from 2024 when we did a series on Haunted Ireland.

This episode covers some spooky, dark and haunting True Crime Cases from Ireland's Victorian era.

Enjoy!

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