Was Sunday morning, July 10th 1904 and Sergeant Ferris and Constable Power, splendid in their dark green uniforms and polished belts, left the barrack at the end of Pound Lane and walked at a leisurely pace up the village. They had good reason to be relax
Sergeant Ferris positioned himself at the Square while Power moved further up the Main Street. In keeping with the public perception of the RIC as the eyes and ears of the
Crown, they were making a mental note of all they saw. It was approaching Mass time and throngs of people were making their way to Mass. Some were on foot such as Bridge Fuller’s eight lodgers and more were passing in their horses and traps. Looking across in the direction of the Protestant Church a similar scene was emerging. Although the Protestant community was much smaller than the Catholic, it was substantially greater than it is today and provided welcome labouring work about the parish.
Directing his gaze up towards the Coach Road, Ferris observed the McLoughlin’s of Woodview approaching in their fine carriage. In charge of the reins was 58 year old John McLoughlin, a land agent, beside him his wife Charlotte some 23 years younger, and in the back seat was her widowed sister Florence, Countess Mount Cashell, wife of the late 5th Earl. Six years earlier he had died at his mansion in Moore Park and his impressive funeral procession through the village and attended by the gentry from all over the county was still spoken of.
And then turning his gaze in the opposite direction, Ferris saw Colonel Cooke-Collis, his wife and beautiful daughters coming in from Castle Cooke. The Colonel had still the remains of a South African sun on his face after his Boer War adventures which had led to his mention in despatches. There were others too and all would pay as much wrapt attention to the Rector, Rev Mr Fleury, as would the Catholics to their parish priest Very Rev Patrick Horgan. Among the others there we see from the sergeant’s report of the day, there was one Patrick Murphy of Macroney, who some hours later “seemed to have signs of liquor, but was not drunk”.
We know no more of that morning scene but can say something of later events on that Sunday. Constable Thomas Power was barrack orderly for the day and while standing outside the door at 8.45pm, he observed a man he knew. This was Patrick Murphy of Macroney, a labourer, who worked as caretaker on the Douglas House farm which was leased by the enterprising, strong farmer Thomas Magnier of nearby Macroney Castle. Power noted that Murphy appeared “to have some drink taken … it was noticeable … but he was not drunk”.
‘I HAVE SHOT A MAN…’
Power duly went inside to attend to barrack duties but at 10.05pm was interrupted by a loud knocking. Opening the door, he found outside the caretaker of Douglas House, William Aaron, without a coat and in a state of great excitement.
“I want to see the Sergeant,” he cried, adding “I fear I have a bad story to tell you, I fear I have shot a man in front of the hall door below”.
Power was taken aback and summoned Sergeant Ferris who was on duty up the street. Aaron opened up to Ferris, saying: “I have shot a man down at Douglas House and I don’t know if he is dead or how much he is injured!”. He added that the intruder may have been a soldier from Moore Park. This was credible, as soldiers from Moore Park were known to be regular trespassers on the Douglas farm - as indeed were others too. In fact, at the behest of Aaron, the Sergeant had had to come and order out an ill-tempered man settling down to sleep in the barn of Douglas House just six weeks before. Ferris now recalled recent complaints from Lady Jane Moore that “people were coming about the place at night”.
It was now 10.15pm and Sergeant Ferris headed for Douglas House led by Aaron and accompanied by Constables Keane and Crosbie. On their way they called to Dr Aherne, requesting he come with them. Aaron addressed Kilworth’s respected GP, declaring he had shot a man who had suddenly rushed at him, stooping as if he were trying to get under his gun. And at this, he had lowered the gun to his hip and fired. He added that a little earlier he had heard “a breaking of timber” and, as he knew Lady Jane’s niece and their servant were out, he had taken a gun with him on his way to investigate. And we know further from newspaper reports of the time, that on that night he had noticed the gate of the garden open and this had aroused his suspicions, given that items from the garden had been recently stolen. Aherne was taken aback and later said in court he had known Aaron for several years and considered him an excitable man whose sight was ‘defective for reading purposes”.
The group reached Douglas House at 10.27pm. Walking swiftly up the winding drive they found Patrick Murphy lying on the ground in front of the hall door. An imposing mansion, it had been built in 1836 as a residence for Lady Jane by her father, Stephen Moore, 3rd Earl Mount Cashell of Moore Park (1792 - 1883).
Under the doctor’s direction, Sergeant Ferris loosened Murphy’s clothes and observed a large wound in the left side out of which the entails protruded. Ahern noted three ribs fractured, internal haemorrhaging and shock, and he concluded the injuries came from a shot fired from a distance of just two yards. It was clear that the man was dying and twenty-five minutes later he expired without recovering consciousness.
COLLECTING EVIDENCE
Aaron was then arrested and cautioned. His response was “My God. What have I to say? It was I that did it!’’. Ferris then proceeded to search the body and found three new potatoes in the pockets, a pipe and some tobacco with matches, a knife, two letters, a photograph, a Rosary beads and scapular and the princely sum of three-pence halfpenny - hardly the possessions of a man of money!
But there was still more work to be done. The
Sergeant and one of the constables now headed to the Aaron residence a short distance away. Admitted by a greatly upset Mrs Aaron, Ferris took up a double-barrelled breach-loading fowling piece that she pointed out to him. On examining the gun, he noted there was one unexploded cartridge in a barrel, and the other barrel appeared to have been recently discharged. In the course of questioning, Mrs Aaron made a formal statement directing Ferris’ attention to ten other cartridges in the kitchen.
By this time, it had grown too dark to proceed further with the investigation. Resolving to return on the following day with the District Inspector from Fermoy, the group headed back to Kilworth with their unfortunate prisoner.
On the following morning, Monday 11th July, District Inspector Verrall arrived at Douglas House accompanied by Sergeant Ferris and some constables. In true Sherlock Holmes style, Verrall took charge of the investigation. He had brought with him a measure of fabric similar to that from which Murphy’s coat was made and proceeded to load the left barrel of the gun with a cartridge like the one fired from it the night before. From a distance of two yards he fired directly at the fabric which Ferris had set up before him. The lead penetrated the cloth making an entry hole similar to that seen in Murphy’s jacket. “It was fractured in a like manner,” Ferris would later testify in Court. Verrall and his RIC colleagues were now satisfied that they had their man, that they had discharged their duty with due diligence and that a clear picture of what happened that night had emerged.
THE INQUEST
Unlike today when an inquest will not take place for perhaps months after the event, in those days an inquest would be arranged for shortly afterwards. And this is what happened.
A jury was hastily empanelled for that Monday afternoon in Fermoy. At the outset of