Family of man exonerated 74 years after he was executed to receive case review documents

THE FAMILY OF a man who was exonerated 74 years after his conviction and execution for murder are to receive case review documents from the state. 

In 2015, former President Michael D Higgins signed Ireland’s first posthumous pardon, exonerating Harry Gleeson who had been executed in 1941.

Gleeson was convicted of the murder of Mary McCarthy, a single mother of seven children whose body was found in a field on Gleeson’s uncle’s farm in Tipperary. The woman had been shot in the face.

All along, Gleeson maintained he was innocent of this crime and those legally representing him remained convinced of his innocence long after his execution.

On foot of a submission from the Innocence Project Ireland and the Justice for Harry Gleeson group, the attorney general ordered a review of the case which was undertaken by senior counsel Shane Murphy. Serious deficiencies in the conviction were found.

In a statement at the time, the then Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald outlined the various failings identified, which eventually led to his pardon.

• What led to this Irishman’s exoneration, 74 years after he was executed?

At cabinet today, Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan got government approval to waive the legal privilege attached to a review conducted by Murphy in September 2014 into the conviction of Henry (“Harry”) Gleeson.

Gleeson’s family had requested access to the records associated with his pardon, including the 2014 review.

The attorney general advised that the review may be released to the Gleeson family, subject to the government’s waiver of legal privilege.

Following approval today, the full unredacted review will now be shared with the Gleeson family.