Funeral mass held 83 years after execution of innocent Harry Gleeson
Henry Gleeson was wrongly convicted of the murder of the mother of seven Moll McCarthy in 1941
The funeral Mass of a man who was wrongly executed for a murder 83 years ago heard the Church and State “failed to stand up” for his innocence.
In 1941, Harry Gleeson was convicted of the murder of mother-of-seven Mary ‘Moll’ McCarthy. The previous year, he found her body lying in a field on his uncle’s farm in New Inn, Co Tipperary. The hurler and fiddle player was 38.
Mr Gleeson always protested his innocence and the day before his execution, his funeral heard he wrote: “I have no confession to make, just that I didn’t do it.” His family never stopped trying to prove his innocence and they formed the Justice for Harry Gleeson group.
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The case was also re-examined and an American pathologist helped prove Mr Gleeson had an alibi for the time of Ms McCarthy’s death.
Following this, he received a posthumous pardon by the State in 2015, 74 years after he was killed. Last week, the Department of Justice announced they had positively identified his remains in a burial area within Mountjoy Prison.
Fr Celsus Tierney told mourners in Holycross Abbey yesterday it was a “very special occasion”. He said: “This is a unique occasion, I can confidently suggest that there has never been a funeral Mass where we bring one of our own parishioners who died many, many years ago back here to Holycross Abbey.
“We pray he will have eternal rest and will eventually, at last, rest in peace among his own family and friends.”
Amazing Grace opened the service, while a violin was the only gift brought to the altar by Mr Gleeson’s great grand nephew Harry, and his mother Ciara.
Fr Tierney also asked mourners to pray for Ms McCarthy, at the request of her family. He added: “They are part of the tragic story, our history, which we cannot disown.”
The parish priest said 83 years after his death, Mr Gleeson is finally being offered a Christian burial. He added: “This was not afforded to him at the time of his death in Mountjoy Prison. He is part of our darker and bleaker history of our own State.
“Much has been written and spoken about the life of Harry Gleeson, his trial, and his execution, and his exoneration by the State for this wrongful act in which he was accused of a murder he did not commit.
“Regretfully it was a time when Church and State failed to stand up for the innocent in the case of Harry Gleeson.” Fr Tierney finished the ceremony by thanking all those who worked tirelessly for Mr Gleeson’s innocence to be acknowledged by the State, which allowed for him to finally receive a Christian burial.
He added: “He was brought back to his own home and finally laid to rest in his own family grave.” Mr Gleeson was later buried in St Mary’s Cemetery, Holycross.
Hundreds of condolences have been left on his online book, with one person writing: “Kudos to each and every individual involved in helping to overturn this appalling miscarriage of justice and the achievement of this most deserved State pardon. It took a long, long while Harry... but finally, you are home at last.”
Another person commented: “Harry, your story is heartbreaking. I’m so glad your people continued to fight for you. Rest in peace at home.”
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