VICTORIAN ERA ‘PULSE’ SYSTEM GOES ONLINE
FROM tracking down horse thieves to burglary to assault and tracing army deserters the lot of an Irish police man during the Victorian era was varied to say the least.
Records released this week on the family tracing website www.ancestry.ie have offered a fascinating glimpse into crime in Ireland during the mid to latter part of the 19th century.
The collection of Police Gazette records dated from 1861-1893 were extracted from ‘Hue and Cry’, the aptly named official publication of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), which operated in Ireland from 1814 to 1922.
Hue and Cry was used as a way for members of different police divisions to secretly communicate with each other, in much the same way that the modern Gardai use their online Pulse system.
It contained detailed information on wanted criminals, types of crimes committed, rewards of offer for information, the details of criminals that had been arrested, missing persons and army deserters.
Included within the newly released documents are crimes of national significance, such as the infamous 1882 Pheonix Park murders of two of Ireland’s leading civil servants Lord Frederick Cavindish and Thomas Henry Burke.
Another case taken from the Gazette dated April, 28, 1874 gave descriptions of Michael Field and John Field who “stand charged with having on 13th April, 1874 at Macroom in the barony of West Muskerry, parish of Macroom, inflicted such injuries on Jeremiah Dineen as caused his death”.
An analysis of the collection revealed that assault was the most common reported crime of the 32-year period (28,353 cases) followed by the breaking of license conditions (28,902) and theft (23,345 instances).
Theft of livestock was rife during the period, with other crimes ranging from murder and rape to the more mundane such as stealing ferrets and bottles of ginger beer and damage to property.
Cases listed included that of a somewhat romantic sounding mystery man who stood charged with having, on January 4 1864, “at Kiskame in the barony of Duhallow….effecting his escape from the custody of the Boherbue police and taking with him a pair of handcuffs”.
He was described in the Gazette as being a “thick-set man, short neck, high cheekbones” and about 25 years-of-age wearing “an old dark blue frock coat, old brown trowsers (sic), old highlow shoes” being of “ragged appearance” and calling himself “Rory of the Hill’s”.
Theft was another problem faced by the RIC, with another case giving a description of one Edward Sheehan, who stood charge with having “on the 13th day of January 1885, in the barony of Fermoy, parish of Mallow, embezzled the sum of €23, the property of his employer A Arnott, Esquire, of Kilworth county Cork”.
Described as being a groom of about 25 years-of-age and of “very smart active appearance”, the Gazette said he “may wear short breeches”.
In a case that had shades of John B Keane’s “The Field” about it the September 16, 1879 edition gave a description of Glanaghoul native John Keating who stood charged with having on 15th August 1879 “in the barony of Barrymore, parish of Rathcormac” assaulted James Barry, by inflicting wounds upon his head and face with a penknife.
Described as being about 33-years-of-age with a “crooked nose” and wearing clothing of “American make”, Keating was “a farmer lately returned from America.”
Rhona Murray, a historian with Ancestry, said the records offer a fascinating insight into what she said was a “particularly turbulent” period for Irish society.
“At this time there was significant unrest due to the Land War which saw many political figures, landlords, agents and tenants murdered. Indeed, the level of assaults and murders was much higher than the present day,” said Rhona.
“It’s fascinating to see the variety of crimes and note how some of them differ from those committed today,” she added.