Higgins signs presidential pardon for man executed in 1895

A posthumous presidential pardon for John Twiss, who was executed in Cork Prison in 1895, was signed by President Michael D Higgins at an event in Áras an Uachtaráin on Thursday.

The pardon was granted following a recommendation by Government, which took account of a report by Dr Niamh Howlin that found the nature and extent of the evidence against Mr Twiss could not safely support a guilty verdict.

The ceremony was attended by Minister for Justice Helen McEntee. Also in attendance was Helen O’Connor, great-grandniece of Twiss, and her family.

Members of the Michael O’Donohoe Memorial Project, a group based in Kerry which has raised awareness of the case and worked with the Department of Justice on the pardon process, also attended.

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Mr Higgins said the case of John Twiss has been “one of long-standing concern” for the people of Kerry, Cork and Limerick.

“Even before his execution, the Fermoy town commissioners wrote to the lord lieutenant asking him to exercise his prerogative of mercy in a petition accompanied with 40,000 signatures, a very substantial number to collect at that time in rural Ireland,” he said.

“Furthermore, the governor of Cork Prison and the prison chaplain both stated their belief that Twiss was innocent while the jury in the coroner’s inquest stated that they believed in Mr Twiss’s innocence.

“While we at this remove cannot undo what happened, we do have the power to acknowledge that what happened to John Twiss was a great wrong.

“I am pleased to be able to formally grant a presidential pardon to him today, and to at least set the record straight. I hope that my doing so will bring a sense of closure to his family following almost 127 years. I commend them for their efforts.

“I would also like to commend the Michael O’Donohoe Memorial Project for their work to bring the case of John Twiss to public attention and their help in bringing the process of obtaining a pardon to fruition.”

‘Clear injustice’

Ms McEntee previously said the case was well known and was regarded as a “clear historic injustice”, particularly by people living in Co Kerry, where Twiss lived at the time.

Dr Howlin considered the various aspects of Twiss’s case, including the identification evidence, witness testimony and the conduct of the trial.

She concluded her report by stating that Twiss was convicted “on the basis of circumstantial evidence that can best be described as flimsy, following a questionable investigation”.

“The problematic aspects of this case are like strands in a rope which together lead to the conclusion that the nature and extent of the evidence against Twiss could not safely support a guilty verdict,” Dr Howlin said.

The presidential pardon is only the sixth to be granted and the third posthumously. It is just the second occasion on which a pardon has been granted for a case predating the establishment of the State, following the pardon which was awarded by Mr Higgins to Maolra Seoighe in 2018.