Mountjoy Prison finds 17 executed bodies, including innocent man Harry Gleeson
The search for the executed was organised by the Department of Justice and carried out over the last six months. The Department said all the remaining bodies will be interred in a Dublin cemetery
Archaeologists have found 17 bodies of executed prisoners on the grounds of Mountjoy Prison. Sixteen of them have now been recovered since last Tuesday including that of innocent farmer worker Harry Gleeson who was wrongly hanged in 1941 over the murder of mother of seven Moll McCarthy in County Tipperary a few months beforehand.
His remains were handed over to his family at Mountjoy yesterday and he will be buried after Mass at Holycross Abbey in his native county tomorrow afternoon.
The search for the executed was organised by the Department of Justice and carried out over the last six months. The Department said all the remaining bodies will be interred in a Dublin cemetery. Most of those killed by the state for various crimes died in Mountjoy between 1923 and 1954.
They were known to be buried in the prison grounds but no one knew precisely where. An area of over 1170 square metres in Mountjoy was searched.
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The Department of Justice said it welcomes contact by families who think they have relatives buried in Mountjoy and will work with them to identify specific individuals where possible.
It is believed a total of 29 executed prisoners were buried in the jail and twelve remaining have yet to be located.
Among them is the last man to be hanged in Ireland Michael Manning in 1954.
The 25 year old from Limerick raped and murdered 65-year-old Catherine Cooper in a random attack in his home city on November 18,1953. He was arrested by Gardai the next day.
The body of the nurse who worked in Barrington's Hospital was found in a quarry in the Castletroy area. She was found to have choked from grass stuffed into her mouth to keep her quiet during the sexual attack.
He did not deny that he killed Ms Cooper and expressed remorse for his crime. He said he was drunk and saw her walking alone on her own when he " lost his head and jumped on the woman."
Manning made a plea for clemency to avoid execution which was supported by the murdered nurse's family. But he was ultimately executed by hanging on April 20,1954 in Mountjoy Prison by then hangman Albert Pierepoint who came over from Britain to carry it out. His body was then buried on the grounds of the prison.
The Dept of Justice has yet to confirm if he is one of the 16 bodies that have so far been recovered. DNA testing is being carried out to identify each and everyone of them.
Harry Gleeson from Holycross, 38, Co Tipperary was the one known innocent person among the 29 bodies buried in Mountjoy.
His death notice appeared on RIP on Thursday - 83 years after he was hung for a crime that he didn't commit.
It said: "The family of Henry (Harry) Gleeson rejoice in announcing the final homecoming of his remains to his native Galbertstown. Having languished in an unmarked grave in Mountjoy prison for 83 years wrongly convicted and hanged for a murder in which he " had neither hand, act or part'.
"Harry's remains can finally rest in peace having been declared an entirely innocent man. Betrayed by the very system that should have protected him, it fell to others to restore his good name and bring him home. 'Harry, may your innocent soul enjoy the happiness of Heaven knowing that truth and justice has prevailed."
The farm worker had always denied killing his neighbour Moll McCarthy. He found the body of the single mother of seven after she was shot dead in the face in November 1940 and reported the discovery to the Gardai. But he paid the price with his life when he was executed a few months later.
He denied being one of her many lovers or fathering one of her kids that would have jeopardised an inheritance from an uncle. The police claimed he carried out the brutal murder to silence Moll. Harry' grand nephew Kevin led the public campaign to clear his name.
Harry became the first man in the state to be awarded a posthumous pardon which was issued by President Higgins back in 2015.
A full review of the original trial and all the evidence was carried out by a legal team and he was deemed innocent. Nearly all of the state's case against him was based on " unconvincing " circumstantial evidence.
The Fine Gael Justice Minister Alan Shatter recommended Mr Gleeson be given a pardon and that he had been wrongly convicted and executed. Mr Gleeson's body finally left Mountjoy in a hearse at lunchtime yesterday and he was brought back to his relative in his native Tipperary. His funeral mass will be held at 2pm at Holycross Abbey this Sunday.
There is only one woman buried among the 29 - Annie Walsh also from Limerick. She became the first and the last woman to be executed by the Irish Free State and the Republic.
Annie was killed for the murder of her husband Edward Walsh, and his nephew Michael Talbot was also executed for the same crime. The police claimed the motive was she had her husband murdered so she could claim compensation for his death.
Another killer, a 56 year old gardener Henry McCabe was executed on December 9, 1926 for the murder of six members of the McDonnell family who he worked for in Malahide.
Every time somebody was hung in Mountjoy a bell would toll and a notice as to who was executed was pinned up on the prison gate to let whoever was outside that the death sentence had been carried out.
The Dept of Justice wants anyone who believes some of those executed in the the prison are related to them to come forward and make contact. It said all dealings with the families are private and confidential.
In a statement it said: "We welcome the recovery of the remains of the late Mr Harry Gleeson and their return to the family for burial in the coming days. This is an important step in the long running efforts to redress the miscarriage of justice in this case. We understand the Gleeson family has asked for privacy at this time.
"We will continue on the site to locate as many burials as possible and ensure their appropriate and respectful reburial in a suitable location. The project is being led by expert forensic archaeologists, ARC Forensics Ltd engaged by the Department with work having commenced in January 2024 and expected to conclude later this year.
"The Dept of Justice welcomes any contact by families to provide further information and will work with them to identify specific individuals where possible. The Dept of Justice can be contacted at mountoyexhumations@justice.ie. All communications received will be treated as confidential."
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