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In 1923, 31 year old Paddy Muldoon had been a doctor in Mohill for five years. He had gained respect locally for his handling of the 1918 pandemic, and had supported the movement for independence. During the War of Independence he trained Cumann na mBan members in first aid; in the Civil War, he was on the new army’s list of doctors but treated pro- and anti-Treaty combatants alike.

Before the murder

Both Paddy and his wife Rita were aware of the pregnancy of 19 year old Mary Kate Gallogly, housekeeper for Fr Edward Ryans. Rita may have learned it through her involvement with the Mohill Nursing Association. As the pregnancy developed, Ryans’ anger with the Muldoons grew. There was speculation that Dr Muldoon refused to terminate the pregnancy, and had urged the priest to ‘do the right thing’. Ryans blamed Muldoon for telling Canon Masterson that he, Ryans, was the father. 

In January, Ryans produced a revolver and made threats in the company of Paddy and Rita. On 13 February, two weeks after Mary Kate gave birth, she and Ryans were arrested in Dublin for attempting to abandon the baby. The baby, Rose, was sent to a home, where she died weeks later. In February - home after this arrest - Ryans swore vengeance on Rita for meddling in his affairs. On 20 February, Bishop Hoare ordered Ryans to vacate his parish.  

18 March 1923

On Sunday night, 18 March, Muldoon played his usual game of cards with Canon Masterson and Edward Geelan at the parochial house. Shortly after 10:30pm, Muldoon and Geelan made their way down Main Street towards home. As they said goodnight at the corner of Bridge Street, three men lay in wait. Muldoon was shot at close range by a gunman, said to be John Charles (Charlie) Keegan; a second gunman, alleged to be Willie Cassells, fired from the courthouse. Three men were seen running from the scene, down Station Road.

As Muldoon lay wounded on the road, Geelan roused Thomas McManus who lived nearby. McManus’ teenage son went for Dr Redahan and the curate, Fr Clancy. Muldoon died on the steps of the courthouse after receiving last rites. He had been killed by a single bullet wound under the right clavicle. He was carried home on a door, and laid out in his surgery at Coolabawn House where he remained during the inquest and until his funeral on 21 March.

Aftermath 

Paddy Muldoon was survived by Rita and their four children, one yet unborn. Rita persistently challenged the authorities and sought justice for her husband. In May 1924 she rebutted an IRA statement calling her husband’s killing an ‘unavoidable accident’, but she was unable to overcome the powerful forces of the IRA, church and emerging state. All colluded to suppress the story and help the perpetrators evade justice. Nobody was charged with Muldoon’s murder.

The authorities acknowledged that Keegan was the lead gunman, and that Ryans was linked to the shooting and to his housekeeper’s pregnancy. In 1924, Seán Lemass, then a senior IRA intelligence officer was sent to review the situation: he reported that Ryans was ‘undoubtedly guilty’ of fathering the child, and that ‘there are certainly grounds for suspecting him’ of instigating Muldoon’s murder.

Rita left Mohill and took her family back to her childhood home of Clifden, County Galway. In April 1924, the government confirmed an ex-gratia payment of £7,000 to Rita in compensation for her loss: in 1925, €6,000 was lodged in court for the benefit of the children, with the remaining £1,000 released directly to Rita. In today's money, £1,000 is equivalent to about €65,000.

Read more by downloading the pdf booklet for the event.

Read more at The Murder of Dr Muldoon: A Suspect Priest, A Widow's Fight for Justice by Ken Boyle and Tim Desmond

Listen to the RTÉ Radio 1 Documentary On One by Tim Desmond: An Unholy Trinity.

Read Ronan McGreevy's article published 18 March 2023 A rogue priest, a pregnant housekeeper and the murder of a doctor in a small Irish town

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Adapted largely from Ken Boyle & Tim Desmond,
The Murder of Dr Muldoon, Mercier Press, 2019.

© Fiona Slevin 2023