Remains of executed prisoners to be removed from Irish prison this month

The remains of executed prisoners from the grounds of an Irish prison will be removed and reinterred this month (January 2024). 

The Department of Justice has confirmed news of the project, which will see prisoner remains moved from Mountjoy Prison to a more suitable location. 

The area where excavations are expected to be carried out is thought to contain the remains of 29 prisoners executed between 1923 and 1954. 

It may also contain the remains of a small number of prisoners executed prior to the foundation of the state. 

The project will take approximately 6 to 7 months to complete. 

According to the Department, any remains discovered during the excavations, regardless of the date of the individual’s death, will be reinterred.  

A full list of the individuals whose remains it is hoped to recover is as follows: 

John Toole (executed 07.03.1901) 
William Mitchell (executed 07.06.1921) 
William Downes (executed 29.11.1923) 
Thomas Delaney (executed 12.12.1923) 
Thomas McDonagh (executed 12.12.1923) 
Peter Hynes (executed 15.12.1923) 
Jeremiah Gaffney (executed 13.03.1924) 
Felix McMullen (executed 01.08.1924) 
Cornelius O'Leary (executed 28.07.1925) 
Annie Walsh (executed 05.08.1925) 
Michael Talbot (executed 05.08.1925) 
James Myles (executed 15.07.1926) 
James McHugh (executed 24.11.1926) 
Henry McCabe (executed 09.12.1926) 
William O'Neill (executed 29.12.1927) 
Gerard Toal (executed 29.08.1928) 
John Joseph Cox (executed 25.04.1929) 
David O'Shea (executed 04.08.1931) 
Patrick McDermott (executed 29.12.1932) 
John Fleming (executed 05.01.1934) 
John Hornick (executed 17.06.1937) 
Dermot Smyth (executed 07.01.1939) 
Henry Gleeson ("Harry" Gleeson) (executed 23.04.1941) 
Daniel Doherty (executed 07.01.1941) 
Patrick Kelly (executed 18.12.1941) 
Bernard Kirwan (executed 02.06.1943) 
William O'Shea (executed 12.08.1943) 
James Herbert Lehman (alias George Iams, alias William Martin, alias Roberts, alias Addison B. Iams, alias Addison Iams, alias Arthur Edwin James, alias Arthur James, alias James E. Richards, alias James E. James, alias James Arthur, alias James McCague) (executed 19.03.1945) 
Joseph McManus (executed 31.03.1947) 
William Gambon (executed 24.11.1948) 
Michael Manning (alias Michael Mangan) (executed 20.04.1954) 

If you are related to one of the individuals listed and would like to have some involvement in this project, or to seek more information, please contact the Department of Justice at mountjoyexhumations@justice.ie. 

All communications received will be treated as confidential.