Heritage Society host author of book on Roscrea man hanged for murder in Canada

Roscrea Heritage Society was delighted to host an evening with award winning Canadian author LauraChurchill Duke in the Black Mills on Friday last.

The evening got off to a great start with a welcome from Laura, music from Bobby Fahy and Caoimhe Flannery followed by a dramatic monologue on the life of John Kavanagh by Dick Conroy.

Laura then gave some background information on herself to include her Irish family connections, career and how she came about writing her first book 'Two Crows Sorrow'. Laura mentioned she never thought she would write another book beyond that but it wasn’t long before she realised she had caught the writing bug and wondered what she could delve into next.

She then remembered the quirky story of George Stanley (John Kavanagh) from having attended the Windsor Ghost Walks, and so her research into her second book began. John Kavanagh was born in Ballyhall Roscrea. At the age of 18 he left his home town and travelled up North.

He was first incarcerated in Newry in 1883 for stealing a watch chain. He then spent most of the next 22 years incarcerated for petty crimes such as stealing coats, boots and watches. In November 1905 John was released on license and travelled to Nova Scotia, Canada. In 1906, he was the last man hanged in Windsor for the murder of Harvey Freeman.

How did a small town petty criminal end up committing murder? There was a lot of anti-Irish sentiment at the time which could have contributed to John not receiving a fair trial. There was also a lot of misrepresentation in the newspapers.

Author of 'Rooted in Deception', Laura Churchill Duke, pictured giving the background to her book. Photo: Brian Redmond

Wild stories were published about John including one that he burned down a church in Halifax which later had to be recanted (along with many others) as it turns out he wasn’t in the country at the time of it happening.

While in prison, John sent a series of letters asking for help, pleading for anyone to come to his aid. Those letters were never sent and can be found on display along with the noose used in his hanging in Windsor museum where the trial took place.

Did John weave a web of deceit that would eventually catch up with him or was he an easy target to pin a most gruesome crime on?

What we do know is one of our own, a Roscrea native lies buried beneath the clay in an unmarked grave many miles from home.

Roscrea Heritage Society would like to thank Laura Churchill Duke for a great presentation, Bobby Fahy and Caoimhe Flannery for providing the musical interlude, Dick Conroy for his dramatic monologue, Eileen Garvey and the OPW for facilitating our event and all who attended on the night.

The next Black Mills Session is on Friday 26 th May, with a performance by Reunion (Jason & Simon Simmons) for what promises to be a very enjoyable evening of songs from the 60s & 70s with some great country hits thrown in for good measure.

Seating is limited and tickets (€10) must be purchased in advance on the eventbrite.com website.