- The two men were executed in January 1883 following wrongful convictions for murder of Mr Thomas Browne
- Case brings to the number of posthumous pardons which have been awarded to five
President Michael D. Higgins afternoon signed two Presidential Pardons at an event in Áras an Uachtaráin for Mr Sylvester Poff and Mr James Barrett, who were executed in Tralee Gaol on 23 January 1883.
In line with articles 13.6 and 13.9 of the Constitution, the pardons have been granted following a recommendation by Government. This recommendation took account of a report by Dr Niamh Howlin, Associate Professor at the UCD Sutherland School of Law, which found that the trials and conviction of Poff and Barrett included legal and procedural deficiencies which were ‘so inconsistent with the legal standards of the period and so objectively unsatisfactory and unfair, that they render the conviction unsafe’.
Today’s ceremony was attended by the Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys TD. Also in attendance were relatives of Sylvester Poff (aged 38 at the times of his execution) and James Barrett (aged 24), including Mr Poff’s great grandson Tomo Burke, as well as representatives of the Castleisland District Heritage Group, a group based in Kerry who have raised awareness of the case and worked with the Department of Justice on the pardon process.
President Higgins said:
“The case of Sylvester Poff and James Barrett has been one of long standing concern for the people of Kerry. As Dr Niamh Howlin’s report has found, there was a strong local belief in the innocence of Poff and Barrett, both before and after their execution. The newspaper United Ireland reported that ‘From one end of the county to the other the strongest belief prevails that they were guiltless.’ This was also evident in the memorials submitted to the Lord Lieutenant from bodies including the Tralee Town Commissioners, the Tralee Poor Law Guardians, the Killarney Town Commissioners and the Listowel Town Commissioners before the executions seeking to have their sentences commuted.
While we at this remove cannot undo what happened, we do have the power to acknowledge that what happened to Sylvester Poff and James Barrett was a great wrong. I am pleased to be able to formally grant a Presidential Pardon to each of the men today, and to at least set the record straight. I hope that my doing so will bring a sense of closure to their families following almost 142 years.
I commend the families of both men and the members of the Castleisland District Heritage Group for their efforts to bring their case to public attention and their help in bringing the process of obtaining a pardon to fruition.”
Today’s Presidential Pardons are only the seventh and eighth such pardons which have been granted and the fourth and fifth posthumous pardons. The previous posthumous pardons were awarded by President Higgins to Harry Gleeson in 2015, to Maolra Seoighe (Myles Joyce) in 2018 and to John Twiss in 2021.
Notes to Editors:
Details of case
The 1880s in Ireland brought frequent agitation for land reform, which often developed into agrarian violence, with outrages pertaining to matters such as landlords, evictions, rent strikes, and boycotts, known as the Land War. In May 1882, the murders of Lord Frederick Cavendish, the Chief Secretary, and his Under Secretary, T.H. Burke were carried out in the Phoenix Park in Dublin. Referred to as the Phoenix Park Murders, they were the catalyst for the legislative response to the growing agrarian unrest.
The Prevention of Crime (Ireland) Act 1882 was a piece of coercive legislation passed in July 1882 in the aftermath of the Phoenix Park murders to clamp down on crimes such as “treason, murder, arson, attacks on dwelling-houses and crimes of aggravated violence.” County Kerry and the area around Castleisland in particular, was experiencing a great deal of unrest and violence during this period.
On 3 October 1882, Thomas Browne was murdered while working in one of his fields in Dromulton, near Scartaglin in Co. Kerry. Two men in dark coats, seen from behind shot him several times. Sylvester Poff and James Barrett, who did not match the descriptions of the assailants, were known to be in the vicinity at the time. The two men were arrested following a statement by a neighbour, that they had seen them enter the field where Browne was shot.
The prosecution case largely rested on the evidence of a neighbour, whose story changed as the case progressed and who could not be regarded as a reliable witness. Sylvester Poff and James Barrett were tried twice before special juries in Cork for the murder of Mr. Thomas Browne after the jury in the first trial failed to reach agreement on a verdict.
The two men were convicted of the murder of Mr. Thomas Browne in December 1882 and, despite petitions for mercy to the Lord Lieutenant, they were hanged in Tralee Gaol in January 1883.
Expert report
Dr Niamh Howlin, an expert in 19th century trial law and an Associate Professor in the Sutherland School of Law, UCD, was engaged by the Department of Justice to undertake an independent external review of this case, and to advise upon the safety of the conviction or otherwise, with clear reference to the prevailing standards at the time.
Dr. Howlin's examination concluded that a number of factors, including in the investigation and procedures around the trial, led her to form the opinion that Mr. Poff's and Mr. Barrett's convictions were unsafe. These factors included: a ‘packed jury’, evidential deficiencies (including conflicting witness testimony), no motive and that other lines of enquiry appear to have been neglected during the investigation and trial. In addition, the report found that there was no direct evidence against Mr. Poff and Mr. Barrett, with the case resting on the circumstantial and contradictory evidence of one witness.
Dr Howlin concluded her report by stating:
"A twenty-first century criminal court would not convict Poff and Barrett on the basis of the evidence which was presented by the Crown in 1882. The convictions were also inconsistent with the legal standards of the period.
“They were convicted on the basis of evidence which was both circumstantial and weak. The trials and conviction of Poff and Barrett included legal and procedural deficiencies which were ‘so inconsistent with the legal standards of the period and so objectively unsatisfactory and unfair, that they render the conviction unsafe.”
