67 - Honor Bright: Murder in the Free State

Mens Rea: A true crime podcast

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True Crime, Society & Culture

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🗓️ 11 May 2020

⏱️ 61 minutes

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Summary

In 1925, while the Irish Free State was still in it's infancy after the close of the civil war, the body of a young woman was found dead lying at a lonely cross roads in South County Dublin. Her name was Honor Bright, a woman who made her living as a sex worker in town. Two men were tried for her shooting death, but was her killing a the result of her "unfortunate" status, or part of an attempt to keep scandal away from the halls of power in a newly-independent Ireland? ******** Thanks to our sponsors for today’s episode: Try the casual mobile puzzle game Best Fiends today! Find it on the Apple App store and Google Play! Sign up today for a free trial of Noom - the habit changing app for a healthier you! Find it at noom.com/mens ******** Find us on Facebook or Twitter! With thanks to our supporters on Patreon! Donate today to get access to bonus and ad-free episodes! Check out the Mens Rea Merch Store! ******** Theme Music: Quinn’s Song: The Dance Begins Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Additional Music: Allemande (Sting) by Wahneta Meixsell. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ ******** Sources: Patricia Hughes, Who Killed Honor Bright: How William Bulter and George Yeats cause the fall of the Irish Free State (Hues Books, 2014) “Verdict of not guilty” in The Scotsman (4 February 1926) p. 9. “Dublin Murder Trial” in The Scotsman (2 February 1926) p. 10. “Honor Bright: The Dublin Mountains Drama: Girl who was found shot” in Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail (2 February 1926) p. 6. “Murder of a woman” in The Scotsman (7 July 1925) p. 7 “Sequel to murder trial” in The Northern Whig (24 February 1926) p. 7. “Dublin Mountain Murders: Dillons evidence of meeting with 'Honor Bright'” in The Northern Whig and Belfast Post (4 February 1926) p. 8. “Girl shot dead” inThe Ballymena Observer (24 July 1925) p. 10. “Ex-police chief and doctor in dock” in The Belfast Telegraph (2 February 1926) p. 3. “Sequel to shooting of woman” in The Dundee Courier (7 July 1925) p. 4. “The Ticknock Murder” in The Leinster Leader (1 August 1925) p. 7 -8. “Dublin murder trial: Three minute taken by jury” in The Belfast Telegraph (4 February 1926) p. 4. “Honor Bright Murder” in The Belfast Telegraph (25 July 1925) p. 9 “Honor Bright” murder: Purcell and Dillon again in court” in The Ballymena Weekly Telegraph (1 August 1925) p. 12. “Ticknock Murder: accused Acquitted: in The Wicklow People (6 February 1926) p. 10. “The Ticknock murder charge: sensational evidence” in The Kildare Observer (25 July 1925) p. 6 “Dublin murder trial: police regulate the queue” in The Belfast Telegraph (3 February 1926) p. 9 “Honor Bright Murder: Bail refused to Dr Purcell” in The Belfast Telegraph (11 August 1925) p. 9. “The murder of Honor Bright: Dr Purcell's application for bail refused” in The Londonderry Sentinel (13 August 1925) p. 6. “The Ticknock murder charge: medical evidence” in The Kildare Observer (18 July 1925) p. 5. “Dublin's darker side” the Honor Bright” murder” in The Ballymena Weekly Telegraph (25 July 1925) p. 12 “Not Guilty: Close of Ticknock trial” in The Leinster Leader (6 February 1926) p. 3, 8. “Ticknock murder charge: doctor's application for bail” in The Northern Whig (11 August 1925) p. 7. “Delay Expected: A very Unsatisfactory position, says judge” in The Evening Herald (10 August 1925) p. 1. “Through Heart: Dublin girl murdered” in The Belfast Telegraph (10 June 1925) p. 4.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to the be here. You know? Oh, On Tuesday the 9th of June, 1925, Felix Riley of Sandifert was going to collect horses from a field near to Ticknock, a townland bordering on the Dublin Mountains, south of Dundrum, and between
0:56.2	Sandiford and Rothfarnam.
0:58.7	It was around 7 a.m. when he came to the crossroads at Ticknock and saw a woman who was lying at the side of the road.
1:06.1	When Felix spotted her first, he thought she was sleeping and so he passed her by.
1:11.8	She was lying partially on the road and partially on the grass verge,
1:15.8	with her feet pointing towards the ditch. It was unusual, but none of his business,
1:21.3	and he'd work to be getting on with so he continued on.
1:25.1	But when Felix noticed that one of the woman's shoes was lying a distance away and
1:31.1	alongside her he decided to try and rouse her. When he got close
1:35.6	up to the woman Felix saw that she'd suffered a wound to her chest and he
1:39.9	notified the Civic Guards. At the station in Dundrum, Superintendent Reynolds had gotten the message and went out to Ticknock where he found the body.
1:50.0	The woman was fully dressed, wearing a grey skirt and coat, a blouse, a black hat, shoes and stockings.
1:58.0	Her left shoe was off and found lying next to her body up closer to her head.
2:04.8	When the guard searched the body of the mysterious and unfortunate woman,
2:09.4	he found a pair of kid gloves in her pocket, a purse with a shilling and fipence in it, some cigarettes, and
2:15.8	handkerchiefs.
2:17.4	One of the handkerchiefs was monogrammed with the name Honor Bright.
2:22.4	When inquiries were made into the name Honor Bright, a number of women who lived in Dublin City
2:27.6	Center were located who knew it.
2:31.0	One was Nellie Tuckner, who confirmed that she knew the woman who also went by the name
2:36.2	Lil O'Neill. In fact, they lived together in rooms at number 48 Newmarket in the Liberties area of South Dublin City. Nellie had last seen
2:47.2	honor the night before at 11 o'clock on the 8th of June at their shared lodgings.
	...

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