16
1752 (September) Depositions from two women who were attacked and raped in Carlow
Estimate:
€150 - €200
Sold
€1,100
Timed Auction
The Eclectic Collector
Size
11.50 by 7.50in. (29.2 by 19.1cm)
Description
Description: 1752 September, the month with 19 days ~ A rare reference to Carlow Castle between the time it was made uninhabitable by Cromwellian forces in 1650 and its destruction by dynamite in 1814, recorded in two depositions from Catherine McManus and Mary Kelly. 8pp, mostly manuscript.Graphic descriptions of the assaults.
Note: Mary Kelly, who was eight months pregnant at the time of the incident, in a four page statement sworn before the Town Sovereign, Phil Bernard, she names Matt Dillon, James Cosker and ? Murphy as entering the lodging house of Joan Bronan and Dillon dragging Mary from the bed and brutally assaulting her, saying "he would beat her as black as twelve o'clock at night ". He returned for another girl while Cosker was bringing Mary to the Castle to " lye" with her. Later she was "forcibly ravished" by Dillon. Next morning she was delivered of a baby who died eight hours later. The second statement records the brutal assault with a cudgel on Catherine McManus who was brought to the Castle in order for Murphy to "lye" with her.The file includes two Jury Returns dated 22nd September 1752 wherein Dillon was charged with "Feloniously Ravishing and Carnally knowing" Mary Kelly. James Cosker was charged with "abetting and assisting".Both men were also charged with assault on McManus "so that her life was greatly despaired of". September 1752 was when the Julian Calendar changed over to the Gregorian Calendar jumping from the 2nd September to 14th September overnight. Many people protested about the change and the loss of days as they believed that their lives would be shortened by 11 days.
Note: Mary Kelly, who was eight months pregnant at the time of the incident, in a four page statement sworn before the Town Sovereign, Phil Bernard, she names Matt Dillon, James Cosker and ? Murphy as entering the lodging house of Joan Bronan and Dillon dragging Mary from the bed and brutally assaulting her, saying "he would beat her as black as twelve o'clock at night ". He returned for another girl while Cosker was bringing Mary to the Castle to " lye" with her. Later she was "forcibly ravished" by Dillon. Next morning she was delivered of a baby who died eight hours later. The second statement records the brutal assault with a cudgel on Catherine McManus who was brought to the Castle in order for Murphy to "lye" with her.The file includes two Jury Returns dated 22nd September 1752 wherein Dillon was charged with "Feloniously Ravishing and Carnally knowing" Mary Kelly. James Cosker was charged with "abetting and assisting".Both men were also charged with assault on McManus "so that her life was greatly despaired of". September 1752 was when the Julian Calendar changed over to the Gregorian Calendar jumping from the 2nd September to 14th September overnight. Many people protested about the change and the loss of days as they believed that their lives would be shortened by 11 days.
Condition
Very good, very legible.
