Newspaper Extracts, 1872-1904
29 September 1872, The People 21 Jan 1880, The People (a story of impropriety at the Workhouse - worth the read for socio-historic context) Wexford Union – Investigation by the Local Government Board On Saturday Captain Hamilton, Inspector under the Local government Board, held an enquiry in the Board-room of the Wexford Workhouse, arising out of the admission of an illegitimate child, whose mother, Mary Murphy, formerly an inmate of the workhouse, died on December 14th. The investigation commenced immediately after the conclusion of the ordinary business of the board. Several of the guardians remained. Sarah Murphy, swore – I am daughter of the late Mary Murphy ; I am nearly 16 years of age, and I am in the Industrial School ; I was formerly in the Workhouse : Johanna Sutton brought a letter to me, with money in it from Mr Kavanagh ; it was not a letter, it was only an envelope ; this was about a month before my mother died ; I was then in Barrack street ; my mother was living in Castle street ; I gave her the letter ; it contained £1 ; I asked her where the letter was, and she said no matter ; I never saw money received on any other occasion from anybody ; I am perfectly certain that Sutton told me the envelope containing the money came from Mr Kavanagh ; I met her in the Main street ; my mother sent me to meet her ; she told me to go and meet Johanna Sutton, and see it she had a letter for her. To Mr Peacocke - I did not know of my mother having any more money : I never heard my mother speaking of Mr Kavanagh, or mention his name. To Mr Kavanagh - I did not write a letter from my mother to you, asking you to get me a situation. Mr Kavanagh - I received such a letter and I thought it was your handwriting. Mr Cooney - Did you speak to anyone about the evidence you should give here to-day? I spoke to Mrs Irwin, the schoolmistress ; I met her in Wexford before I got the letter ; I got the letter about a week after meeting her ; she asked me if I liked the place I was in and I said no, and she said she would have me taken out of it ; I told her I was going for a letter ; my mother sent me twice for the letter ; I told Mrs Irwin I was going for a letter that Mr Kavanagh was to send my mother, by Johanna Sutton. Mr Cooney - Did anyone go to the school to tell you what to say here? - No. Mr Cooney - I see you hesitate ; tell the truth, you are in a very awkward position? Mr N Codd - Don't frighten the child. Captain Hamilton - Did anyone call to you to the school? Mrs Irwin came to the convent and told me I would be brought here, but that was all. Did anyone else speak to you about the kind of evidence you should give? - No Mr Irwin - Did Mrs Hore call to you at the convent? -No. Were you out on leave? -Yes. Were you at Mrs Hore's? - Yes. She told me not to say anything. Johanna Sutton, sworn - I am employed to bring milk to the house from Pembrokestown ; on one occasion I brought a letter from Mr Kavanagh, and gave it to Sarah Murphy ; previously she came to me, and asked me if I had a letter for her, from Mr Kavanagh ; I did not see him at the time, but one or two days afterwards I asked him, and he answered me very cross, "No;" a few days afterwards I met him, and he told me he had a letter for Murphy, and would I have any way of giving it to her ; I said not, unless I'd see her little girl Sarah ; he gave me the letter, and I delivered it to the little girl that evening ; Mrs Murphy, herself, gave me a bit of a note for Mr Kavanagh, and he wrote on a slip of paper an answer which I gave to her ; I never took any other letter. To Mr Irwin - I have occasionally brought Mrs Murphy a grain of tea, and sugar, while she was in this house ; this was not with the porter's knowledge. To Mr Cooney - I never asked her where she got the money ; she would give me a few pence to buy them ; I never saw more than about four pence with her ; I never brought her whiskey or porter. To Mr Kavanagh - Mrs Murphy told me that the note to Mr Kavanagh was asking him about her little girl going to Mrs Sheill. To Mr Cooney - I did not know there was money in the letter I gave the little girl ; I never saw much money with her ; I asked her on one occasion why she would not ask the master for a pass, and she said she wished she had never gone out on a pass ; I used to bring her a grain of tea and sugar, but that was all. Edward Kearns, sworn - In reference to the preliminary examination on the 3rd instant in reply to a question put to me by Mr Peacocke whether I ever saw any flush of money with the deceased, in the confusion and excitement of the moment I said I had no recollection of having seen money with her, but I recollect that in the month of October I remarked to the matron that I had seen plenty of money with her, that she had more money than I had considering our relative positions. Captain Hamilton - Here is your evidence before the committee:- "E. Kearns, porter - Mary Murphy was my servant in the lodge ; I never saw or knew any immorality going on, nor did I suspect any ; she was in the performance of her duty frequently in the Boardroom ; I never suspected she was in the family-way ; I never noticed money with her. E. Kearns - Yes, and I want to correct the last statement about the money. I was appointed the first week in March during my father's illness and Mary Murphy was appointed my servant. She was to clean down the boardroom and the clerk's office, I remarked she would come up when the clerk would be here, but it never occurred to me that there was anything improper between them. I never heard of her being in the family way till the 18th ult. To Mr. Irwin - I said to you that Mrs. Murphy exhibited a very free manner towards Mr. Kavanagh was impertinent and went up to the boardroom hot foot after him. To Mr. Peacocke - She would be sometimes half an hour in the boardroom and I never noticed anything in her appearance after coming down. She did not in my opinion remain longer than necessary. Mr. Peacocke - That does not seem to accord with your former evidence. To Mr. Kavanagh - She would go up to the kitchen, to the lodge, and about the land. To Mr. Irwin - I never knew her to be out by herself or after dark. To Mr. Peacocke - In my opinion the woman did and not remain longer in the boardroom than was necessary […] The Clerk spoke to me about my evidence and the master also since the preliminary examination. The clerk said I had compromised him by remarking how long the woman remained in the boardroom, and the master said I had given very unsatisfactory evidence, and ought to clear the character of the house that I had given evasive answers. Mr. Irwin - I should wish to ask the witness while he is on oath if he considers it was through a hostile feeling to the clerk that I made my report. Captain Hamilton - It is not necessary and he can only be examined on points which affect the case. Mr. Irwin - He could give a satisfactory answer to the question, for he knows all about it. Capt. Hamilton - Nobody charges you with improper motives, and it was your duty to make the report. I shall now read your evidence at the preliminary inquiry. It is as follows:- "Mr. Irwin - Mary Murphy was an inmate for 9 years ; I knew her from her childhood - her husband went to America - she became the mother of an illegitimate child - she filled different departments satisfactorily, and was sent to the lodge as a fit person ; among her duties was the lighting of the boardroom fire and cleansing the rooms ; an assistant clerk, Mr. Gifford, was frequently alone in the boardroom ; the clerk was, of course, constantly in the room ; I never saw anything wrong going on with any officer ; she asked me to let her come before the board for clothes to go to Waterford ; I advised her not to go ; she persisted ; her daughter, about 14, was an attendant in my room ; she finally took her discharge ; the matron said to me, "I hope there is nothing wrong with Mrs. Murphy ;" I spoke to the latter in consequence, and thought there was nothing wrong ; she went out of the house immediately afterwards ; I heard from Dr. Pierse she was in the family-way, and that she had plenty of funds wherever they came from ; he said, on my asking, that she had not told who the father was ; the woman's daughter talked to the matron and to my wife, the schoolmistress." John Irwin, master, sworn - I wish to add that when I made my report I did so from a sense of duty and not from any ill feeling. Capt. Hamilton - It was quite right the master should make a report. It was a great scandal that occurred. To Mr. Kavanagh - Why did you not report the circumstances sooner? - I had no positive knowledge of Mary Murphy being pregnant till about a week before her confinement, when I was informed of it by Dr. Pierse. I thought if I had reported it before admission of the child that it would be outside my sphere of duty - that I could not report it on an outside pauper. Capt. Hamilton - I consider it would be your duty to report it even though the child had not been admitted, if there was any suspicion of its having occurred in the house. It was your duty to clear the character of the house. Mr. Irwin - When Dr. Pierse spoke to me about the matter, he said the woman had plenty of money, wherever it came from, but he said she did no t mention a word about the paternity of the child. Stephen Kavanagh, clerk, sworn - With regard to the letters referred to in the evidence, I was in the habit of often getting letters for Mary Murphy : the first letter was about getting a place for her child ; the second was one sent to me for her. I get letters for other inmates of the house as well. I deny having had anything to say to Mary Murphy in the way of immorality, or even having given her money, except a shilling at Christmas, which I was in the habit of giving the woman who cleaned up the office. Mary Kelly, sworn - Mary Murphy lodged with me on Castle street ; she never made any statement to me regarding the father of her child, except one night she said laughing, the child should be called Thomas Furlong ; I sent word to Father Browne when she got bad ; I stayed four nights with her ; waked her and all and never got anything ; she had plenty of money for her own wants during her illness, but I never got anything ; I never heard her refer to the father only the once, but of course women can say what they like that way. Dr. Pierse, sworn - I attended this woman. To Mr. Kavanagh - It was quite possible that a child could be born from the 26th March to the 11th December ; she made no statement to me. The Master - She was out from half-past ten to half-past two on that day. The evidence given before the committee by Miss Scallan and Mrs. Irwin, having been read over to them, was confirmed by them on oath as follows :- Miss Scallan, matron - Mary Murphy took her discharge: my duty was to search her: I was startled by her appearance and I spoke to the master who spoke to her: he said he did not think there was anything wrong ; I said I was very glad ; after she left the house I heard she was in the family-way: I spoke to the porter who said she never was without money, and that he always, when he wanted her, could find her in the board-room ; Mary Murphy's illegitimate child is now in the workhouse ; she herself is dead ; I had some conversation with Sarah Murphy, who had been an inmate with her mother ; Sarah Murphy was living at Quinn's in Barrack-street ; the mother was at Kelly's, Castle street where she died ; Sarah Murphy came for a coffin for her mother's body ; she said the infant was alive and was called Thomas Furlong ; she said she had got money from Johanna Sutton, who got it from Mr. Kavanagh ; she herself had got £1 from Sutton ; that her mother had got it at other times. Mrs. Irwin, schoolmistress - Mary Murphy's little girl about the 15th November, when I met her coming to the house, told me she was coming for money to Mr. Kavanagh to give it to her mother ; she told me where she was stopping ; I asked why she stayed there ; and she asked me to get her out of it ; that it was by her mother's wishes ; I took her to the clergy, who got her into the House of Mercy ; it was Father Luke Doyle ; I think the girl would tell the truth.
1 Oct 1904, Free Press
18 October 1904, Free Press
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