Harry Gleeson: Posthumous pardon for hanged man
- Published
The Irish government is to give a pardon to a man who was hanged almost 75 years ago after being wrongly convicted of murder.
Harry Gleeson was executed for the murder of Moll McCarthy, who was shot dead in County Tipperary in November 1940.
A government review of the case was carried out following pressure from justice campaigners.
It found police and prosecutors withheld crucial evidence from the farm labourer's trial.
The review found that Mr Gleeson was convicted and executed "as a result of a case based on unconvincing circumstantial evidence".
Mr Gleeson will become the first recipient of a posthumous pardon from the Irish state.
In a statement, the Irish government said it "deeply regrets that a man was convicted and executed in circumstances now found to be unsafe".
"All that can be done now by way of remedy is to clear his name of the conviction, which this pardon will do, in the hope that this will be a proper tribute to his memory," it said.
"Equally the government regrets that this decision leaves unresolved the brutal murder of Ms Mary McCarthy, whose children were deprived of their mother in terrible circumstances."