William Burke Kirwan

William Burke Kirwan (c.1814–1880?)[1] was a minor Irish painter best known for the murder of his wife, Sarah Maria Louisa Kirwan. The resulting trial was one of the most notorious in Victorian Ireland.

Long Hole where Sarah Kirwan's body was found

Early life

William Bourke Kirwan was born in Dublin in 1814 into an artistic family. He studied art under the portrait painter Richard Downes Bowyer, and exhibited various pieces of art at the Royal Hibernian Academy in the 1830s and 1840s. He later worked as an engraver, picture cleaner, and anatomical draughtsman.[2]

He married Sarah Maria Louisa Crowe (1824-1852), and they resided together on Merrion Street in Dublin. They had no children.[3]

Murder and Aftermath
Portrait of Sarah Maria Louisa Kirwan, ca. 1845

The couple went on an outing to the small island of Ireland's Eye, off the coast of Dublin, on September 6, 1852. Kirwan claimed not to be able to find his wife after she had swam while he sketched. Her body was later found on a rock on the island, covered in blood.

While at first it was believed that she had died in an accidental drowning, a later exhumation and autopsy showed signs of manual asphyxiation. Kirwan's subsequent arrest and trial caused a media sensation across the United Kingdom. The trial, which took place in Dublin's Green Street courthouse in December 1852, attracted large crowds. Kirwan’s defence was headed by the noted barrister and MP Isaac Butt. Kirwan had long maintained a separate home in Sandymount with his mistress, Maria Teresa Kenny and their eight children, which was presented as a motive for him to murder his wife.

Kirwan was found guilty and sentenced to death, but this was commuted to life imprisonment and transportation after appeals by reputable citizens, including ten doctors who stated that his wife's death was consistent with drowning. He was freed in 1879, and may have emigrated to the United States.[4][5] The site of Sarah Maria Louisa Kirwan's murder became a popular site for tourism in the mid-nineteenth century.[6]

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References
  1. Patrick M Geoghegan,William Bourke Kirwan c1814-1880? in The Irish Times, Aug 21, 2010 (From the Royal Irish Academy's Dictionary of Irish Biography)
  2. "William Bourke Kirwan, Miniature Painter". Library Ireland. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  3. Geoghegan, Patrick M. (21 Aug 2010). "Irish Lives". The Irish Times. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  4. Ireland’s Eye sees notorious murder. By Dan MacCarthy. Irish Examiner. Monday, 13 August, 2018
  5. William Burke Kirwan, Miniature Painter - Irish Artists. Library Ireland
  6. Abigail, Rieley. "Dark Tourism". Retrieved 13 May 2020.
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