Shooting dead of a woman in Roscrea a century ago

From The Nenagh Guardian archives column published in our issue this week comes this story exactly a century ago of the shooting dead of a woman near Roscrea on August 17 2023.

That Mrs Susan Dooly, Roscrea, died on August 17th, and that death was due to shock and haemorrhage caused by a bullet fired by a military patrol.

That was the verdict returned at the inquest held by Dr Fennelly, Coroner, for Mid-Tipperary, with regard to the death of Mrs Dooly, wife of Mr Tom Dooly, Clerk of the Union, Roscrea.

Mr T. Dooly said: “On Thursday I was in Dublin and returned that evening in a motor car between 7 and 8 o’ clock. I was driving and Mr F. Treanor was sitting beside me in front. Mr Acres (brother of the deceased) and Mrs Dooly were in the back. At about 11.30pm we arrived at Cooleshall, near Roscrea. At Cooleshall there is a very nasty turn and I slowed down to reach the turn. I came round the corner slowly, and as I did so my lights showed me four soldiers – three soldiers with rifles at the ready and one with a revolver in his hand – on the footpath beside the ditch. I was about 30 or 40 yards away when I first heard them. I knew at once they were military and I put on the brake. It was practically at a standstill – when I came to the soldier with the revolver in his hand; he was standing on the footpath, or may have been standing on the road just off the footpath; the hood was up, so I stooped down and looked out at him and he said to me, ‘All right, go on’. I said ‘Thank you, good night’; I then put my foot on the accelerator, the soldier said nothing to me or made no objection; he never said halt or anything, although he was beside me; the car moved forward, but when it had gone about the length of itself four or five shots rang out, I cannot say which in quick succession; then Mrs Dooly shouted; I immediately pulled the car up dead; in half a minute the soldier with the revolver came round to the front; I thought that possibly Mrs Dooly had got frightened when she screamed, but I found that she had fallen into a faint into her brother’s arms, practically dead. The soldier when the revolver began to argue with me about when I did not stay when he called ‘halt’, although he was standing beside the car he never called ‘halt’ to me. He did not hold up his hand to stop; I said to him this is no time to argue; there is a precious life in the car, and that I had to go at once for medical assistance; I jumped into the car, and cleared, whether they liked it or not; there was no more shots fired – they had fired enough” – (at that stage Mr Dooly broke down). “I drove home as quickly as I could, and got Mrs Dooly upstairs; Mrs Dooly died about two hours afterwards, at 2.15am on Friday morning.”

The inquest heard bullet wounds were found on the deceased. It is believed a wound on the back was the inlet wound of the bullet and a wound on the thigh the outlet wound.