66 years ago today, on April 20, 1954, a chapter in Irish legal history closed when Michael Manning, a 25-year-old carter from Limerick, became the 29th and last person to be legally executed in Ireland. He had raped and murdered Catherine Cooper (65) who worked at Barrington’s 
Hospital, in Limerick, in February 1953. He was found by the Gardai (police) because he had left a distinctive hat at the scene of the crime and was found with the yellow beret his victim had been wearing. Manning’s headpiece was, as Dermot Walsh described in his book on the
case, Beneath Cannock’s Clock, a “Mountie hat”. It had a high conical shape, pinched into panes at the tip, and was otherwise known as a Baden Powell hat after the founder of the scouting movement.
Manning was sentenced to death despite the fact that the victim’s family had
Manning was sentenced to death despite the fact that the victim’s family had
petitioned to court to show him mercy. The execution was carried out by Albert Pierrepoint, who had traveled from Britain where he was one of three Senior Executioners. Pierrepoint executed at least 400 people in his career as a hangman – 13 of those in Mountjoy.
In 1964 the
In 1964 the
Criminal Justice Act abolished the death sentence apart from the murder of police, diplomats, and prison officers. However, it was only entirely squashed by a referendum in 2001. Ireland was the last country in Europe to constitutionally forbid the use of capital punishment.
Manning left a wife who was pregnant at the time of the murder. His body was buried in an unmarked grave in a yard at Mountjoy Prison.
irishtimes.com/culture/herita…
irishtimes.com/culture/herita…
