Wexford People

Old gaol find causes great deal of interest

July 1979

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An old prison shirt bearing the name William Murphy has been found in Wexford’s old gaol, a building which is now being used by the County Council as a workshop and store rooms.

Discovery of the shirt and some 300 bullets was made by tradesmen Francis Bolger and Pat Kavanagh, who were widening one of the cells to make way for machinery. They found the beige and blue striped shirt pushed down into an air vent.

A tag accompanyi­ng the garment bears testimony to one ‘Willliam Murphy, Political Prisoner, Military Barracks, Wexford’. The man was obviously brought to the County Gaol from the building in Barrack Street which is now used by the FCA.

Immense interest is now circling around who the man was, how long he spent in prison, and the story behind his imprisonme­nt. Workers at the Co. Council workshop are particular­ly interested in tracing anyone who may know these details. They feel that he is certain to have living relations in the Wexford area.

They have also decided to contact the keepers of the Co. Museum in Enniscorth­y, who may find some historical value in the shirt.

Wexford Gaol ceased to function in 1918, when it was used as a home for inebriates, and it was taken over by the Co. Council in 1921.

The last hanging at the Gaol was for the murder of a woman at Bettyville about 70 years ago. Prior to that, James Parle and John Creane from Taghmon, and Patrick Hogan, Wexford, were executed on 13th March, 1923, for the carrying out of a series of weapons raids.

The last public hanging at the Gaol was on 4th April 1866, when a Bunclody man was executed for the murder of his father.

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