Finding the man behind the murderer

Roscrea talk about local emigrant to Canada

A Canadian writer will visit Roscrea next week to talk about the fascinating subject matter of her new book.

‘Rooted in Deception’ tells the true story of Roscrea man John Kavanagh, who was hanged for murder shortly after his emigration to Canada in the early 1900s. For author Laura Churchill Duke, the telling of Kavanagh’s tale became a voyage of discovery that saw her engaging with Roscrea Heritage Society in trying to cast light on a man shrouded in mystery.

Laura lives near Kentville, Nova Scotia, scene of a grisly murder in 1906. The decapitated body of Freeman Harvey was found buried in a pile of potatoes in the man's own basement. Kavanagh was found guilty of his murder and hanged at Windsor, Nova Scotia, in August of that year.

Growing up at Ballyhall, Roscrea, and attending St Cronan’s Boys School, Kavanagh had emigrated only a few months prior to the murder. He had lived a life of crime, having been jailed for theft at the age of 17; he spent the next 22 years of his life in and out of five jails across Ireland. When finally released, he left his home country in search of a new life in Canada, arriving in December 1905.

‘MAN OF MYSTERY’

Laura was inspired to write his story through researching a novel she wrote about a previous murder in Nova Scotia.

“I love digging into primary sources, and I love true crime stories,” Laura said. “I began to think about what else I could investigate and write about.

“That is when I remembered the story of ‘George Stanley Kavanagh’, as he is known in Nova Scotia.”

The Roscrea murderer had become a figure of some infamy in Nova Scotia. He featured in ‘Valley Ghost Walks’, a series of local walking tours encapsulating the stories of people from the past. Laura helped research the scripts for these tours and wanted to learn more about Kavanagh’s story to see if it too could be developed into a novel.

There began a huge undertaking of research that included visits to Library and Archives Canada, ordering the trial transcript from the Supreme Court of Canada, and poring over newspaper articles from the time.

‘COVID PROJECT’

The Covid-19 pandemic struck a short time after the author began her research. As lockdowns were imposed across the world, Laura got stuck into what she described as her “Covid project”.

“I was left home with a stack of newspaper articles and this trial transcript. I began reading.

“The first thing that I noticed was that ‘George Stanley Kavanagh’ was a man of mystery. On the top of the police report, which had been sent over to Canada by the Irish authorities, were listed several aliases. When in Nova Scotia, he was using the name George Stanley.

“Eventually, he admitted his name was William Kavanagh, but everyone here just called him George Stanley Kavanagh. But, I had no idea who he really was.

“In one newspaper, buried in the article, was one mention that he said he was from Roscrea, Ireland. On a whim, I sent an email to the Roscrea Heritage Society to see if I could learn more.”

She did not have much information to go on. She informed the Roscrea group that Kavanagh’s sister was an inmate at Clonmel Lunatic Asylum and died there. She knew about his prison time and his aliases, George Stanley and John Ryan. There was a newspaper reference to him being born in Roscrea in 1866.

But her email was answered by Pamela Aitken in Roscrea, who enlisted the help of local man Dick Conroy and set about deciphering the origins of Kavanagh.

“I think maybe because it was Covid, and maybe they had extra time too, but they started to dig into historical records of the town, and they found him!” Laura recalled with excitement.

“First, they discovered his real name was John Kavanagh. We have his birth records, school records, and record of his conversion to Catholicism. We have his parents’ wedding certificate, and his sister’s death certificate at the Clonmel Asylum. Pamela went and took pictures of the house where he lived.”

Kavanagh had a brother called William, whose name he took as one of his aliases. He also used his grandfather's names, changing identities in an effort to evade connection with police records.

‘I COULDN’T HELP BUT LIKE HIM’

Now that she knew who her protagonist was, Laura set about telling his life story. And in doing so, she found herself developing an affinity of sorts with the Roscrea native.

“I know he committed a murder, but that aside, I found him to be really clever, and the cons that he carried out in Nova Scotia were just so amusing!” the author said of the experience. “I couldn't help but like him.”

Laura paid particular attention to Kavanagh’s early life. His father died was John was young. There were few opportunities in the 1870s for widows to survive without going into poverty. Perhaps, the author reasoned, the string of theft offences that landed him in prison stemmed from poverty.

“He was accused of stealing coats, boots, trousers - all of which, I'm assuming, to stay warm. For these crimes, he was sentenced each time for three to six months in prison. Was he a thief, or was he cold?”

Laura made the valid point that many people throughout Ireland at that time committed crimes in the winter so they would be sent to prison, where they would be fed and protected from the cold.

“Is this what happened?” she asked. “Was John really a criminal? Did he learn to be more of a hardened criminal whilst in jail?

“What would have happened had someone given the 18-year-old John a jacket, and we had had social services as we do now?"

FIGURE OF INTRIGUE

By the time he arrived in Canada, Kavanagh was a hardened criminal and his crimes elevated to whole new level with the heinous murder of Freeman Harvey. The circumstances of that event are dealt with in the book, which culminates in Laura asking the question: “How much of the tragedy was of his own doing and how much had his fate been woven by his enemies?”

Like her first novel, Laura decided to write Kavanagh’s story as a “creative non-fiction”.

“This means that everything that happens in the novel is true, but I weave it together creatively to tell the story, sometimes using my imagination to put the pieces together.”

The research did not uncover any evidence of what became of the rest of Kavanagh’s family’s back home in Roscrea. John is not known to have had any descendants.

But he remains a figure of intrigue in Nova Scotia, where Laura said ‘Rooted in Deception’ has rekindled “huge interest” in an already well-known story, not least because the murder victim was a Harvey, one of the most common last names in the area.

Laura is looking forward to making her first visit to Roscrea, where she will discuss the Kavanagh story at the Black Mills on Friday, May 5 (7pm), in an event hosted by Roscrea Heritage Society. She will read excerpts from her book, as well as dramatic readings from the Valley Ghost Walk. She also has lots of pictures to share.

‘Rooted in Deception’ will be available to buy at the event for €17. Admission is free but as seating is limited, tickets must be reserved in advance though the following link:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rooted-in-deception-from-roscrea-to-canada-tickets-621128932357