The Sad & Strange Case of Sarah Maria Kirwan

Today we're looking at a

case

from the mid-19th century, so sit back while we go to Ireland. William Burke Kerwin was born in Dublin in 1814. His family was wealthy and his father Patrick worked as an art dealer. William received a privileged upbringing and was educated. in expensive schools where it soon became clear that, in addition to being an intelligent and studious child, the young William Burke Cohen had great talent as an artist, his parents sent him to study with the portrait painter Richard Downes Bowier and in 1836, when he was 22 years, his art was chosen to be displayed at the Royal Hibernian Academy, where it was displayed for the next 10 years, although his passion was painting.

William also qualified as an anatomical engraver and draftsman for surgeons. In 1840 he married Sarah, aged 21. Maria Crow was the eldest of four children of Lieutenant James Crowe and his wife Maria was very attractive and had many loves but William seemed to be a good match, he was becoming well known for his paintings and had good career prospects as a draftsman. . He also came from a wealthy family, although her young girlfriend was Chris and Sarah, she always preferred to be called Maria. The couple lived at 11 Marion Street, a particularly pleasant part of the city full of large Georgian houses in which wealthy families reside.

William continued to work and paint while his wife kept house and organized the town's social calendar. couple between 1845 and 1849. Ireland suffered a terrible famine when the potato crop failed; However, Dublin was not as affected as other parts of the country. It was a major port, which meant that food imports could easily reach the city and, while many poorer people suffered greatly, wealthy residents, such as the Kerwins, remained relatively intact. In 1852, the couple had been married for 12 years, William was now 38 years old and his wife Mary was 33 years old and was born in 1819, the same year as Queen Victoria;

However, the queen had already given birth to seven children, while the Kerwins were childless, which was rare for the mid-19th century. William had a second home at Sandymount, about three miles away. southeast of his beautiful house on Marion Streets on this property he had a mistress named Teresa Kenny and the seven children they had together spent part of the week with his mistress and the rest with his wife, a somewhat

strange

arrangement and for most For the previous 12 years, the two ladies were unaware of each other's existence. In the summer of 1852, William and Mary went on holiday to the picturesque village of Hoth, which was about nine miles from Dublin city centre.

William really liked the area as the scenery was extremely pleasant and perfect for painting. Hoath was a popular summer retreat for many people who walked along the shore or cliff and breathed in the sea air, which in Victorian times was believed to be which was very good for people's health and they stayed in a lodging house. owned by a lady called Mrs Power William did not sleep there every night he returned to Dublin to work sometimes he returned in the afternoon but other days he stayed with his lover the summer had been quite wet and although there were days with bright sunshine it had also rained a lot.

William and Mary usually found a secluded place where he could paint and she could bathe or walk along the seashore. One of William's favorite places to visit was a small uninhabited island called Islands Eye which was located to the north. The port consists of a main island, a chain of rocks and an island called Thula William. He really liked it there. The scenery looking out to sea or towards the mainland was wonderful and the island was home to many sea birds. Gray seals would also be seen and there was a building called the Martello Tower which was no longer in use it had been built in 1803 to help repel any possible invasion of Napoleon there were also the remains of an 8th century church William and Mary had planned another trip to the island On Monday, September 6, fortunately, it was a bright and sunny day, a good day for painting and swimming, just before 10 in the morning, they headed to the port.

William was carrying a bag containing his sketchpad, which, curiously, he also brought with him. a large stick his wife had a bag containing water eaten in their swimsuits when they arrived at the island they asked the boatmen to be kind enough to pick them up around eight in the afternoon they were not alone it was a popular place but only that day another couple had made the short trip from Hoth in the middle of the afternoon, the other couple named Mr. and Mrs. Brew were preparing to leave and agreed to be picked up at four o'clock and as they headed to meet the ships, Mrs.

Brew asked Mrs. Kerwin would like to return to the mainland with them because she thought it might start to rain Mrs. Kerwin thanked him for his kind offer but said that she preferred to stay a little longer and that she would return to her husband at eight o'clock Mr. and The boat from Mrs. Brews, Julie, arrived and slowly made her way back to Hoth as she entered the harbor. Mrs. Brew looked towards the island and thought that it was an idyllic place and that for the next few hours it would be occupied only by Mr. and Mrs.

Kerwin in Around 7 p.m. m., back at Hoath, a gentleman named Mr. Henry Campbell heard a cry coming from the islands. He was a little taken aback, but he dismissed it, then, about three minutes later, he heard another one and then one more. The same screams were heard by a fisherman named Thomas Larkin. He was returning from a day of fishing and was at that time near the island. Other people also heard the screams. At 8 pm, the boat arrived to pick up the couple, but to the surprise of the boatmen, only William was waiting for them when they asked where Mrs.

Kerwin was. . William responded that it had been a long time since he had seen her and added that she had told him that she was going swimming in an area known as Longhole, which was a rocky place where people normally did not try to enter the water. and Williams began searching for Maria. The island covered 53 acres and it was starting to get dark. They headed for the long haul, as that was where William had thought her wife would go the last time he saw her and there she was lying between two rocks. Maria was in a small puddle of water.

She was in a bathing suit. When the boatmen approached, they noticed that she was bruised with scratches on her arms and face. There was blood coming out of her ears. Under her body, there was a sheet. They shouted her name, but she didn't. They responded once they reached her, they realized that the young woman was dead. Upon seeing his wife, William screamed in grief, he seemed distressed and instructed one of the boatmen to look for her clothes. Unfortunately, he could not locate her, so Mr. Kerwin went to look for her. themselves and a few minutes later he returned telling the boatman named Patrick Nagle that Maria's clothes were next to a rock and please go get her, the men covered the body and carefully carried her to the boats before returning to hoath the next day, an investigation was launched.

It was carried out and it was decided that Sarah Maria Kerwin had drowned. The local people, however, were not convinced that she was a sensible young woman and a good swimmer and she surely would not have entered the water long term as the rocks were known to be sharp. and there were much better places on the island to enter the water, there were also the marks on his face and body and the fact that the cause of death had been determined by a medical student, as he was the only person with medical training available at that time.

Some had also said that they had previously heard William Kerwin threaten Mary. The authorities were pressured to reopen the

case

and the order was finally given to exhume her body and a second investigation was opened after this investigation. William Burke Kerwin was arrested and charged with the murder of his wife. The trial began at Dublin's Green Street Courthouse on December 8, 1852. Mary's death had been widely reported in the newspapers. It made sensational reading as the double life of William living part of the week with his wife and part of the week with his lover Teresa Kenny and the seven children he had fathered fascinated the public.

It seemed that both the press and the people were very against him but William Burke Cohen pleaded not guilty although no one had saw william commit the crime the prosecution presented a strong case Mrs Power, owner of the boarding house in Hoath, told the court she had often seen the couple arguing. Other witnesses said William often abused his wife. William had said that he had not heard Mary ask for help, which was very

strange

considering the witnesses testified. That they had heard the screams from the mainland, which was just over a mile away, boatman Patrick Nagle told the court that William did not seem too worried about his wife when he came to pick them up, described how they found the body and said that When Mr.

Kirwin had ordered him to look for his clothes, he searched very carefully but could not find them. Mr. Kerwin went to look for them himself and soon returned telling him that the clothes were on a rock. Mr. Nagle said that he went to the rock and in fact, they were there nicely folded, but when he had looked at the same spot moments before there was definitely nothing there. Teresa Kenney was not called as a witness and this greatly disappointed the press, but the landlady who owned the property in which Miss Kenny lived with her. The children took the stand.

She told the court that she had rented the house to Mr Kerwin for the past ten years and that Miss Kenny had resided there throughout that time. They also called the maid to testify. Her name was Catherine Byrne. She told the court that the accused. She stayed at the house about three times a week in the same bed as Miss Kenny. Medical student Mr Hamilton, who carried out the examination of the deceased at the inquest, told the court that he found no marks on the body to suggest any cause of death. but an accidental drowning and when Dr.

George Hatell, who performed the second examination after the body had been exhumed, took the witness stand, he also said he found no marks suggesting a physical attack, however, he said that considered the cause of death to be asphyxiation. The defense questioned the opinion of Dr. Hatchell and reminded the courts that, although only a month had passed since Mrs Kirwin's death when the body was exhumed, it was found to be in a much more advanced state of decomposition than expected due to the amount of water in Tomb. therefore, the doctor could not rule it out, but it is possible that she had drowned him;

However, he reiterated that, in his opinion, asphyxiation was the cause of Mrs. Kerwin's death. The trial lasted two days and William was courteous and dignified throughout the jury that deliberated for several hours beforehand. returning a guilty verdict and the judge sentenced William Burke Kerwin to death. Strangely, after the verdict, the press and public began to question whether William was really telling the truth and whether he was innocent of the crime. New evidence was presented and some prominent Dublin doctors said they believed the cause of Mrs Kerwin's death was drowning. Even Mary's mother said that she had always considered William a very kind and caring gentleman who had always treated her family well. daughter after much contemplation the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment and william was sent to spike island in cork with william now a convicted criminal teresa kenny was destitute she appealed to the magistrates and received money from williams estates and the children he had fathered were Sent to school Teresa however had become a well known figure in Dublin and did not like the attention she finally emigrated to America accompanied by two of her children William Burke Kerwin served 24 years in prison until he was released in 1879 one of the Conditions for his release from prison were that he leave Ireland.

It is said that after his release he returned to Hope and traveled to the island where he remained long term for some time contemplating the events of September 6, 1852, shortly after he too emigrated. to the United States, where many believe he met and lived his life with Teresa Kenny. Hello everyone. and thank you very much for listening to us as always. Leave any comments or suggestions you may have and I'll see you in the next short case.