The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-02-08 00:00:00

EXECUTION OF JOHN DELAHUNT

DUBLIN, FEB. s.—This miserable young man, who com-
mitted one of the most diabolical murders that ever disgraced
any country, was this day executed in front of Kilmainham
gaol.
The wretched criminal slept well last night, and rose at six
o'clock this morning, when he prayed, and also employed his
time in meditation. At nine o'clock he ate a hearty break-
fast. His animal propensities must have been very strong,
for he dined well yesterday, supped well, slept well last
night, and breakfasted heartily this morning! His fear of
death does not appear to spring from any punishment re-
sulting from his crimes in another world, but from a horrorof
the scorn and exultation of the crowd, and the disgrace which
his crimes and ignominous death will necessarily entail upon his
family. At 12 o'clock the criminal was led from the chapel.
He. was so feeble that one of the clergyman by whom he was
accompanied, and the hangman, were obliged to support and
lead him along by either hand. He was instantly led to the
scaffold, and placed upon it. The hangman, whose face was
covered with a white cloth, with small holes cut in it to ena-
ble him to see, enveloped his head in a covering similar to
that worn by himself. During this ceremony the officiating
priest read prayers, in which the culprit joined. Towards
the close of the meditation he became very faint, and fell
upon his knees, in which position he remained till the bolt
was withdrawn, and he was launched into eternity. A few
muscular contractions were all the indications of suffering
observable in his death. Never was terror more depicted in
a human countenance than in his—pallid and death-like;
and his frame, which was slight and weakly, exhibited the
feelings of horror and fear with which he awaited his execu-
tion. When he appeared upon the drop a slight murmur ran
through the crowd—not of indignation—not of scorn—not of
pity—it partook of something of a religious character—it was
like a murmur of prayer. There was no shout—no outrage
—notrage
—no violence: the populace were better behaved on
.this oc-
casion than on any within our remembrance. The time re-
quired by law (40 minutes) for the body of the culprit to re-
main suspended having expired, it was cut down forinter-
ment within the precints of the prison.
The wretched man has made a written confession, in which
he denies positively having had any hand with the murder of
the Italian boy, and that what he swore against Cooney and
his wife was false, and was alleged in the hopes of ootaining a
a reward. With reference to the murder of the boy Ma-
guire, he made the following heart-rending disclosure :
" I do now confess that the hope of getting again into the
pay of the castle was my strong motive for committing the
deed. I thought I could fix it upon some one in the course
of time, and if I had succeeded, I don't knok but I might
have done a similar deed again had my conscience yielded
to a similar temptation. I kept him nearly half an hour in
the lane. He twice asked me was I corning home soon, as
his mother would be beating him. I said I was waiting for
a jaunting-car. He spent part of the time sitting in the
come at the stable door, on a heap of dung or litter heaped
outside. I was then turning in my mind how I could best
cut his throat. He stood up then by my side. I felt his
throat, and asked had he lumps in his throat. He made no
reply. After some minutes 1 again felt his throat with my
left hand, having the knife in my right hsnd ready ; my righi
hand was then in my coat pocket, when I asked him a second
time had he lumps in his throat, and began again to feel him;
he raised up his head to let me feel more easily. His back
was tben to me, and at that moment, while he was in that
position, with his head drawn back, I cut his throat and
threw him from me. Ile fell on his face. He uttered no
cry, nor did he make any noise whatever."