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Oops, that last line should have read 'Gormanstown'.

Hi davbrid, I imagine your grandfather then went off to war? I understand the policy was for constables not to be stationed in their home counties but elsewhere, so presumably he wasn't from Dunlavin.

Many thanks Peter Mc RIC for your information. I look forward to reading more about Vernon Hart. How sad. Thanks for the link to the interesting article also. I am writing a book about Mitchell, a fictionalised account of his early life and war service, as well as the incident and execution. I am in touch with family members who have been most helpful. He had a bad war, without any home leave at all; was in several major battles in France and was blown up twice at the Somme, eventually being med-evaced home in 1918. He hardly gets a mention anywhere, and I think his story deserves to be told. I shall happily write up something about the incident for this site if you wish. I love the detail on this site.

My grandmother was a farmer's wife from County Mayo and she told me of the Black and Tans' exploits there also. There was an incident in Ballyhaunis, near her home. She ran a farm, a dairy and a shop, and was frequently robbed by drunken B & Ts. She kept a pitchfork behind her counter and her 8 children behind her skirts when the B&Ts would pull up suddenly in their Lancias. But that's another book ...

Many thanks indeed for this.  I am delighted with this info as you are right.  It does state in the witness list that this witness is of the Durham Lt Infantry.  This infomation really helps clarify issues for me, especially as most of the really pertinent papers in the case are either destroyed or not available to the public for a good many years yet. 

As for my Grannie, well I come from a long line of  strong women.  Gran emigrated to New York as a young woman, to work in service to a wealthy family.  As such, she travelled all over the US and learned to cook and sew to perfection, being taught these skills and also to speak German by maids in the household. She became engaged to a New York Irish policeman but became dreadfully homesick and went back to Mayo for a visit.  She fell in love with a local farmer and stayed home to marry him and raise 8 children, 7 of whom migrated to England and the US, thereby breaking her heart.  She spoke fondly of having met Michael Collins in the 1920s. She also taught me German and gave me a fondness for foreign languages. My mother signed up at the outbreak of WW2 to come to England and work in munitions.  She built Lancaster bombers and was another formidable woman (with a fierce temper, she'd have done well at the front!).  I myself recently took early retirement from another arm of enforcement and have 3 commendations (2 for bravery) so I think I inherited the genes.  My daughter is a psychotherapist and is an advocate for victim's rights.  Somehow, I still can't stop investigating things, though it's much more fun writing novels than incident reports.