On This Day / January 15, 1921
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
19210115
Reference Date
19210115
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 15th January 1921, prominent barrister William McGrath KC was shot dead in his Dublin home in a targeted nighttime attack, shocking legal and political circles across Ireland. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
Northern Lawyer Assassinated | On This Day – 15th January 1921
A MYSTERIOUS and perfectly inexplicable crime was committed in Dublin yesterday morning at 1.35am when Mr William McGrath, KC (49) was shot at his residence, 129 Altona Terrace, North Circular Road, dying from his wounds eight hours later at a private hospital.
Mr McGrath, with his wife Gertrude and four children occupy one of the finest residences on the road. Mr McGrath’s eldest son, Donal (21) has recently qualified as a doctor.
The whole household had retired when, shortly after one o’clock, a sharp knock on the hall door aroused them.
Mr McGrath rose and proceeded downstairs to open the door. He had scarcely arrived on the landing when the hall door burst in and several men rushed into the hallway.
No doubt greatly alarmed at the evidently very aggressive attitude of the men who were flourishing revolvers, he was about to retreat when several shots rang out.
He staggered slightly on the landing and then fell heavily. Four of the five shots took effect – one near the heart.
Quite conscious, but in great agony, Mr McGrath was found by his horrified wife and children lying across the stairs.
Donal attended to his father and later the wounded man received the last rites. Later the police arrived and made exhaustive investigations.
Miss Maeve McGrath in an interview said: ‘Mother and I did all in our power to prevent daddy going downstairs but he would go … Nobody saw the men in the darkness …’
Another family member said: ‘It was neither a raid nor a robbery. They came to kill him and they did it.’
Mr McGrath was a perfectly inoffensive man. Formerly he was associated with the Irish National Movement and was never anything but a Constitutional Nationalist.
In Belfast he was secretary to the Young Ireland Society [1890s]. He was one of a well-known Portaferry [County Down] family, a brother being Mr Henry McGrath, Sinn Fein member of Down County Council.
The murdered man began his career as a reporter on the [Belfast] Morning News and subsequently proceeded to the Freeman’s Journal.
He was called to the Bar in 1895 and remained legal correspondent for the Irish News.
Called to the Inner Bar in 1918, he became senior Crown Prosecutor for Louth. He appeared in a number of important cases, including the inquest into the shootings in Portobello Barracks [1916] and also defended a number of prisoners at courts-martial.
(Eamon Phoenix editor’s note: It would seem that William McGrath, a former Irish News reporter and leading Dublin barrister, was targeted by the Auxiliaries and Black and Tans for his role in defending IRA prisoners.)
On This Day – 15th January 1921
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19210115
Reference Date
19210115
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 15th January 1921, prominent barrister William McGrath KC was shot dead in his Dublin home in a targeted nighttime attack, shocking legal and political circles across Ireland. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
Northern Lawyer Assassinated | On This Day – 15th January 1921
A MYSTERIOUS and perfectly inexplicable crime was committed in Dublin yesterday morning at 1.35am when Mr William McGrath, KC (49) was shot at his residence, 129 Altona Terrace, North Circular Road, dying from his wounds eight hours later at a private hospital.
Mr McGrath, with his wife Gertrude and four children occupy one of the finest residences on the road. Mr McGrath’s eldest son, Donal (21) has recently qualified as a doctor.
The whole household had retired when, shortly after one o’clock, a sharp knock on the hall door aroused them.
Mr McGrath rose and proceeded downstairs to open the door. He had scarcely arrived on the landing when the hall door burst in and several men rushed into the hallway.
No doubt greatly alarmed at the evidently very aggressive attitude of the men who were flourishing revolvers, he was about to retreat when several shots rang out.
He staggered slightly on the landing and then fell heavily. Four of the five shots took effect – one near the heart.
Quite conscious, but in great agony, Mr McGrath was found by his horrified wife and children lying across the stairs.
Donal attended to his father and later the wounded man received the last rites. Later the police arrived and made exhaustive investigations.
Miss Maeve McGrath in an interview said: ‘Mother and I did all in our power to prevent daddy going downstairs but he would go … Nobody saw the men in the darkness …’
Another family member said: ‘It was neither a raid nor a robbery. They came to kill him and they did it.’
Mr McGrath was a perfectly inoffensive man. Formerly he was associated with the Irish National Movement and was never anything but a Constitutional Nationalist.
In Belfast he was secretary to the Young Ireland Society [1890s]. He was one of a well-known Portaferry [County Down] family, a brother being Mr Henry McGrath, Sinn Fein member of Down County Council.
The murdered man began his career as a reporter on the [Belfast] Morning News and subsequently proceeded to the Freeman’s Journal.
He was called to the Bar in 1895 and remained legal correspondent for the Irish News.
Called to the Inner Bar in 1918, he became senior Crown Prosecutor for Louth. He appeared in a number of important cases, including the inquest into the shootings in Portobello Barracks [1916] and also defended a number of prisoners at courts-martial.
(Eamon Phoenix editor’s note: It would seem that William McGrath, a former Irish News reporter and leading Dublin barrister, was targeted by the Auxiliaries and Black and Tans for his role in defending IRA prisoners.)
On This Day – 15th January 1921
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19210115
Reference Date
January 15, 2021
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice *
Summary: On This Day – 15th January 1921, prominent barrister William McGrath KC was shot dead in his Dublin home in a targeted nighttime attack, shocking legal and political circles across Ireland. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
Northern Lawyer Assassinated | On This Day – 15th January 1921
A MYSTERIOUS and perfectly inexplicable crime was committed in Dublin yesterday morning at 1.35am when Mr William McGrath, KC (49) was shot at his residence, 129 Altona Terrace, North Circular Road, dying from his wounds eight hours later at a private hospital.
Mr McGrath, with his wife Gertrude and four children occupy one of the finest residences on the road. Mr McGrath’s eldest son, Donal (21) has recently qualified as a doctor.
The whole household had retired when, shortly after one o’clock, a sharp knock on the hall door aroused them.
Mr McGrath rose and proceeded downstairs to open the door. He had scarcely arrived on the landing when the hall door burst in and several men rushed into the hallway.
No doubt greatly alarmed at the evidently very aggressive attitude of the men who were flourishing revolvers, he was about to retreat when several shots rang out.
He staggered slightly on the landing and then fell heavily. Four of the five shots took effect – one near the heart.
Quite conscious, but in great agony, Mr McGrath was found by his horrified wife and children lying across the stairs.
Donal attended to his father and later the wounded man received the last rites. Later the police arrived and made exhaustive investigations.
Miss Maeve McGrath in an interview said: ‘Mother and I did all in our power to prevent daddy going downstairs but he would go … Nobody saw the men in the darkness …’
Another family member said: ‘It was neither a raid nor a robbery. They came to kill him and they did it.’
Mr McGrath was a perfectly inoffensive man. Formerly he was associated with the Irish National Movement and was never anything but a Constitutional Nationalist.
In Belfast he was secretary to the Young Ireland Society [1890s]. He was one of a well-known Portaferry [County Down] family, a brother being Mr Henry McGrath, Sinn Fein member of Down County Council.
The murdered man began his career as a reporter on the [Belfast] Morning News and subsequently proceeded to the Freeman’s Journal.
He was called to the Bar in 1895 and remained legal correspondent for the Irish News.
Called to the Inner Bar in 1918, he became senior Crown Prosecutor for Louth. He appeared in a number of important cases, including the inquest into the shootings in Portobello Barracks [1916] and also defended a number of prisoners at courts-martial.
(Eamon Phoenix editor’s note: It would seem that William McGrath, a former Irish News reporter and leading Dublin barrister, was targeted by the Auxiliaries and Black and Tans for his role in defending IRA prisoners.)
On This Day – 15th January 1921
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
On This Day is a daily column in the Irish News looking back either 50 or 100 years. The column was compiled by Dr Éamon Phoenix from the mid 1980s until autumn, 2022. The Foundation is very grateful to the Irish News for giving permission to reproduce Eamon’s columns. Funding gratefully received from Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs and the Magill Trust.
* The Foundation has worked hard to recreate Eamon’s distinctive voice through AI. Since this is an emerging technology, occasional imperfections may be audible.