Name Martin Lydon | ||
Siblings John Lydon, Jimmy Lydon, Bobby Lydon Parents John Christopher Lydon, Eileen Lydon People also search for John Lydon, John Christopher Lydon, Eileen Lydon, Bobby Lydon, Jimmy Lydon | ||
3263 Martin Lydon Avenue | MLS Delivery
Martin Lydon, Irish murder victim, died 21 May 1881. John Lydon, his son, died 25 May 1881.
The Irish Land War was a period of huge unrest and violence in Ireland, with crime particularly prevalent in County Galway. Dozens of murders occurred, all concerning tenant's rights and ownership of land.
John Lydon and his son, Martin, were attacked at their home at Bannogaes, Letterfrack on the night of Sunday, 24 April 1881. Seven or eight men rushed into their cabin, where they punched, beat, kicked the Lydons. The two were then dragged outside into the road and shot with pistols "while Lydon's wife, terror-stricken, stood at the window expecting that she and her young children would share their fate.". John was killed outright but Martin lived long enough to identify one of the killers as Patrick Walshe (Letterfrack). He died on May 22, and an inquest was held on May 24 by Coroner Charles Cottingham. The murders shocked many because John Lydon "was not a process-server or agent, or a man who had taken a farm from which another had been evicted. He was a caretaker of cattle on a large farm, which was reclaimed some years ago at the expense of Mr. Graham, the owner, who borrowed money for the purpose from the Board of Works, and by means of it afforded employment to people in the district."
On the night of May 21, 1881, the house of Michael Lydon, the nephew of John Lydon, herd for Mr. McDonnell, Letterfrack, and agent to Francis Graham of Fermanagh, "was burned to the ground. Since the murder of his uncle, his family did not sleep in their house, which is situated in a remote mountain glen. Lyden [sic] and his wife used to go there every morning to attend to their business during the day and return at nightfall to sleep with their children in the house of a relation. The furniture, clothes, and everything else in the house were reduced to ashes."
Under powers granted by The Crimes Act of 1881, the trial of Patrick Walshe was moved to Dublin from Galway upon the strong recommendation of Henry Brackenberry, assistant undersecretary for police and crime. Brackenberry had read a report written by S.I. Horne, the man in charge of the Walshe murder case, in which Horne stated: "So demoralized by fear owning to the recent outrages and the general state of intimidation which prevails, that not only no jury dare find Pat Walsh guilty, but that no one man on such a jury dare propose to find him guilty, and that there is a certainty of acquittal."
Patrick Walshe was hung in Galway Gaol on 22 September 1882.
A leading witness for the prosecution of the murders, Constable Kavanagh, was shot dead outside Letterfrack barracks on 15 February 1882. Walsh's brother, Michael, was tried, found guilty and sentenced to death but had it commuted to penal servitude.