Posthumous Pardon: The State versus Harry Gleeson and Moll McCarthy
Posthumous Pardon:
The State versus Harry Gleeson and Moll McCarthy
A staged rehearsed reading by Balally players of a new play by Sean T. Daly. Directed by Conor O’Malley.
In 1940, in the midst of The Emergency, in a tight community in rural Ireland, a single mother of six illegitimate children from different fathers, is brutally murdered. She was found in a field in Tipperary. An elaborate cover-up is concocted that leads to the conviction and execution of an innocent man, Harry Gleeson. During the trial, a young junior counsel, Sean McBride, endeavours to establish Harry Gleeson’s innocence. Even though Harry had an alibi, no one came forward as a witness and Harry was swiftly convicted and hanged.
Following a long campaign to clear his name, Harry Gleeson was posthumously pardoned by the State.
Sean Daly’s imaginative recreation in dramatic form, of this true story, depicts, arguably, the most egregious miscarriage of the criminal justice system, since the foundation of the Irish State.
Kindly co-funded by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown (dlr) County Council.
Running Time: 2hours 30 minutes including an interval.
- €12
- 7.30pm
- 2 hours 30 minutes
- Drama
