And the judge himself? Nine years after his daughter’s death Lance Curran went on to become Ireland’s last hanging judge. In 1961 he convicted Robert McGladdery from Newry and sentenced him to death for the murder of 19-year-old Pearl Gamble. The evidence was circumstantial and McGladdery maintained his innocence but Curran weighed in with a well-timed and cynical steer to the jury and McGladdery was hanged in Crumlin Road gaol that December. That story became Orchid Blue, the second book of an unintended trilogy.

There were 13 witnesses and although some disagreed about the exact colour all agreed that it was a "light suit". McGladdery went to the dance with his friend Will Copeland after a long drinking session. Witnesses said that Pearl danced with McGladdery twice that night. A BBC Northern Ireland dramatisation of the case, Last Man Hanging, was broadcast on 8 September 2008. [2] McGladdery was portrayed by Michael Condron. [3] He was sentenced to death. The execution date was set for 7 November but was delayed after McGladdery appealed. The appeal was unsuccessful.Dozens of reporters from all over the world turned up for the firing squad execution. "Most executions don't attract this kind of attention. We've become inured to them," said Mr Joe Baker of Amnesty International USA. Our game of kaddy was reluctantly abandoned as we followed the news-bearer from house to house, hoping not just to rehear the story being told, but to see the listeners’ reaction, and in the hope of hearing a previously missed detail.

But I had a source of relief from my delusions and fantasies. I was still young enough to play the street games that dominated our life before the intrusion of television. Robert’s older brother Sam would go hunting with me and my dogs. Robert would come too or come round to my house to stay. I liked him. He was an unfortunate lad. The vast resources of the United States power, raw materials, industrial production all had to be mobilized to meet the demands of total war. Lord Justice Curran took two hours summing up. The courtroom was crowded and many more stood outside unable to gain admittance. After 40 minutes of deliberation the all-male jury brought in a guilty verdict. Lance Curran may or may not have covered up for the murder of his daughter, may or may not have sent an innocent man to the gallows for the murder of another nineteen year-old girl.These servicemen were usually sensitive to our needs and tolerant of us, despite the fact that kaddy was mostly restricted to the road, where the hard surface made raising the wooden object easier than from the soft adjoining ‘greens’. After hearing five days of evidence at the trial of Robert McGladdery for the murder of Pearl Gamble, the all-male jury returned a guilty verdict. They took just forty minutes to reach this conclusion. So because Japan are sort of anticipating this short war that's going to lead to negotiations their target selection focuses on the battleships which are going to prevent the U.S Pacific Fleet from coming out into Pacific and Southeast Asia and stopping the Japanese and they're not thinking about things like the fuel depots and the repair shops that are actually going to allow America to pursue a longer war in the Pacific. The shallow depths meant that any ships that sunk, they didn't sink far down so they were much easier to recover. Almost half of the deaths that day on the U.S side were from the USS Arizona when it was hit and exploded and the Imperial War Museum in London actually has a piece of the USS Arizona on display in its new Second World War galleries and this is actually the first time that part of the USS Arizona has been displayed outside of the United States. For once he acted as though he hadn’t even seen us as he hastened to our parents’ doors to impart his grave news.

His defence was conducted by Mr. James Brown Q.C. and Mr. Turlough O’Donnell (instructed by Luke Curran of Newry). Turlough O’Donnell , originally of Bridge Street Newry, later became Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland. In a letter to the prison Governor, Rev Vance wrote “I wish to inform you that prior to the sentence of death being carried out upon Robert McGladdery; he accepted full responsibility for the death of Pearl Gamble. He also stated that he wished his confession to be made public.”Taylor had a choice between firing squad and lethal injection but chose bullets because "I didn't want to lay on the table and flip around like a fish out of water". Death by lethal injection is usually the execution of choice for both states and killers. Dana Ray Edmonds was the first to die this way in Virginia a year ago, And yet…Patricia…that face looking out from the yellowed newspaper. Innocence lost in the noir world of white mischief, corruption and transgressive sex. Haunted and haunting. As the case against her alleged killer was built, a parallel case seemed to be come into existence against the 19-year-old. That she was wilful, promiscuous, consorted with older men. The sly narrative that takes hold in cases like this, that somehow the victim had brought the whole thing on herself. McGladdery’s case was the OJ Simpson trial of its day. Early on the morning of January 29 1961, a girl’s personal items were found strewn around a country crossroads, close to her home. One hundred policemen scoured the area. After 12 hours they made a grim discovery: the body of Pearl Gamble and within days Robert McGladdery was arrested. Robert Andrew McGladdery (18 October 1935–20 December 1961) was the last person to be executed in Northern Ireland and the island of Ireland. [1]