On this day in 1898, Wilfred Kenny became the last man to be hanged in Clonmel Gaol.
Kenny, a Private in the 8th Hussars in Cahir Military Barracks, had been found guilty of the gruesome murder of fellow solider Edwin Goodwin. Goodwin’s body was found on the morning of 11 January 1898. He had been savagely beaten and his throat had been cut almost from ear to ear.
Suspicion fell on Kenny based on a considerable amount of circumstantial evidence. Kenny went on trial for wilful murder and the proceedings commenced at Clonmel Courthouse on Friday 4 March 1898.
The trial was one of the most sensational to be held in Clonmel and the courtroom was packed for the duration. The government took such an interest in the case that Attorney-General Atkinson headed up the prosecution team.
During the trial, it came out that ‘Wilfred Kenny’ was just one of many aliases used by the accused. His real surname was Krevtz and he came from Prussia. In 1894, he had been convicted for burglary and forgery in Liverpool while going by the name of Richard George Williams.
According to a Cork Examiner article, Kenny’s defence was very weak and his counsel sought an acquittal merely on the grounds that most of the evidence was circumstantial. Unsurprisingly then, the jury took less than 45 minutes to find Kenny guilty of the murder of Private Goodwin. Judge Gibson put on the black cap, as was customary, and pronounced the sentence of death. Kenny was to be hanged on 5 April. It would be the first execution in Clonmel Gaol for over 20 years.
Present on the day of the execution were the Protestant rector, the sub sheriff, the prison doctor, the Governor of the Gaol and the Mayor of Clonmel. Kenny was brought into a small room for 8 o’ clock in the morning where the executioner, a Mr. Scott from Huddersfield, was waiting for him. There was a trap door in the centre of the room with a nine-foot drop below and a pine beam overhead from which a noose was suspended. Scott placed the noosed around the prisoner’s neck, the bolt was quickly drawn, and all was over.
Although death was instantaneous, the Nationalist reported that ‘the haunting horror of the ghastly occurrence remained in the minds of all.’
Source:
Michael Ahern, Threads in a Clonmel Tapestry (2012) pp264-274.
