A youthful romance which ended in the worst of circumstances on a gallows opposite the Four Courts in 1803.
The young and ‘extremely handsome’ Denis Lambert Redmond, a 23-year-old successful businessman living opposite the Four Courts at 14 Coal Quay (now Merchant’s Quay), and a nephew of the eminent Counsellor Hatchell (later Attorney-General of Ireland).
Redmond was executed outside 14 Coal Quay in 1803 for his part in the Emmet Rebellion.
William Grimshaw, in ‘Incidents Recalled,’ states that as Redmond’s body swung ‘ponderously’ on the gallows outside his house, a dishevelled young woman – believed to be ‘under his protection’ i.e., his mistress, screamed from the window in grief.
Redmond was doing up the house at the time for his impending marriage. Was the nameless young woman, described as being ‘under his protection’ (a euphemism for ‘kept woman’) his fiancée, his mistress or both? Full account by Grimshaw below:
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