A documentary I produced for my masters course. We take a tour of the Mountjoy Prison museum & Hang House with former warden and tour guide Seán Reynolds.
Hey folks, thanks for watching this little project of mine. I've had a couple of comments about audio levels. Listening with headphones gives a better experience than through PC/laptop speakers. Hope that helps, thanks!
Once he talked about the "T" shaped chalk marks Pierrepoint had made on the trap doors I wouldn't have been able to resist looking for residual chalk on them.
6:45 . . . . my grandparents come from Manchester. Mathew (Matt) Cragg used to work at the Poor Struggler as barman/waiter. He was friends with Albert. Grand dad was that gregarious type :-)
Great video, very informative and well put together. I've visited the hanging shed at Freemantle Prison which still has the working trap doors. An extremely sad and humbling place to visit.
Interestingly, after he had retired, Pierrepoint actually changed his mind over capital punishment, no longer believing it was a deterrent or just. Many believe it was the execution of Ruth Ellis (the last woman to be hanged in Great Britain), which he carried out, that changed his mindset over capital punishment.
@@joehart7260 he also said in a BBC radio interview that he changed his mind back again when he could see society becoming more violent. I genuinely think he was on the fence at different stages in his life.
You are actually correct Pieerpoint did say that in the last decade of his life he never made comments on Evans or Bentley but did make comments on Ruth Ellis, her sister campained or her behalf and Albert Pieerpoint began to understand why Ruth Ellis never stood a chance.
Albert executed one of his regulars in the pub, with whom he used to sing, even having nicknames for each other. Albert said that if the deterent didn't work for this fella, Tish and Tosh, even though he knew what Albert did then it called into question the effectiveness of any deterent effect. My own feeling is that for certain catergories of crime, the perpetrator should be executed, in as humane manner as possible, I would have no issue with pulling the lever. With advances in forensic science the establishing of guilt has become a much more certain process, and for convictions where guilt is absolute then it should be an option. When carried out professionally the British method of long drop hanging is by far the most humane and quickest, I think Alberts fastest was around 8 seconds from entering the condemned cell to dropping the prisoner through the trap.
@@mickymondo7463 I totally agree, like the recent case of Damien Bendall who murdered 4 people in a house including an 11 year old girl who was also raped and then just admitted it and gave himself up. No question of his guilt so just send him to the gallows.
Very good video - it would be interesting to see similar places where hangings happened eg Lincoln and York. It’s not because of a morbid interest but, as said at the end, it’s an important part of our history.
Pierrepoint was actually the best man to do this. He planned meticulously to make sure the prisoner was killed instantly, well deep unconsciousness in a split second and heart stopping soon after. It would be like being sandbagged: instant fracture and dislocation of second and third vertebrae. The criminals he executed did not take 15 minutes to choke to death like those Nazis at Nuremberg who were executed by an inexperienced Anerican hangman who many believed deliberately botched the job: Pierrepoint’s record was 7 and a half seconds from entry to lights out.
He was born in to it. His father was an executioner, with the grandfather possibly. As family businesses go, it’s unusual but he must have benefitted from having the knowledge handed down to him.
Hi, just a correction on the hangings after the Nuremberg Trials. As far as I can ascertain from his records and biography, only Albert Pierrepoint was engaged to carry out the executions which were done near Hamlin,Germany, carrying out around 15 to 20 daily for over 3 weeks . Sometimes multiple executions in each drop. His skill in setting the drop length per . person was vital in sorting out these groups to achieve his now legendary efficiency without decapitation. His biography is a fascinating and disturbing read.
John I did use them thanks. Please don't think I was being rude or hyper critical. It was a fascinating account and I hate to think of your research being wasted. Good luck Peter
@@darz3829 More accurately, it starts a picosecond from now. But you have no direction for the future unless you know how things got to their present state. As many have said, those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. What mostly gets repeated when we don't remember history are the mistakes that we could avoid repeating if we only remember how and why they happened.
@@silverhammer7779 A picosecond? Wow, it's a good thing you're not splitting hairs. Anyway, as for mistakes, right now we are making loads of mistakes in everything yet are completely aware of history. So that tired old bromide needs to be replaced. It would be a continued mistake to take it at face value.
@@darz3829 Maybe it would be better to say, "He who does not learn from history is condemned to repeat it." Because the idiots in charge obviously never learned from it ("But...this time it'll be different! I didn't work before because WE weren't in charge!") So says every generation, with predictable results.
@@silverhammer7779 So essentially the sayings could be ""Without our history, we have no future." " AND " Despite history we have no future." I repeat - ridiculous.
Great documentary! I have been researching about Hanging these days, and I found this in my suggested videos. You know, I find it curious that slow hanging is regarded as so horrible, so awful that not even the worst criminals deserve that, and so this science of calculated drops was developed. Some countries still use the slower method, though. I understand that it's something extremely distressing to watch.
@@kevinbrookes4870 Long drop hanging is quick and believed to be painless. I mean slow hanging, with a short drop or the victim simply pulled up. They are said to struggle and kick like crazy, for some time.
@@Sheilawisz The drop long or short was according to the weight of the prisoner, in the official table of drops, formerly issued by the British home office, which is a manual to calculate the appropriate length of rope for all executions
People who advocate bringing back the death penalty need to watch stuff like this, everyone in Ireland should take the Killmainham Walk from the cells to the stonebreakers yard and ask the questions would you put that responsibility on any other human being to as a third party take someone's life, very well to write on a death warrant, the law must take its course and not pulling that lever yourself. In America and Japan they introduced the I was not the one that pushed the plunger, flicked that switch or realesed that trapdoor, there were three buttons a bit like the guy in the firing squad with the blank round, if your not sure of that don't use it.
Very interesting. One thing I have never understood is why part of the death sentence involved burying the condemned within the prison grounds and not returning the body to their relatives. Seems a bit harsh.
In the days when it was believed that one's body had to be buried intact in consecrated ground in order to be resurrected to eternal life, burying executed criminals in unconsecrated prison ground, usually in quicklime was seen as denying them resurrection and barring them from heaven. This was deliberately intended to add to the horror of the punishment.
@@neilhamilton5469 Then I guess the state could have decided whether to release the body to the relatives or not, and it seems in most cases they didn't.
Wouldn’t fancy working in the bakery so. If you don’t mind me asking, did you ever meet Sean from the video during your time? He worked across the services.
From what I can remember, it was. There was also a solemnity in the Hang House that was similar to being in a church. You couldn't look at the gallows without thinking about those who had been executed. The irony there is that the gallows is what keeps their memory alive now. Fascinating place. It felt like hallowed ground.
I bought Pierrepoint's last motor from his grandson who'd inherited it . It was still the old green logbooks and I looked to see how many previous owners . There was only two , Mick Martin and Albert , that's when Mick told me he was the grandson . His dad had changed the family name . BTW it was a Volvo estate which I thought was a bit dodgy . Albert got fired for doing private jobs .
@@johnkelly3549 What , the name change ? Oh for sure . Mick went through school with the name , got dogs abuse for it , but they didn't want to change it before Albert croaked . If I didn't drive it for a few days , when you opened the door there was a queer wee smell , not mad bad but I couldn't pin it down . Cheers John . edit : BTW I've been in Barlinnie , Glasgow , and the block I was in , D hall had the condemned cell , 1st landing last two cells down the end . A wee touch of luxury before the high jump . And the execution cell is just the other side of the landing . You can see through the inspection eyehole into the cell but no eyehatch on the other cell . And they were buried inside the prison , just out the back of D hall . There's no markers or plaques just strips of relaid asphalt . Did they bury yours inside the nick or did they get buried in consecrated ground ? And just to finish with a flourish , I had one of the best nights of my life in the Scotia bar , thee folkies pub in Glasgow . Dominic Behan was playing City Hall and he'd arranged for him and the band to have a late drink in there after the gig . They all brought their instruments . At about 1 o'clock the doors got thumped and about 15 cops came in , they took off their hats jackets and ties and had come for the party . All the big Highlanders who join the cops get posted down to Glasgow so they can knock fuck out southern Keeleys as they call us .
@@laurencesmith2199 What you say about the Highlanders is eerily similar to something a friend told me once, fully sincere. For reference, I'm a soft Dublin boy and would have been 18 at the time. This friend of mine was from way out west in County Leitrim and was having his 21st birthday in his hometown. Last minute, I'd to cancel because I'd no transport (no bus even ran to Leitrim) so I rang him to say as much. His response sticks with me to this day; 'I'd say it's just as well John. There's 'hill men' up here who do come down on the weekend solely looking for c**** like you to bate'. He even sounded a little relieved. Re- burials, I can't remember in all honesty where burials took place.
@@johnkelly3549 Hill people are a breed , the world over , from the Basque to the Yemeni . You mind your P's and Q's if you go there . It's been 22 years since I set foot in Dublin ..............longer still since Dun Laoghaire . I don't think the executed ever got buried in a graveyard traditionally . It's been good craic John , stay well son .
Growing up in London in the 1960s the last executions took place in August 1964 and a change of government put a 5 year moratorium on it until it was abolished in 1969. During the latter part of the 1960s my dad who worked in Whitechapel and had a truck went to a firm in Bermondsey to buy some ropes and he told us this company produced hangman ropes, he described them and said they were exported and no doubt the home office either still bought them or had a large supply as the last working gallows was dismantled at Wandsworth Prison in 1992 and they tested it's operation every 6 months. Recently I was curious about the company so googled it. The company was John Edgington of Old Kent Road Bermondsey. If you google it you will see the hangman's ropes.
It’s brilliant isn’t it? I know what he meant, that the death should be humane and clinical but i half think that this was a really, really subtle joke.
Yeah, not going to happen. Only a very small percentage of the population supports capital punishment, even fewer politicians do (who are the ones who vote on it).
Cheers man! It's a shame about the volume, I threw this video together for college years ago and didn't notice it then. I'll have to dig out the raw files and see what I can do with it when I''ve a chance.
I was shit parcel red band at Wandsworth 1987 D wing. The only prison at that time to have a fully functioning and ready to use gallows! In ‘87 part of it was used to store dog (security K9) food etc at the end of E wing. (Decommissioned and dismantled in 1992). As shit parcel orderly I often had to pick up a barrow full of dog food and take it to the hang room ffs! Very surreal place, space… a place where people were deliberately killed. I’ve never forgotten it. Been in Pentonvilles hang room, Wormwood Scrubs and Bedford. Just saying…
The man they couldn't hang? John (babbacombe) lee. He was sentenced to hang for murder, but the trap door failed on 3 attempts, this happened at Exeter prison in 1885.
It was once said if an execution failed the person was never to be put forward for execution again. I read once that the prison inmates would construct the gallows. Using warped wood, and standing in a certain way the trapdoor wouldnt open. 🤷
Very good documentary. It's a shame they don't still do that, would be a good fate for a few I can think of; for example David Curran, Jozef Puska, Paul Barry, Boy A and Boy B to name a few. Nothing better for them than a long drop and a sudden stop. Don't get me wrong, in terms of technology, prosperity and rights for Women, LGBT etc now is the best time ever, but in this one regard, the old ways really were the best.
I can't say I agree, I'm a believer in rehabilitation even if that doesn't come with full freedoms for convicted. Execution carries an onus of certainty of guilt which isn't always so certain. As has been commented below, Harry Gleason was posthumously pardoned. Equally, when we talk of the human mind, it's worth remembering that behaviour and even brain tissue is malleable and subject to change. If we can get that bit right, the mal-practices that create murderers could be redirected and better used. But will that ever be achieved? Hard to say.
Contrary to popular belief, the long drop hanging may not be painless. If the hangman's fracture is established it will cause paralysis from the neck down preventing the diaphragm from moving and hence preventing breathing. Choking is the crushing of the trachea preventing breathing. Strangulation involves compression of the carotids preventing blood flow to the brain. I suspect that no matter which of these ensues, consciousness is lost within 30 seconds....but nobody knows for certain because nobody has lived to tell nor did they hang around to give a report. I think the same may be said for execution by Guillotine. Your last vision may be the bottom of the basket that your head falls off into....unless it rolls over and you get to look at the sky. Fade to black! Amazing how clever mankind is in coming up with execution machinery.
The formula used to calculate the drop height is as such that it will generate over a ton of force on the neck, so that even when the cerebral vertebrae aren't fractured that sudden and very violent tug on the spinal cord and brain stem are more than enough to cause deep unconsciousness, probably permanently but at the very least more than enough for the time of death to set in. In regards to the guillotine, there will definitely have been some people who experienced the few seconds after decapitation, and there is at least one if not several cases where the decapitated head actually followed the executioner with its eyes and apparently grimaced and angry frown.
@@pieterveenders9793 I am familiar with this. Of course you are correct but there is nothing that I could find in the medical literature supporting the contention that judicial hanging causes instant unconsciousness... It has been a supposition as far as I can tell. What you described came predominantly from observations from the use of the Guillotine as well as the garden variety simple block and axe.
I agree! Long drop is faster than slow hanging, but we cannot know for sure if death is instant, they cannot tell us. In a story that I am writing, hanging is not used as execution, but as torture. I find the concept extremely eerie.
@@Sheilawisz That it is painless is certainly a stretch and I would not get all choked up about the issue. The whole thing is, however, absolutely breathtaking!
The interesting thing was Harry Gleason mentioned in the piece was posthumously pardoned by President Higgins one of two he has pardoned since taking office I understand Harry Gleason was innocent and should never have stood trial, an underline dispute over land inheritance was going on...
Very interesting. Its surprising that they used an English Hangman Pierrepoint after the Forgotten ten were executed by an English Hangman. Harry Gleeson was years later posthumously pardoned.
They wanted the best, Had to have the English home office permission too. Same as Scottish prisons, However they still paid if the hanging was cancelled England didn't
As said they wanted someone experienced. Read Pierrepoint’s autobiography or see the film about him. He inherited the job from an uncle. His attitude was that someone had to do executions it was better to have him do it quickly and humanely rather than let a bodger mess up. If I had to be executed i’d much rather a long drop hanging using his methods than any lethal injection or electric chair. Either that or a bullet in back of head but that is messy. czcams.com/video/cPHSw2X22Eg/video.html
The conviction and execution of Harry Gleeson was an absolute travesty. The evidence used was very weak and the case haunted Sean Mc Bride, Harry Gleesons Barrister until he Sean Mc Bride died many years later. May God rest both of them.
I remember when Mr Mangan from Limerick, he was hanged in Limerick..I believe he was the last Man to be executed Pls let me know, if anybody knows about this, I looked it up to no Avail…🧚🏼♂️🧚🏿♀️🧚
The last murder that led to a hanging in Ireland happened near Castletroy, Limerick in 1954. Carter Michael Manning (also called Mangan) of Castleconnell, followed an elderly nurse Catherine Cooper, along a quiet path late at night before dragging her into a field. There he proceeded to violently sexually assault her knocking out some of her teeth and leaving her with horrific injuries in the process. She died eventually through asphyxiation due to having grass stuffed in her mouth. Manning was disturbed by passers by and fled but left his hat at the scene which incriminated him. His crime was so shocking, that even though Ireland had seen no hanging for 6 years, and despite the fact that the appetite was nearly gone for capital punishment, there were few in Limerick protesting the severity of the sentence. He was hanged on April 20, 1954.
@@jamiewulfyr4607 Yes, but A. Pierrepoint didn’t become an executioner until 1932 so that doesn’t explain why a British executioner served in Ireland after it had become independent.
@@Tramseskumbanan True,true. Interesting question. Maybe they specifically requested him in the absence of experienced Irish hangman. I'll try to find out.
@@Tramseskumbanan I believe there was an Irish Hangman but I'm not sure if his identity was ever established. To this Irish hangman Pierrepoint would have been sent over to act possibly as an assistant and eventually taking over from the Irish Hangman. It would not have been a popular choice to be a hangman in Catholic Ireland at that time.
I have mixed feelings about capital punishment; I'm strongly against conviction on circumstantial evidence. And today, some "mass murders" turn out to be politically staged events using actors and mannequins. To the perpetrators of such plus violent criminals, I say exile them to some remote cold location with a bag of basic tools and leave them, to survive or die according to individual effort.
@@johnmilligan6605 actually, exile on a far off Island wasteland isn't a bad idea in place of executions! The more severe the crime, the more severe the environment! After all fair is fair...
Hey folks, thanks for watching this little project of mine. I've had a couple of comments about audio levels. Listening with headphones gives a better experience than through PC/laptop speakers. Hope that helps, thanks!
I'd be happy to help, John. I've been a broadcast dubbing mixer for 20+ years.
I think it's fine overall and I made professional documentaries.
Once he talked about the "T" shaped chalk marks Pierrepoint had made on the trap doors I wouldn't have been able to resist looking for residual chalk on them.
What a lovely, articulate, well spoken, gentleman.
What?
Very interesting and informative old gentleman. Well done 👍.
6:45 . . . . my grandparents come from Manchester. Mathew (Matt) Cragg used to work at the Poor Struggler as barman/waiter. He was friends with Albert. Grand dad was that gregarious type :-)
Very educational. Thank you.
I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who was curious what it would be like to have the hood on.
This is great, John! Very interesting (and grim) bit of history.
WOW
Great video, very informative and well put together. I've visited the hanging shed at Freemantle Prison which still has the working trap doors. An extremely sad and humbling place to visit.
Interestingly, after he had retired, Pierrepoint actually changed his mind over capital punishment, no longer believing it was a deterrent or just. Many believe it was the execution of Ruth Ellis (the last woman to be hanged in Great Britain), which he carried out, that changed his mindset over capital punishment.
You could well be right. Pierrepoint visited her grave in Amersham cemetery and knelt and prayed before her headstone.
@@joehart7260 he also said in a BBC radio interview that he changed his mind back again when he could see society becoming more violent. I genuinely think he was on the fence at different stages in his life.
You are actually correct Pieerpoint did say that in the last decade of his life he never made comments on Evans or Bentley but did make comments on Ruth Ellis, her sister campained or her behalf and Albert Pieerpoint began to understand why Ruth Ellis never stood a chance.
Albert executed one of his regulars in the pub, with whom he used to sing, even having nicknames for each other. Albert said that if the deterent didn't work for this fella, Tish and Tosh, even though he knew what Albert did then it called into question the effectiveness of any deterent effect.
My own feeling is that for certain catergories of crime, the perpetrator should be executed, in as humane manner as possible, I would have no issue with pulling the lever. With advances in forensic science the establishing of guilt has become a much more certain process, and for convictions where guilt is absolute then it should be an option.
When carried out professionally the British method of long drop hanging is by far the most humane and quickest, I think Alberts fastest was around 8 seconds from entering the condemned cell to dropping the prisoner through the trap.
@@mickymondo7463 I totally agree, like the recent case of Damien Bendall who murdered 4 people in a house including an 11 year old girl who was also raped and then just admitted it and gave himself up. No question of his guilt so just send him to the gallows.
great upload
Interesting and informative
Very good video - it would be interesting to see similar places where hangings happened eg Lincoln and York. It’s not because of a morbid interest but, as said at the end, it’s an important part of our history.
Pierrepoint was actually the best man to do this. He planned meticulously to make sure the prisoner was killed instantly, well deep unconsciousness in a split second and heart stopping soon after. It would be like being sandbagged: instant fracture and dislocation of second and third vertebrae. The criminals he executed did not take 15 minutes to choke to death like those Nazis at Nuremberg who were executed by an inexperienced Anerican hangman who many believed deliberately botched the job: Pierrepoint’s record was 7 and a half seconds from entry to lights out.
"Nuremberg" => Nürnberg
He was born in to it. His father was an executioner, with the grandfather possibly. As family businesses go, it’s unusual but he must have benefitted from having the knowledge handed down to him.
Hey! Don't dump on good ole Sgt John Wood of Nuremberg fame. He did the best he could. Tailored his hangings to the person.
"Nuremberg"=> Nürnberg
Hi, just a correction on the hangings after the Nuremberg Trials. As far as I can ascertain from his records and biography, only Albert Pierrepoint was engaged to carry out the executions which were done near
Hamlin,Germany, carrying out around 15 to 20 daily for over 3 weeks . Sometimes multiple executions in each drop. His skill in setting the drop length per . person was vital in sorting out these groups to achieve his now legendary efficiency without decapitation. His biography is a fascinating and disturbing read.
John I did use them thanks. Please don't think I was being rude or hyper critical. It was a fascinating account and I hate to think of your research being wasted. Good luck Peter
Not at all, thanks for watching!
"Without our history, we have no future." A truth that we would do well to keep in mind always.
Ridiculous. Our future starts tomorrow.
@@darz3829 More accurately, it starts a picosecond from now. But you have no direction for the future unless you know how things got to their present state. As many have said, those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. What mostly gets repeated when we don't remember history are the mistakes that we could avoid repeating if we only remember how and why they happened.
@@silverhammer7779 A picosecond? Wow, it's a good thing you're not splitting hairs. Anyway, as for mistakes, right now we are making loads of mistakes in everything yet are completely aware of history. So that tired old bromide needs to be replaced. It would be a continued mistake to take it at face value.
@@darz3829 Maybe it would be better to say, "He who does not learn from history is condemned to repeat it." Because the idiots in charge obviously never learned from it ("But...this time it'll be different! I didn't work before because WE weren't in charge!") So says every generation, with predictable results.
@@silverhammer7779 So essentially the sayings could be ""Without our history, we have no future." " AND " Despite history we have no future." I repeat - ridiculous.
Very interesting and well put together 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Appreciate it, thank you
I made a documentary called Hanging with Frank about the Barlinnie Prison execution chamber. Short clip here: czcams.com/video/5fX4aX7o11c/video.html
Very well made,
Very interesting thank You.
Thanks for watching! Not sure why people are popping by now, but it’s really appreciated!
What a joyous life he has lead
I know a fair bit about hanging. I’ve learnt a lot more.
Great documentary! I have been researching about Hanging these days, and I found this in my suggested videos. You know, I find it curious that slow hanging is regarded as so horrible, so awful that not even the worst criminals deserve that, and so this science of calculated drops was developed. Some countries still use the slower method, though. I understand that it's something extremely distressing to watch.
It's quick and painless, shouldn't be distressing to watch really. And if you think your going to be distressed, then don't watch.
@@kevinbrookes4870 Long drop hanging is quick and believed to be painless. I mean slow hanging, with a short drop or the victim simply pulled up. They are said to struggle and kick like crazy, for some time.
@@Sheilawisz The drop long or short was according to the weight of the prisoner, in the official table of drops, formerly issued by the British home office, which is a manual to calculate the appropriate length of rope for all executions
People who advocate bringing back the death penalty need to watch stuff like this, everyone in Ireland should take the Killmainham Walk from the cells to the stonebreakers yard and ask the questions would you put that responsibility on any other human being to as a third party take someone's life, very well to write on a death warrant, the law must take its course and not pulling that lever yourself. In America and Japan they introduced the I was not the one that pushed the plunger, flicked that switch or realesed that trapdoor, there were three buttons a bit like the guy in the firing squad with the blank round, if your not sure of that don't use it.
Very interesting. One thing I have never understood is why part of the death sentence involved burying the condemned within the prison grounds and not returning the body to their relatives. Seems a bit harsh.
seems most of the time the family does not "claim" the body
In the days when it was believed that one's body had to be buried intact in consecrated ground in order to be resurrected to eternal life, burying executed criminals in unconsecrated prison ground, usually in quicklime was seen as denying them resurrection and barring them from heaven. This was deliberately intended to add to the horror of the punishment.
The body was the property of the state
@@neilhamilton5469 Then I guess the state could have decided whether to release the body to the relatives or not, and it seems in most cases they didn't.
In the joy the hanging house was beside the bakery we used to play handball beside it.
Wouldn’t fancy working in the bakery so. If you don’t mind me asking, did you ever meet Sean from the video during your time? He worked across the services.
I believe the arrows signified government issue or property.
I bet that was haunting seeing a place where so many were killed
From what I can remember, it was. There was also a solemnity in the Hang House that was similar to being in a church. You couldn't look at the gallows without thinking about those who had been executed. The irony there is that the gallows is what keeps their memory alive now. Fascinating place. It felt like hallowed ground.
I bought Pierrepoint's last motor from his grandson who'd inherited it . It was still the old green logbooks and I looked to see how many previous owners . There was only two , Mick Martin and Albert , that's when Mick told me he was the grandson . His dad had changed the family name . BTW it was a Volvo estate which I thought was a bit dodgy .
Albert got fired for doing private jobs .
That's incredible. Do you know if he kept the connection quiet in case of repurcussions?
@@johnkelly3549
What , the name change ? Oh for sure . Mick went through school with the name , got dogs abuse for it , but they didn't want to change it before Albert croaked .
If I didn't drive it for a few days , when you opened the door there was a queer wee smell , not mad bad but I couldn't pin it down .
Cheers John .
edit : BTW I've been in Barlinnie , Glasgow , and the block I was in , D hall had the condemned cell , 1st landing last two cells down the end . A wee touch of luxury before the high jump . And the execution cell is just the other side of the landing . You can see through the inspection eyehole into the cell but no eyehatch on the other cell . And they were buried inside the prison , just out the back of D hall . There's no markers or plaques just strips of relaid asphalt . Did they bury yours inside the nick or did they get buried in consecrated ground ?
And just to finish with a flourish , I had one of the best nights of my life in the Scotia bar , thee folkies pub in Glasgow . Dominic Behan was playing City Hall and he'd arranged for him and the band to have a late drink in there after the gig . They all brought their instruments . At about 1 o'clock the doors got thumped and about 15 cops came in , they took off their hats jackets and ties and had come for the party . All the big Highlanders who join the cops get posted down to Glasgow so they can knock fuck out southern Keeleys as they call us .
@@laurencesmith2199 What you say about the Highlanders is eerily similar to something a friend told me once, fully sincere. For reference, I'm a soft Dublin boy and would have been 18 at the time. This friend of mine was from way out west in County Leitrim and was having his 21st birthday in his hometown. Last minute, I'd to cancel because I'd no transport (no bus even ran to Leitrim) so I rang him to say as much. His response sticks with me to this day; 'I'd say it's just as well John. There's 'hill men' up here who do come down on the weekend solely looking for c**** like you to bate'. He even sounded a little relieved.
Re- burials, I can't remember in all honesty where burials took place.
@@johnkelly3549
Hill people are a breed , the world over , from the Basque to the Yemeni . You mind your P's and Q's if you go there .
It's been 22 years since I set foot in Dublin ..............longer still since Dun Laoghaire .
I don't think the executed ever got buried in a graveyard traditionally .
It's been good craic John , stay well son .
Nice story; however Albert Pierrepoint didn’t have any children.
Growing up in London in the 1960s the last executions took place in August 1964 and a change of government put a 5 year moratorium on it until it was abolished in 1969.
During the latter part of the 1960s my dad who worked in Whitechapel and had a truck went to a firm in Bermondsey to buy some ropes and he told us this company produced hangman ropes, he described them and said they were exported and no doubt the home office either still bought them or had a large supply as the last working gallows was dismantled at Wandsworth Prison in 1992 and they tested it's operation every 6 months.
Recently I was curious about the company so googled it.
The company was John Edgington of Old Kent Road Bermondsey.
If you google it you will see the hangman's ropes.
That's fascinating, thanks for that.
The ropes are on display in Nottingham along with other items from Wandsworth including the trapdoors
thanks very interesting and sad
"Could carry out an execution without doing any serious damage to the individual." lol And for those of you with Aspergers, yes I know what he meant.
It’s brilliant isn’t it? I know what he meant, that the death should be humane and clinical but i half think that this was a really, really subtle joke.
"Turd" Sunday seems as good a day as any for a hanging. God I love the Irish.
And the next day was the Fort!
Thanks for this. It may sound odd but I expected more than 46 people hanged.
They will be fully functional again soon enough!
Yeah, not going to happen. Only a very small percentage of the population supports capital punishment, even fewer politicians do (who are the ones who vote on it).
I use P.C. speakers and the quality was very good actually, with decent levels and clarity.
he could hang with anyone he was so cool.
very interesting film with only one drawback, the interviewer volume can be very indistinct and hard to understand the questions being asked
Cheers man! It's a shame about the volume, I threw this video together for college years ago and didn't notice it then. I'll have to dig out the raw files and see what I can do with it when I''ve a chance.
I was shit parcel red band at Wandsworth 1987 D wing. The only prison at that time to have a fully functioning and ready to use gallows! In ‘87 part of it was used to store dog (security K9) food etc at the end of E wing. (Decommissioned and dismantled in 1992). As shit parcel orderly I often had to pick up a barrow full of dog food and take it to the hang room ffs! Very surreal place, space… a place where people were deliberately killed. I’ve never forgotten it. Been in Pentonvilles hang room, Wormwood Scrubs and Bedford. Just saying…
I’m glad you said it! Could you just explain that first sentence to me though?
@@johnkelly3549 Yard orderly trustee
@@johnkelly3549 Trustee yard cleaner
Wasn't this guy on the noose at 10???
The man they couldn't hang? John (babbacombe) lee. He was sentenced to hang for murder, but the trap door failed on 3 attempts, this happened at Exeter prison in 1885.
It was once said if an execution failed the person was never to be put forward for execution again. I read once that the prison inmates would construct the gallows. Using warped wood, and standing in a certain way the trapdoor wouldnt open. 🤷
Very good documentary.
It's a shame they don't still do that, would be a good fate for a few I can think of; for example David Curran, Jozef Puska, Paul Barry, Boy A and Boy B to name a few. Nothing better for them than a long drop and a sudden stop.
Don't get me wrong, in terms of technology, prosperity and rights for Women, LGBT etc now is the best time ever, but in this one regard, the old ways really were the best.
I can't say I agree, I'm a believer in rehabilitation even if that doesn't come with full freedoms for convicted. Execution carries an onus of certainty of guilt which isn't always so certain. As has been commented below, Harry Gleason was posthumously pardoned. Equally, when we talk of the human mind, it's worth remembering that behaviour and even brain tissue is malleable and subject to change. If we can get that bit right, the mal-practices that create murderers could be redirected and better used. But will that ever be achieved? Hard to say.
Contrary to popular belief, the long drop hanging may not be painless. If the hangman's fracture is established it will cause paralysis from the neck down preventing the diaphragm from moving and hence preventing breathing.
Choking is the crushing of the trachea preventing breathing. Strangulation involves compression of the carotids preventing blood flow to the brain.
I suspect that no matter which of these ensues, consciousness is lost within 30 seconds....but nobody knows for certain because nobody has lived to tell nor did they hang around to give a report.
I think the same may be said for execution by Guillotine. Your last vision may be the bottom of the basket that your head falls off into....unless it rolls over and you get to look at the sky. Fade to black!
Amazing how clever mankind is in coming up with execution machinery.
The formula used to calculate the drop height is as such that it will generate over a ton of force on the neck, so that even when the cerebral vertebrae aren't fractured that sudden and very violent tug on the spinal cord and brain stem are more than enough to cause deep unconsciousness, probably permanently but at the very least more than enough for the time of death to set in.
In regards to the guillotine, there will definitely have been some people who experienced the few seconds after decapitation, and there is at least one if not several cases where the decapitated head actually followed the executioner with its eyes and apparently grimaced and angry frown.
@@pieterveenders9793 I am familiar with this. Of course you are correct but there is nothing that I could find in the medical literature supporting the contention that judicial hanging causes instant unconsciousness... It has been a supposition as far as I can tell. What you described came predominantly from observations from the use of the Guillotine as well as the garden variety simple block and axe.
I agree! Long drop is faster than slow hanging, but we cannot know for sure if death is instant, they cannot tell us. In a story that I am writing, hanging is not used as execution, but as torture. I find the concept extremely eerie.
@@Sheilawisz That it is painless is certainly a stretch and I would not get all choked up about the issue. The whole thing is, however, absolutely breathtaking!
@@andrewbaerm.d.3984 Hey, if you are a doctor, may I ask you something about hanging, for the story that I am writing?
The interesting thing was Harry Gleason mentioned in the piece was posthumously pardoned by President Higgins one of two he has pardoned since taking office I understand Harry Gleason was innocent and should never have stood trial, an underline dispute over land inheritance was going on...
I'm fairly sure that's the case
Life for a Life,
Very interesting. Its surprising that they used an English Hangman Pierrepoint after the Forgotten ten were executed by an English Hangman. Harry Gleeson was years later posthumously pardoned.
They wanted the best, Had to have the English home office permission too.
Same as Scottish prisons, However they still paid if the hanging was cancelled England didn't
As said they wanted someone experienced. Read Pierrepoint’s autobiography or see the film about him. He inherited the job from an uncle. His attitude was that someone had to do executions it was better to have him do it quickly and humanely rather than let a bodger mess up. If I had to be executed i’d much rather a long drop hanging using his methods than any lethal injection or electric chair. Either that or a bullet in back of head but that is messy. czcams.com/video/cPHSw2X22Eg/video.html
Ummm there were MANY murderers pardoned to make Blair look good
@@SirD83 Pierrepont went to the nurumburburg trials because he was that efficient
The conviction and execution of Harry Gleeson was an absolute travesty. The evidence used was very weak and the case haunted Sean Mc Bride, Harry Gleesons Barrister until he Sean Mc Bride died many years later. May God rest both of them.
"Ah hey man - ah, leave me alone!"
"No way!"
"Hangman! Oh Henry, get off the ropes, I gotta..."
"Hey man! Just don't drop by here..."
😅
I remember when Mr Mangan from Limerick, he was hanged in Limerick..I believe he was the last Man to be executed
Pls let me know, if anybody knows about this, I looked it up to no Avail…🧚🏼♂️🧚🏿♀️🧚
The last murder that led to a hanging in Ireland happened near Castletroy, Limerick in 1954. Carter Michael Manning (also called Mangan) of Castleconnell, followed an elderly nurse Catherine Cooper, along a quiet path late at night before dragging her into a field. There he proceeded to violently sexually assault her knocking out some of her teeth and leaving her with horrific injuries in the process. She died eventually through asphyxiation due to having grass stuffed in her mouth. Manning was disturbed by passers by and fled but left his hat at the scene which incriminated him.
His crime was so shocking, that even though Ireland had seen no hanging for 6 years, and despite the fact that the appetite was nearly gone for capital punishment, there were few in Limerick protesting the severity of the sentence. He was hanged on April 20, 1954.
A very drum but very informative and interesting Video. May The Death Penalty in the UK never again be reinstated.
Why
@@jamieforrester2857 Because the man who hangs them is no better than those he hung
@@jamieforrester2857 you pull the leaver
I wouldn't want to spend the night in there!!!
I watched on my tablet and found the volume was fine.
What a pity, after so much exhaustive research, that it wasn't a clearer commentary. Sub titles maybe?
Give it a go with headphones Peter
I guess you mean the hangman?
I didn’t know that Pierrepoint and maybe other British executioners served in Ireland as well.
Ireland was a part of the British Empire until 1922.
@@jamiewulfyr4607 Yes, but A. Pierrepoint didn’t become an executioner until 1932 so that doesn’t explain why a British executioner served in Ireland after it had become independent.
@@Tramseskumbanan True,true. Interesting question. Maybe they specifically requested him in the absence of experienced Irish hangman. I'll try to find out.
@@jamiewulfyr4607 Yes, that might be an answer.
@@Tramseskumbanan I believe there was an Irish Hangman but I'm not sure if his identity was ever established. To this Irish hangman Pierrepoint would have been sent over to act possibly as an assistant and eventually taking over from the Irish Hangman. It would not have been a popular choice to be a hangman in Catholic Ireland at that time.
Should bring it back
Hard to hear. Wanted to listen.
Made it 6 years ago but I’ll see if I can fix the audio when I have a minute and send it on to you
@@johnkelly3549 Oh... thank you!
I have mixed feelings about capital punishment; I'm strongly against conviction on circumstantial evidence. And today, some "mass murders" turn out to be politically staged events using actors and mannequins. To the perpetrators of such plus violent criminals, I say exile them to some remote cold location with a bag of basic tools and leave them, to survive or die according to individual effort.
Colin you don't sound too well mate perhaps you should speak to your doctor .
@@johnmilligan6605 actually, exile on a far off Island wasteland isn't a bad idea in place of executions! The more severe the crime, the more severe the environment! After all fair is fair...
I fully support the death penalty and it should be used here in the UK where 100% guilt is proven.
"100% guilt I'd proven", i.e. never.