Clodagh Finn: It’s too late for justice but we can remember Margaret

What of all the women who died before that date, such as Margaret Mary McCarthy? I would like to see a database where her story is recorded. It’s the very least we can do for her

One woman a week has died violently in Ireland since the beginning of 2023.

Sat, 04 Feb, 2023 - 12:54

Clodagh Finn

Clodagh Finn is a journalist, writer and collector of stories. Her recent book, The Irish in the Resistance, co-authored with John Morgan, shines a light on the forgotten contributions of the Irish who resisted Hitler during WW2.

The anniversary on Wednesday of the suspicious death of Offaly woman Margaret McCarthy at the age of 26 will pass below the radar.

That’s easy to understand as she was killed 126 years ago. And time erases so much. Yet, it is important to recall her case because Margaret Mary McCarthy of Birr in Co Offaly did not get justice after she died of the injuries inflicted on her by her soldier husband in faraway Bermuda on February 8, 1897.