Mount Merrion Historical Society will host a Murder Mystery Talk in the Community Centre at 8pm on Thursday 8th October
The Broadstone Mystery: investigating a murder in Victorian Dublin
presented by Thomas Morris
One Friday afternoon in November 1856, the chief cashier of Dublin’s Broadstone railway terminus, George Little, was found dead in his office. He had been brutally murdered. The room was locked, there was no sign of a weapon, and hundreds of pounds in cash lay untouched on his desk. The crime seemed to defy explanation: what was the motive behind this savage attack, if not robbery? Who was the killer, and how had they disappeared from a busy station without a trace?
The death of George Little resulted in the most extensive and dramatic investigation in the history of the Dublin Metropolitan Police. In this talk, Thomas Morris explains how a remarkable cache of government documents in the National Archives of Ireland allowed him to piece together an unusually complete account of a Victorian murder inquiry – from the detectives’ interviews with witnesses to the private fears of government ministers.
Thomas Morris is a writer and historian. After a degree in music at the University of Oxford he joined the BBC, where he worked as a radio producer for almost twenty years, making speech programmes including Front Row, The Film Programme and In Our Time. His first book, a history of cardiac surgery entitled The Matter of the Heart, won a 2015 Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Award for a debut work of non-fiction. It was followed by The Mystery of The Exploding Teeth, which was named by Mental Floss as one of the best science books of 2018 and was a bestseller in Brazil. The Dublin Railway Murder, his account of a real-life Victorian murder mystery, was published in 2021 and last year was shortlisted for a Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger for non-fiction.
8.00pm Thursday 5th October 2023
THE COMMUNITY CENTRE, MOUNT MERRION
Admission:
- Members No charge (see Season Membership)
- Non-Members: €5.00
- Students €2.00
While the Society will endeavour to deliver the published agenda, lectures and speakers may be changed due to circumstances outside its control
The Plaza Planters
Well done and thanks to all the Plaza Planters on planting up and keeping the weeds under control on the two island beds on Trees Road. Mount Merrion is blooming thanks to all your hard work! ... read moreMount Merrion Scouts are looking for your support | Information Night Sunday 24th September | Local Scout Hall
Save our scouts! Mount Merrion Scout troop is reaching out for help. To maintain the local troop more parent leaders/young adults are needed. Join with your child and enjoy a varied programme with hikes/camping and skill development. Please think about joining them on their information night. September 24th, in the local scout hall beside the church 7.30pm. RSVP via Info@86thmountmerrionscouts.ie... read moreMount Merrion Historical Society will host a Murder Mystery Talk in the Community Centre at 8pm on Thursday 8th October
The Broadstone Mystery: investigating a murder in Victorian Dublin presented by Thomas Morris One Friday afternoon in November 1856, the chief cashier of Dublin’s Broadstone railway terminus, George Little, was found dead in his office. He had been brutally murdered. The room was locked, there was no sign of a weapon, and hundreds of pounds in cash lay untouched on his desk. The crime seemed to defy explanation: what was the motive behind this savage attack, if not robbery? Who was the killer, and how had they disappeared from a busy station without a trace? The death of George Little resulted in the most extensive and dramatic investigation in the history of the Dublin Metropolitan Police. In this talk, Thomas Morris explains how a remarkable cache of government documents in the National Archives of Ireland allowed him to piece together an unusually complete account of a Victorian murder inquiry – from the detectives’ interviews with witnesses to the private fears of government ministers. Thomas Morris is a writer and historian. After a degree in music at the University of Oxford he joined the BBC, where he worked as a radio producer for almost twenty years, making speech programmes including Front Row, The Film Programme and In Our Time. His first book, a history of cardiac surgery entitled The Matter of the Heart, won a 2015 Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Award for a debut work of non-fiction. It was followed by The Mystery of The Exploding Teeth, which was named by Mental Floss as one of the best science books of 2018 and was a... read more
Local Orchid Walk – Wednesday 21 June, 7pm
Join us for our annual Orchid Walk, led by our expert enthusiasts.
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Scoil San Treasa Planning Permission
Neighbours are invited to visit the school on Saturday (9am-11am) or Monday (7pm-9pm) for information on the proposed update to the existing school facilities.
read more
Mount Merrion Historical Society
The Sailing Trawlers of Ringsend, will be the subject of our next talk by
Cormac Lowth in the Community Centre at 8.00pm on Thursday 4th May.
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Mount Merrion is a suburban estate in South County Dublin developed on lands once the seat of the Viscounts Fitwilliam. Centred around the Deerpark, a public park first landscaped by the 5th Viscount, and the remains of the house he built there in 1711, Mount Merrion today is generally considered to be bounded to the North by The UCD campus at Belfield, to the East by the N11 and Booterstown and Blackrock, to the South by Stillorgan and Kilmacud, and to the West by Goatstown and Clonskeagh. *Lower Kilmacud Road residents on the right-hand-side from Stillorgan Shopping Centre, odd numbers 103 to 167, including 111a, are within Mount Merrion demense. The Mount Merrion Residents Association, founded in 1935, is the oldest residents’ association in continuous existence in Ireland. It represents the following roads:
- Callary Road
- Cedarmount Road
- Cherrygarth
- Chestnut Road
- Clonmore Road
- The Close
- Cypress Road
- Deerpark Road
- Foster Avenue
- The Fosters
- Glenabbey Road
- Greenfield Road
- Greygates
- Iris Grove
- Lower Kilmacud Road (partial)
- Mather Road North
- Mather Road South
- Mount Anville Road
- North Avenue
- Owenstown Park
- Redesdale Crescent
- Redesdale Road
- The Rise
- Roebuck Avenue
- St Thomas Road
- St Thomas Mead
- South Avenue
- Sycamore Road
- Sycamore Cresent
- East Avenue (Sycamore)
- Thornhill Road
- Trees Avenue
- Trees Road Lower
- Trees Road Upper
- Wilson Crescent
- Wilson Road