Michael Manning (carter)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Michael Manning was a 25-year old carter from Limerick who on April 20, 1954, became the last person to be executed in the Republic of Ireland.

He had been found guilty the previous February of the capital murder of Catherine Cooper, a 65-year old nurse, who worked at Barrington's Hospital in the city.

The execution was carried out by Albert Pierrepoint, who travelled from Britain where he was the official hangman.

The death penalty was abolished in 1964 for all but the murder of gardaí, diplomats and prison officers. It was abolished by statute for these remaining offences in 1990 and was finally expunged from the Constitution of Ireland by a referendum in 2001.

The hanging of Michael Manning inspired a new play by Ciaran Creagh. His father Timothy was one of the two prison officers who stayed with Michael Manning on his last night and Last Call is loosely based on what happened. It was shown in Mountjoy Prison's theatre for three nights in June 2006.