The Sun.
London, England, 1852-12-13 00:00:00

TEA BUTIES.

In reply to a question from Mr. MorFATT,
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER stated
that it was his intention to reduce the duty on tea, in
the first year from 2s. 21d. to ls. 10d. clear of the 5
per cent. at present charged, but the 2s. 21d. included
the 5 per cent.

THE KAFFIR WAR.
Mr. HINDLEY gave notice that to morrow he
should put a question the right hon. baronet, the Secre-
tary of State for the Colonies, relative to a statement
which had appeared in the Cape newspapers—namely,
that all the Kaffirs taken Waterkloof were immediately
hung, and if so, whether that course was justified by the
laws of war. (Hear, hear.)

EXTRAORDINARY CASE OF MURDER.

(From the Times.)
The trial of Mr. Kirwan, at Dublin, for the mur-
der of his wife on the 6th of September last, has
terminated in a conviction. The wretched man has
received sentence of death, and the presiding judges
held out no hope of mercy, as the evidence was of
so conclusive a nature as to leave no doubt upon
their minds of his guilt. The case is a curious one,
not only from the respectable position in life occu-
pied by the parties to the tragical occurrence, but
from the manner and the spot in which the crime
was carried into effect. All persons who have
visited Dublin must be familiar with the appearance
of a little rocky islet which is situated at about the
distance of a mile from Howth, and which is pointed
out to the traveller as " Ireland's Eye." It is a
wild spot enough, and is seldom visited but by an
artist in search of the picturesque, or by an occa-
sional party of merrymakers, who would find addi-
tional freshness in a summer's afternoon. Such is
the spot which will henceforth have gained addi-
tional notoriety as the scene of one of the most
hideous murders recorded in the annals of our
criminal courts. The only parallel to the case in
modern times which occurs very readily to our re-
collection is that of the Duke de Praslin, which
shed so lurid a light over the closing scene of Louis
Philippe's reign. In that case, as in the one be-
fore us, it was the husband who murdered the
wife. Nor does a certain analogy fail even in the
minor details of the case. In the Parisian, as in
the'Dublin tragedy, it is evident enough that the
lawless attachment of the husband to a woman not
his wife led to the conception, and finally to the
completion, of the bloody act. In both cases the
unfortunate ladies appear to have struggled for
some time against the violence of that hand which
should have shielded them from all harm. In both
cases a chain of circumstantial evidence led to the
conviction of the murderer's guilt. One point, in-
deed, of difference exists between these two in-
stances of unbridled passion and ferocity—the Duke
de Praslin died by his own hand in prison ; Mr.
Kirwan will no doubt expiate his crime upon the
public scaffold. The story appears to be briefly
this
William Burke Kirwan is about 45 years of age.
He was married some twelve years back to a very
beautiful young woman, with whom it would not
seem as though he had lived on good terms from
the first ; nor, from the circumstances of the case,
can we well come to any other conclusion than that
the fault lay on the husband's side. From the first
hour of his union with his wife, Maria Kirwan, he
lived with another woman, Theresa Kenny, by
whom he had a family of eight children. The
strangest feature, perhaps, in the whole story is,
that during the whole of these twelve years neither
of the two women had the slightest idea that she
had a rival—nor, indeed, was Mrs. Kirwan aware
of this fact until about six months back. It may
well be supposed how the embarrassments insepa-
rable from such a situation would embitter the feel-
ings and influence the conduct of Kirwan towards
that one of the two women who did not stand the
highest in his favour. That woman was his wife.
But when the story had reached her ears, and she
had spoken and acted as women will act and speak
in such situations, Kirwan's feelings towards her
appears to have been converted into mere ferocity.
This being the position of Mr. and Mrs. Kirwan, in
the month of - June last they went to lodge at
Howth for change of air, and from the first, accord-
ing to the testimony of the woman at whose house
they lodged, Kirwan's conduct to his wife was
brutal in the extreme. Thus matters went on until
Sunday, the sth of September ; on Tuesday, the
7th, they were to have returned to Dublin. On the
Sunday evening Kirwan went down to two boat-
men, Patrick Nangle and Michael Nangle, and en-
gaged them to carry him and his wife over the next
day to " Ireland's Eye." Whether or no the awful
purpose which he finally carried into effect was then
present to his mind it is not for us to say, but it
certainly would appear as though the desire to get
rid of his wife in some way or other had been long
present to his mind. On Monday, about ten o'clock,
the unfortunate lady and her murderer went down
to the boat. They had a bag and two bottles of
water with them. Mrs. Kirwan, besides, had a re-
ticule, and Kirwan a sword-cane and sketching-
book. The boatmen rowed them over to the islet.
At about twelve o'clock they conveyed a second
party across, whom they brought back at four
o'clock in the afternoon. By that party, and by
the boatmen, Mrs. Kirwan was seen alive at the
hour named, when she desired the men to come
back for her husband and herself at eight o'clock in
the evening. The boat went on its way. At about
seven o'clock cries were heard from " Ireland's
Eye" as of a person in distress. Not only were these
cries heard upon the mainland, but by the crew of
a boat which was returning from fishing. At this
time Kirwan and his wife were the only people on
theisland. According to orders, the boatmen re-
turned at eight o'clock, when-they found the hus-
band standing alone at the landing-place.
In reply to their inquiries, Kirwan stated that
his wife had left him about an hour and a half be-
fore and—he knew not what had become of her.
The party then proceeded to find the lady, and
continued their search until they arrived at a place
called the " Long-hole," which is out of sight of
Howth Harbour. The spot is always covered with
water when the tide is in, but uncovered when the
tide is out. Upon a rock in this spot the dead body
of Mrs.
i Kirwan was found at 10 o'clock. The in-
cident s thus described by the boatman :—" Her
bathing dress was up under her arms, and there
was a sheet under her ; her head was lying back in
a hole, and her feet were in a pool of water about
the hat—about half a gallon. I saw
cuts fullon her my
erforehead and under her eye ; there was
blood coming down by her ears, from her side and
breast, and other places." On the day in question
it was high water at half past three, We should
here state that Kirwan's 3tatement is, that at half-
past six his wife left him for the purpose of bathing.
At that time there were 2 feet 6 inches of water
over the rock in which the body was found ; at
seven o'clock, when the cries were heard, 1 foot 9
inches. Now if the tide had been a rising tide, it
might have been supposed that she had been
drowned further out at sea, and so had been
washed in. But the tide was falling, the night
calm, and what little wind there was was westerly.
There is yet another fact which tells with damning
effect against the murderer. The boatman went
about in search of the clothes of the unfortunate
woman, in vain ; they were not to be found. Then
Kirwan went, and he could not—as he pretended
—find them either ; but when the boatmen went a
second time he found the clothes, which had been
subsequently placed by sone hand, which could
have been no other than that of Kirwan, in a spot
which he had most
diligently searched but a few
minutes before. More than this, after the body
had been removed to the mainland it was found to
bear many wounds and marks of great violence.
Kirwan's trousers and gravers were wet ; he sat
down at the kitchen fire to dry them. Now, he had
not had occasion to wet himself where the body
was found ; for the
which it waterwas wastwocistehevereered.T
feet below
low
the rock uponwas
certainly the circumstance reflects very little credit
aupcoonrotnheer'cg inquest--how managed we know not ;
coroner or the jury who investigated the
case—but, by some hocus-pocus or another, a ver-
dict of " Acciden-,alDeath "was returned. Poor Mrs.
Kirwan was buried in the cemetery it Glasnevin,
place that could be selected, so that
in
nhe
ewdyltveasst
sc decomposed, even in the short
time that had elapsed since her murder, that me-
dical testimony could scarcely be brought to bear
theb wettest
upon the case. But the circumstantial evidence
was too strong. From 4to 8 o'clock Mrs. Kirwan
and her husband were alone upon the lislet ; at 4
she was seen alive -
; at 8 o'clock nothing was left
but to search for the remains of the murdered wo-
man. The case of Mrs. Kirwan will retain a-pain-
ful notoriety even in the dismal annals of Irish
crime.

CASTLE A.Voz. By the Author of " Emilia
Wyndham." 3 vols.—Whoever takes up this novel
has only to reed the first chapter to feel that he is
under the
spell of a potent charmer. His attention
is at once fixed,
ais interest is excited, his sympathies
are enlisted, and
he is bound by an irresistible force to
follow the enchanting story-teller until it pleases her to
dissolve the incantation and bring her entertaining nar-
rative to a close. As a romantic story, " Castle Avon,"
full as it is of extraordinary incidents and pathetic life
passages,
record of faithful womanly affections, and as a vivid re-
may be pronounced most exciting ; but as a
presentation of human feelings stirred to their depths, it
is peculiarly deserving of admiration. The characters
are drawn with remarkable boldness and vraisemblance.
--Globe.
FRomE.—We hear upon good authority that the Rev.
Mr. Griffith, of the Woodlands, a truly evangelical clergy-
man, has resign(' his curacy in consequence of the undue of the Vicar of Fromo with him in the edis-
charge of his duties. Mr. G. it appears will not consent
to do the bidding of the Vicar in carrying out his Puseyite
and Romish innovations.— Wiltshire Independent.
We congratulate the readers of The Flying Post on
the fact, that Mr. Robert John Trewman, the editor and
proprietor of that journal, is to be elevated to the Magis-
tracy of Exeter.— Western Times.
irkADVERTISEMENT].—THE EARL OF ALDBOROUGH AND
LLOWAT'S PILLS.—An astounding cure by this miracu-
lous medicine, after every other means had failed.—See
extract from his lordship's letter, dated " Villa Messina,
Leghorn, Feb. 21, 1845. To Professor Holloway.
Sir,--I beg to acquaint you that your pills have effected
a cure of a disorder in my liver and stomach, which all
the most eminent of the faculty at home and all over the
Continent had not been able to effect—nay, not even
the waters of Carlsbad or Marienbad. (Signed) ALD-
BOROUGH." These wonderful pills will cure any disorder
of the liver or: stomach. Sold (also Holloway's oint-
ment) at Professor Holloway's Establishment, 244,
strand, London, and by all medicine vendors throughout
the world.

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 13, 1852.