Murder under Gaslight

Send us Fan Mail In the summer of 1858, the quiet fields of Westmeath hid a secret that would soon grip the county in fear. Lawrence Kelly, a labourer known to most and trusted by many, was found brutally slain—his death sparking whispers of betrayal, vengeance, and a darkness festering beneath the surface of rural life. As neighbours turned suspicious and authorities scrambled for answers, the ca...

Send us Fan Mail Liverpool, 1880. In the packed courts around Scotland Road, thousands of Irish families lived shoulder to shoulder, carrying with them the hunger, hardship, and resilience they’d brought across the water. Among them were two women—Catherine Flanagan and Margaret Higgins—Irish-born, sharp‑witted, and struggling to survive in a city that offered little mercy. What they built in thos...

Send us Fan Mail In the winter of 1896, deep in the quiet fields of Tipperary, a tragedy unfolded that Victorian Ireland was neither equipped to understand nor willing to fully confront. It was a time when a woman’s mind—her despair, her exhaustion, her breaking point—was spoken of only in whispers, if at all. And in the case of Mrs. Sadlier, those silences became fatal. What survives in the recor...

Send us Fan Mail In the windswept west of Ireland, where the Atlantic mist clings to the fields and the nights fall early, the year 1881 brought a crime that unsettled even the hardiest of rural communities. Elizabeth Buchanan—young, respected, and known to many—was found dead under circumstances so disturbing, so steeped in secrecy and contradiction, that the case would echo far beyond her quiet...

Send us Fan Mail On a winter’s night in 1892, as the great bells of Mullingar Cathedral tolled across the town, a far darker sound stirred beneath the vaulted stone. By morning, whispers were already spreading: a body found where no violence should ever reach, a sacred place shaken by a crime that seemed to defy both reason and reverence. In a community bound by faith and routine, suspicion crept...

Send us Fan Mail On a cold spring morning in 1901, the quiet streets of Galway stirred with a terror they had never known. A young woman— Sarah McGarry , just twenty‑three years old—was found brutally slain, her life stolen in the narrow hours before dawn. What followed was a storm of rumour, outrage, and fear that swept through the town like a rising tide. In a community already strained by pover...

Send us Fan Mail In the summer of 1879, the quiet respectability of Richmond was shattered by a crime so brutal it stunned Victorian Britain. When the remains of wealthy widow Julia Martha Thomas were discovered scattered and burned, suspicion fell on her seemingly unremarkable Irish servant, Kate Webster — a woman with a past as dark as the Thames itself. What followed was a tale of deception, au...

Send us Fan Mail In the summer of 1853, a pleasure trip to Ireland’s Eye ended in horror. Maria Kirwan—young, elegant, and by all accounts in good spirits—was found dead on the rocks beneath the island’s jagged cliffs. What followed was a storm of suspicion, scandal, and courtroom drama that gripped Dublin society. Was her death a tragic accident, a desperate struggle, or a calculated act carried...

Send us Fan Mail  In the summer of 1877, the quiet Cork village of Castletownroche was shattered by a crime so brutal it echoed far beyond its fields and farmsteads. What began as a dispute over land—an ordinary tension in a country shaped by ownership and survival—spiralled into a double murder that gripped Ireland and exposed the darker currents running beneath rural life. A Land to Die For revi...

Send us Fan Mail In the spring of 1882, the quiet Westmeath estate of Barbavilla was shattered by a killing that sent shockwaves far beyond its gates. What began as a seemingly straightforward murder soon twisted into a tale of land disputes, secret loyalties, and a community caught between fear and suspicion. In the shadow of the Land War, nothing was simple—and nothing was as it first appeared....

Send us Fan Mail In the summer of 1846, the town of Mullingar became the stage for a tragedy that should never have happened. A young man named Brian Seery was accused, condemned, and executed—swiftly, publicly, and, as many would later argue, wrongfully. His death was meant to bring closure to a frightened community. Instead, it left behind a legacy of doubt, injustice, and unanswered questions....

Send us Fan Mail Snow was already falling when the Donner–Reed Party reached the Sierra Nevada in the winter of 1846. What began as a hopeful journey westward—families, wagons, and the promise of California—slowly twisted into one of the most haunting survival stories in American history. Trapped by relentless storms, cut off from escape, and pushed beyond the limits of human endurance, the group...

Send us Fan Mail In March of 1895, in a quiet corner of rural Tipperary, a young woman named Bridget Cleary vanished from the world of the living and stepped—at least in the minds of her neighbours—into something far stranger. Her death would become one of Ireland’s most haunting and contested stories, a collision of folklore, fear, and a society caught between old beliefs and a modernising world....

Send us Fan Mail In the summer of 1861, the quiet Sligo market town of Ballymote was shaken by a series of strange and unsettling attacks that left locals gripped by fear. This episode unravels the rumours, the newspaper reports, and the social tensions of the time, tracing how a rural community confronted a threat it barely understood. Was it the work of a lone assailant, a case of mass panic, or...

Send us Fan Mail In the spring of 1848, as Ireland staggered under the weight of famine and fear, a young woman named Margaret Maher was found brutally murdered on the outskirts of Mullingar. Her death shocked a community already pushed to the edge, and the investigation that followed exposed simmering tensions, whispered scandals, and the fragile line between justice and survival in a desperate t...

Send us Fan Mail In the early hours of a spring morning in 1869, Mullingar Station was almost silent. Almost. Because somewhere between the shadows of the platform and the dim glow of the signal lamps, a man lay dying. His name was Thomas Anketell— on duty the night he was struck down. The violence was swift, the motive unclear, and the killer vanished into the darkness before anyone could raise a...

Send us Fan Mail On this haunting episode of Murder Under Gaslight, we travel back to the early 19th century and to the quiet Westmeath town of Castlepollard — a place soon to be scarred by unimaginable tragedy. Under the flickering glow of gaslight, we uncover the chilling events of the Castlepollard Massacre — a tale of rage, despair, and injustice that shook Irish society to its core. Through e...

Send us Fan Mail Under the quiet facade of an Edwardian market town, a single act of violence could leave a scar that lasted for generations. In 1909, the peaceful streets of Mullingar were shattered by the brutal murder of Mary Walker, a young post-office worker whose lifeless body was found along the banks of the Royal Canal. Her throat had been cut and the crime sent shockwaves through the town...

Send us Fan Mail Dublin, May 1882. The warm, spring evening carried the scent of lilacs that fringed Phoenix Park, where lovers strolled and civilservants took the air. But beneath the soft glow of gaslights, two men waited- their purpose cold, deliberate and deadly.

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Murder Under Gaslight- The podcast where history meets the macabre. Step back into the dimly lit streets and parlours of 19th century Ireland, where the flicker of gaslight illuminates secrets, scandals and cold-blooded crimes. Here, we uncover the true stories behind some of Victorian era Irelands infamous murder cases- tales of betrayal, envy and obsession- drawn from...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we travel to the remote hills of Connemara- to the year 1882, when darkness fell not only over the village of Maamtrasna, but over the soul of a nation. In a small thatched cottage near the border of Mayo and Galway, 5 members of a single family were brutally murdered- a crime that sent shockwaves throughout Ireland and beyond.