Dorchas Kelly

Fuinseog · 02-04-2012 6:57pm #1

does anyone know anything about her. she was a prostitute? in Dublin and burnt at the stake around 1746. Apparently she killed five men. i have a few books on old Dublin and never came across her name before.

she was mentioned on a TG4 programme last night entitled 'Ce a chonaigh i mo theachsa' but details were scant

dubhthach · 02-04-2012 7:32pm

Never heard of her, great name though given how she turned out. Dorcha = Dark (Dorchadas = darkness), it's exact opposite of Sorcha (lightness/brightness)

Nitochris · 02-04-2012 7:35pm

Fuinseog wrote: »

does anyone know anything about her. she was a prostitute? in Dublin and burnt at the stake around 1746. Apparently she killed five men. i have a few books on old Dublin and never came across her name before.

she was mentioned on a TG4 programme last night entitled 'Ce a chonaigh i mo theachsa' but details were scant

I remember a podcast on her a while ago, I'll see if I can track down the link, as I recall she was convicted of the murder of John Dowling and hanged rather than burnt. There was a minor riot over her body which local prostitutes were waking. Some fake lore has grown up connecting her to the hellfire club.
This is all from memory but I'll try to dig up references later.
EDIT:
The podcast http://nosmokewithouthellfire1.podomatic.com/
I've notes from the Public Gazetteer
She was found guilty for the murder of John Dowling on March 17 and sentenced to burning (Dec 27 1760). On January 10 1761 sentence carried out near Green (I assume I mean Stephen's Green) body carried by mob to Newgate, not allowed to enter, waked Copper Alley - 13 arrested, ordered buried under gallows buried Merrion (Jan 10 1761, The Public Gazetteer 255).
The Dublin Courier Jan 5th – 7th mentions "Dorcas Kelly, otherwise Stuart", to be burnt.

jonniebgood1 · 02-04-2012 8:14pm

Darky Kelly is supposedly Irelands first serial killer. The podcast the Chris mentions is also referred to here:

For generations, Darkey Kelly was regarded as a woman who was burned at the stake for witchcraft after she accused the notorious Sheriff of Dublin Simon Luttrell of fathering her baby.

But new research has revealed she may have been Dublin's first female serial killer.

In fact, she was executed for the murders of at least five men whose bodies were found hidden in a brothel she owned in Dublin. It was widely accepted she was executed in 1746. http://www.herald.ie/news/truth-about-darkey-kelly-burned-as-a-witch-250-years-ago-but-who-was-really-a-serial-killer-2489044.html

The presenter Eamonn McLoughlin is quoted "Women in 18th-century Ireland were second class citizens and the execution of prisoners reflected that blatant sexism.

"Men found guilty of murder were just hanged, whereas women were throttled first, then burnt alive."

MarchDub · 03-04-2012 12:05pm

dubhthach wrote: »

Never heard of her, great name though given how she turned out. Dorcha = Dark (Dorchadas = darkness), it's exact opposite of Sorcha (lightness/brightness)

Never thought of that. I always thought it was from the biblical name - Dorcas - she who is mentioned in Acts, I think. Peter raised her from the dead....or cured her or something like that.

Fuinseog · 03-04-2012 12:38pm

MarchDub wrote: »

Never thought of that. I always thought it was from the biblical name - Dorcas - she who is mentioned in Acts, I think. Peter raised her from the dead....or cured her or something like that.

some article refer to her as Darkey kelly. I believe there is a pub of the same name. the name could be Greek in origin and may not have anything to do with the Gaelic dorcha.

Dorcas \d(o)-rcas, dor-cas\ as a girl's name is pronounced DOR-kuss. It is of Greek origin, and the meaning of Dorcas is "gazelle". Biblical: a woman who "abounded in good deeds and gifts of mercy". Greek version of Tabitha, well used by Puritans.

Dorcas has 3 variant forms: Dorcass, Dorcie and Dorkas.

http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Dorcas

Dorcas (also known as Tabitha) was a disciple who lived in Joppa, referenced in the Book of Acts 9:36–42 of the Bible. Acts recounts that when she died, she was mourned by "all the widows ... crying and showing (Peter) the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them." (Acts 9:39). This may indicate that Dorcas was a widow, or at the very least that she joined the widows in their works of charity. The disciples present called upon Saint Peter who came from nearby Lydda to the place where her wake was being held and raised her from the dead.
Tabitha/Dorcas is one of the few women whose name was remembered and preserved in New Testament writings, which makes this passage most interesting, and may indicate her importance in the early church. Another point of interest is the fact that she is clearly named as a disciple, which may indicate a broader usage of that term by the early church than is generally accepted today. It may also indicate that she was a church leader in the community of Joppa. This might also be assumed by the fact that Peter took the trouble to come to her from a neighbouring city, when requested by the community members.
The name Dorcas is Greek translation of the Aramaic name Tabitha, meaning "gazelle". One species of gazelle is now known as the dorcas gazelle. She is commemorated with Lydia of Thyatira and Phoebe on January 27 in the Calendar of Saints of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and on October 25 in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod.
Dorcas, along with Lydia of Thyatira and Phoebe, is honored with a feast day on the liturgical of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America on January 27.
Depictions of Dorcas in art are very rare, but she is represented in a window in the apse of Christ Church, Bath; in a window on the south side of St Peter's Church, Caversham; in the sacristy of Calvary Episcopal Church (Pittsburgh); in Llandaff Cathedral, Cardiff; in St Leonard's Church, Bridgnorth;in a window in Castleton Parish Church, Derbyshire; and in an oriel window at the Head Office of Retail Trust in north London. Dorcas and Cornelius are represented on the stained glass windows above the altar in the Emmanuel Anglican Church in Lawson. (NSW Australia). The Ladychapel of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin has a window of her with the legend: "Dorcas this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds

CDfm · 05-04-2012 5:40pm

A bit of a serial killer

Eamonster wrote: »

You'll find her on page 80 in this link. Not much is known about her...

http://www.archive.org/stream/irelandbeforeurs00fitzuoft#page/80/mode/2up/search/darkey+kelly

Darkey Kelly's Pub is built on the site of her brothel, The Maiden Tower opposite Christ Church.

But apparantly, after she was burnt alive, her body was taken to Merrion. That could be either the Huguenot Graveyard in Merrion Row, or possibly a graveyard up in Mount Merrion.

A Disgrace · 05-04-2012 9:12pm

I have heard it suggested that the actual Hellfire Club existed somewhere around the Copper Alley/Fishamble Street area, and perhaps not in the Dublin mountains.

It's a shame that guy who lived in his little house at the end of Copper Alley up until a few decades ago isn't around anymore, he might have known something.

Nitochris · 05-04-2012 9:31pm

A Disgrace wrote: »

I have heard it suggested that the actual Hellfire Club existed somewhere around the Copper Alley/Fishamble Street area, and perhaps not in the Dublin mountains.

It's a shame that guy who lived in his little house at the end of Copper Alley up until a few decades ago isn't around anymore, he might have known something.

I've always felt, but I've nothing to prove it, that the building (in the mountains) got the name because the land had previously belonged to Philip, Duke of Wharton - before Conolly owned it (and built it).

Re: Kelly
I'd be wary about describing her as a serial killer, never mind Ireland's first, she was only convicted of one murder but was suspected of others. As for the first Irish serial killer thing, I've seen that attached to a few people, Alice Kyteler and Francis Tumblety (although that assumes he was Jack the Ripper - which is a whole field of psuedo-history).

CDfm · 05-04-2012 11:46pm

Nitochris wrote: »

As for the first Irish serial killer thing, I've seen that attached to a few people, Alice Kyteler and Francis Tumblety (although that assumes he was Jack the Ripper - which is a whole field of psuedo-history).

Alice Kettle survived four husbands starting with the fantastically named William Outlawe and people were suspicious of her money accumulating ways.

Add to that Petronella of Meath who took the rap and became a spit roast.

So she has hit the magical number 5 to be a serial killer.

Eamonster · 16-04-2015 8:23pm

Howyas,

I'm Eamonn the guy who actually produced that documentary. It was my friend, Phil who dug up that evidence about her. She was tried at the Tholsel, which, as far as I know, is that old 18th century facade beside Jury's Inn, Christchurch. She was executed near Stephen's Green. Now that can mean either the gallows on modern day Baggot Street or it could mean the North side of Stephen's Green itself where executions also took place. If you look at Roque's map of 1759 you will see that Baggot St. was called Gallow's road and there was a gallows near the Baggot St./Fitzwilliam St. crossroads. Or thereabouts.

The 5 murdered bodies was from a reference made during the Henry Luttrell/Maria Lewellyn case of 1788.

"The last brothel keeper executed here was Dorcas Kelly,
in the vaults of whose house on Copper Alley, 5 bodies of
murdered gentlemen were found, and among the rest, one,
supposed to be that of Surgeon Tuckey's son, of whom no
account has ever been had. She was burned almost alive,
among the groans and execrations of the young people."

The Public Gazateer was one of the Red Tops of the time and it gives the most detailed account of her death and as Nitochris rightly pointed out, her body was waked on the flags of Coppery Alley leading to 13 arrests and her body then taken to Newgate. Eventually, her body was taken back to Merrion (Merrion Row) where the Huguenot cemetery is now and that's where she was buried.

As for the Hellfire Club, they met up at 'The Eagle Tavern', which was at the back of 'Baron's Yard' where 'Toscana' and 'The Queen of Tarts' now stand. So the Eagle Tavern itself could very well have been where 'The Front Lounge' is now.

The hunting lodge was also their 'riding' ground (sorry). There are alcoves in the wall where they would've put Grecian deities such as Aphrodite and Dionysus - the god of wine and ritual ecstasy. Not surprising when you consider they were known as 'The Order of Dionysus' back then and their motto was 'do what thou wilt'.

As for Philip Wharton, who was originally from Rathfarnham Castle, he set up the first ever Hellfire club in 'The George and Vulture' Tavern in London back in 1719 to 1721. Walpole, who was his political opponent in the English Parliament, got Wharton expelled from Parliament thanks to the rumours that his club, known as The Knights of Bacchus, celebrated black masses and such - Bacchus being the Roman version of Dionysus.

Peter Lens who was in the Dublin Hellfire club of 1736 - 1741 would offer up prayers and toasts to the Devil and he got chased out of the country by Bailiffs. Parsons, the co-founder of the club, was the first Grandmaster of the Freemasons in Ireland 1725 and Masons wear black robes during initiation ceremonies. A priest chanced upon them one night while they were wearing said robes and they eventually chased him out. God knows what else they got up to up there in that lodge. Santry burnt a sedan chairman alive in Cow's Lane and never got tried for it. He usually bribed his way out of trouble until he ran Loughlin Murphy through in the Swan Tavern in Palmerstown and ended up getting exiled to Nottingham (I think). There, he spent the rest of his days until he died at the age of 46. He had such bad arthritis he could'nt even climb the stairs. Served him right.

Hope that was of some help

Eamonn

Dorchas Kelly

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