NUI Galway President, Dr Jim Browne, officially launched The case of the Craughwell Prisoners during the Land War in Co. Galway, 1879–85 by Pat Finnegan last night (Thursday, 17 June).

Pat Finnegan is Professor Emeritus of Medicine at NUI Galway and a retired consultant physician, University Hospital Galway.

Published by Four Courts Press, The case of the Craughwell Prisoners during the Land War in Co. Galway, 1879–85examines the wrongful conviction of Patrick Finnegan and RIC Constable Michael Muldowney. At the height of the Land War in 1881, a dispute over land led to the shooting dead of a young man called Peter Doherty near Craughwell, Co. Galway. Intense police investigations discovered two informers whose perjured testimony before packed juries resulted in the conviction of two innocent men, Patrick Finnegan and Constable Muldowney. This book features a forensic analysis of the trials that resulted in such a grave miscarriage of justice. Original research in primary sources has uncovered the role of informers, payments made to them and their eventual ‘disposal’ by the Dublin Castle authorities. Following commutation of the death sentences, each of the prisoners served a term of twenty years penal servitude and became known as the ‘Craughwell prisoners’. The experiences of the prisoners in Mountjoy and Maryborough jails are revealed from the prison files, which also contain their heartfelt pleas for release and pardon and affirmations of their innocence.

The case of the Craughwell Prisoners during the Land War in Co. Galway, 1879–85 is available to purchase at the NUI Galway Bookstore or at www.fourcourtspress.ie.

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