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Killing of Lizzie O'Neill

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Lizzie O'Neill (also known as Lily O'Neill and by the alias Honour Bright) was a Dublin woman who was abducted, fatally shot, and dumped at Ticknock, County Dublin, Ireland in an alleged revenge killing and act of vigilantism in June of 1925.[1][2][3] The investigation was an early test for the newly established Irish Free State and its national police, the Garda Síochána, which eventually arrested and charged a Garda Superintendent and a rural physician with kidnapping and murder. Even though both men were acquitted, a plaque now stands in Ticknock marking the incident.[4]

Before her death

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Lizzie O'Neill lived in the Liberties area of Dublin and worked as a prostitute near St Stephen's Green.[1][2] It is thought that she may originally have been from Carlow.[5] She worked in Pyms, a clothing shop, but after having a child out of wedlock became unemployed.[6] Frank Duff visited a house she was staying at while doing charitable work for the Legion of Mary.[6]

Witness statements

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One of O'Neill's associates said that a man had paid her and told her that he had been robbed of eleven pounds and a silver cigarette case earlier that evening.[1] He was angry and said he was armed.[1] He asked the woman's help in finding the thief and indicated that a man in a nearby car was a friend who was a superintendent in the Garda Síochána and would round up prostitutes if the thief was not found.[1] Another woman said she saw O'Neill and a different lady with two men in a grey sports car outside the Shelbourne Hotel.[1]

Leonard's Corner and Upper Clanbrassil Street, looking towards Robert Emmet Bridge

The last sighting of O'Neill that evening was of her getting into a car with two men at Leonard's Corner on the South Circular Road, Portobello, Dublin.[2] She was found dead the next morning from a gunshot wound.[2] The car was traced to a Dr. Patrick Purcell of Blessington, County Wicklow who admitted being in Dublin on the evening in question with Garda Superintendent Leo Dillon.[1]

Trial

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The trial began on 30 January 1926.[1] There was great interest partly due to the status of the accused.[2] The defence argued that two witnesses, a taxi driver and a Garda constable, were lying.[1] The jury acquitted the accused on the grounds that there was sufficient doubt.[1][2]

Purcell emigrated to England due to difficulties with people in Blessington after the acquittal.[1]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Blain, Emma (5 June 2008). "An Honour Killing". Evening Herald. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Luddy, Maria (2007). Prostitution and Irish Society, 1800-1940. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521709057. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  3. ^ "The Murder of Lily O'Neill, known as Honor Bright, in 1925".
  4. ^ "An Honour Killing". independent. 5 June 2008. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  5. ^ "The Murder of Lily O'Neill, known as Honor Bright, in 1925".
  6. ^ a b Curtis, Maurice (2015). To Hell or to Monto. The History Press Ireland Ltd. ISBN 9780750964760. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
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