ON 17 AUGUST 1882 five members of a family in Maamtrasna Co Galway were murdered.
Eight local men were convicted of the crime based on what later emerged to be perjured evidence. Informers and alleged eyewitnesses were given compensation amounting to £1,250 (€160,000 today) for giving the perjured evidence.
The men were tried in English despite the fact that they were native Irish speakers. Three of the eight men were executed and the others were imprisoned. In 1884 one of the witnesses confessed his part in the wrongful conviction of one of the hanged men, Myles Joyce [Maolra Seoighe], and four of the men imprisoned.
This trial has been described as an example of the poor treatment of Irish-only speakers at a time when language in Ireland was going through a period of rapid change and society was divided by language.
This bilingual book in Irish and English explores the background to the case and it’s aftermath.