Murder of Great Grandfathers Brother

rafferr

While researching my family tree I discoverd that my Great Grandfathers brother, James McElarney was murdered.

According to the Irish times on 10 July 1909 he was murdered in Castleblaney, Co Monaghan on 25 Feb 1909 and a man called Humprey Mitchell appeared before the court (does not state the location of the court but I presume it was Monaghan town) and was found not guilty of manslaughter by the jury.

Is there any further avenue that I could explore to uncover the background of this gruesome event? I would like to get as many facts about this sad tale. Would court or constabulary records exist that may provide more information?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Regards
Rafferr

mari2222

maybe reports from a local paper at the time/ local library archives?

P. Breathnach

The local paper: http://northernstandard.ie/

pinkypinky

Court records should exist, though I don't have specific knowledge. In the National Library, they'll have copies of newspapers from the period but I would start with Monaghan County Library first because they'll have specialised information. I'd also check local history societies in the area.

rafferr

Thank you everyone for the information, looking at the Northern Standard website it states that they are operating for over 171 years which is promising, looks like a trip to Monaghan County Library is in order.
I already have some information from the Freemans Journal but the court records and constabulary records are probably going to be the most intriguing.

annieoburns

The National Archives in Bishop Street, Dublin, have court records. With exact dates you might be lucky.

rafferr

I made the trip to the Monaghan County Library in Clones yesterday and I was delighted with the information that I received. The Northern Standard contained a wealth of information. Someone went to the effort of cataloguing every death recorded in the Northern Standard from the first edition (in the mid 1800's) up to the 1960's, what an invaluable piece of work.

Next stop - the National Archives for the Court records.

CeannRua

I don't think that the National Archives has records for all courthouses, so if you're travelling to Dublin, it might be worth your while putting in a call first to make sure they have what you're looking for.