One hundred years ago
THE best proof yet received of the increasing order in Ireland, is that the two men accused of murdering J. Fitz- maurice, near Listowel, in Kerry, have been convicted and sentenced to death. Fitzmaurice, it will be remembered, had been boycotted by a Branch of the National League for retaining a farm from which he and his brother had been evicted. He disregarded the boycotting, and was formally denounced. Three or four days after, two men, Hayes and Moriarty, met him while driving to market with his daughter, and in her presence murdered him. The venue was changed from Kerry to Wicklow; and in spite of an alleged alibi, and of the fact that only the daughter could give direct evidence, the jury found the accused guilty. It is reported that Moriarty has confessed to his own guilt, and to facts which implicate the National League; but no confession has as yet been published. The importance of the case does not, of course, consist in the fact that the authors of the crime were traced, which often happens, but in the readiness of the jury to defy the terror- ists. But for the fears of jurymen, Ireland could never have been reduced to its present condition, and the terror- ists must have stopped short of murder, because their agents would not face a certainty of execution.
The Spectator, 31 March 1888
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