Hi all..   This account of my great great uncle's death was published in the Wicklow Newspaper..He died August 22, 1908.  The coroner ruled it an accident.  An elderly cousing of mine in Wicklow said it was not an accident but who's to say??  Either way it was a tragic event.  CSI Miami and Horatio Cane..where were you??  :) Sad Shooting Fatality In Wicklow On Saturdy night a sad shooting fatality occurred in Wicklow, the victim being a young man named John Wilkinson, High Street, Wicklow who went out Saturday afternoon to shoot, and not having returned was searched for and his body found at six o'clock on Sunday morning with bullet wounds in the lungs. On Monday Mr. J. Murray, J.P., Coroner for East Wicklow, held an inquest into the sad circumstances. The following were sworn in on the jury: Messrs. Charles Davis, foreman, Thomas Quinn, George Nichols, John McGuire, L. McNamee, Matthew Farry, William Middleton, John Davis, Christopher Byrne, L. Kavanaugh, John Goodman, and Thomas Willis. The Jury having viewed the body. Mrs. Annie Wilkinson deposed-----I am the wife of the deceased John Wilkinson, and I identify the body as his. He left the house on Saturday about one o'clock, saying he was going up the lakes.  He was then in good health.  That was the last I saw him alive.  In consequence of his not returning I reported the matter to my father-in-law about one o'clock on Sunday morning. George Wilkinson deposed(George was my great grandfather).  My father came to see me and woke me up around one o'clock on Sunday morning.  He told me my brother was gone up to the lakes to shoot but had not returned.  We went to look for him and called to the house of a friend named Finlay, and inquired about him and he told me his bicycle was locked up inside Smullen's gate.  I then went straight up to the lake to look for him.  Ned Doyle and my brother Dick were with me.  I had a lamp and Ned Doyle had another, and after some time we came to  Clement's corner, Coolawinna bog.  We heard a dog barking and went in that direction.  We saw the stern of a boat first sticking out of the rushes.  It was pulled up on a place where the weeds had been mown off.  My brother was lying on his face and hands about two yards from the boat. His feet were towards the boat in a straight line with the bow.  I turned him over and found him quite dead.  There was a pool of blood under him and it had soaked through the coat and waistcoat.  The gun, produced, was at the boat, and the muzzle was pointing in the direction where my brother lay.  Hill was with me, and we opened the gun and found that one cartridge had been fired from the left barrel.  The right barrel was loaded and at full cock.  There was a duck in the boat under the gun.  We called for assistance and brought the  body of my brother home. Coroner---Did you form any theory as to what had happened? Witness:  I did.  I think he was pulling the boat in by the chain, and I think the stock of the gun was on the seat and when the  boat was pulled in and it fell off the seat and exploded.  The gun may have been pointing any other way until as I surmise the stock fell off the seat into the bottom of the boat and changed the direction of the muzzle.  He would never have left the muzzle pointing at him. I am sure of that. Coroner---Was he very experienced in the use of firearms? Witness---Yes, sir.  He had been often up there before shooting duck but this is the first time he had been up there this season. The witness pointed out a peculiar dinge on the brass face of the exploded cartridge, supposed to have killed the deceased, for which he could not account. Dr. J. H. Halpin, M.O.H., Wicklow deposed---I made a superficial examination of the body of the deceased.  I found a gunshot wound in the upper third of the right side of the chest.  Two of the ribs were broken and the lungs torn.  Death was due to shock, the result of the injury.  The theory as to how the accident occurred as stated by the last witness was probably the correct one. Coroner--That is all the evidence we have, gentlemen, and I think it is quite sufficient  to enable you to come to the conclusion as to how this poor fellow met his death.  It is evident that it was quite accidental, and it adds one more to the numerous fatalities that have occurred through the use of firearms.  We have evidence that  the deceased was  experienced in the use of firearms, but it only shows that even experienced persons may come to grave injury with the use of firearms.  it was undoubtedly and accident, and I suppose that you all agree with the doctor that death was due to hemorrhage, the result of a gunshot wound? Foreman--Yes, Mr. Coroner. Coroner--We all sympathise deeply with  the widow and family of the deceased in the awful affliction that has pleased God Almighty to sent them. John Wilkinson left his wife, Annie, who was pregnant  with their child at the time of his death.  The child died at 9 months of age....I have a picture of John...He was a handsome guy... Sara Carroll

Thanks for sharing your story. And yes Horatio and the fang would have had fun investigating. On 10 Apr 2011 21:01, "Sara b Carroll" <sbcwicklow@verizon.net> wrote: > Hi all.. > This account of my great great uncle's death was published in the Wicklow > Newspaper..He died August 22, 1908. The coroner ruled it an accident. An > elderly cousing of mine in Wicklow said it was not an accident but who's to > say?? Either way it was a tragic event. CSI Miami and Horatio Cane..where were > you?? :) > > Sad Shooting Fatality > In Wicklow > > On Saturdy night a sad shooting fatality occurred in Wicklow, the victim being a > young man named John Wilkinson, High Street, Wicklow who went out Saturday > afternoon to shoot, and not having returned was searched for and his body found > at six o'clock on Sunday morning with bullet wounds in the lungs. > On Monday Mr. J. Murray, J.P., Coroner for East Wicklow, held an inquest into > the sad circumstances. > The following were sworn in on the jury: Messrs. Charles Davis, foreman, Thomas > Quinn, George Nichols, John McGuire, L. McNamee, Matthew Farry, William > Middleton, John Davis, Christopher Byrne, L. Kavanaugh, John Goodman, and Thomas > Willis. > > The Jury having viewed the body. > > Mrs. Annie Wilkinson deposed-----I am the wife of the deceased John Wilkinson, > and I identify the body as his. He left the house on Saturday about one o'clock, > saying he was going up the lakes. He was then in good health. That was the > last I saw him alive. In consequence of his not returning I reported the matter > to my father-in-law about one o'clock on Sunday morning. > > George Wilkinson deposed(George was my great grandfather). My father came to > see me and woke me up around one o'clock on Sunday morning. He told me my > brother was gone up to the lakes to shoot but had not returned. We went to look > for him and called to the house of a friend named Finlay, and inquired about him > and he told me his bicycle was locked up inside Smullen's gate. I then went > straight up to the lake to look for him. Ned Doyle and my brother Dick were > with me. I had a lamp and Ned Doyle had another, and after some time we came > to Clement's corner, Coolawinna bog. We heard a dog barking and went in that > direction. We saw the stern of a boat first sticking out of the rushes. It was > pulled up on a place where the weeds had been mown off. My brother was lying on > his face and hands about two yards from the boat. His feet were towards the boat > in a straight line with the bow. I turned him over and found him quite dead. > There was a pool of blood under him and it had soaked through the coat and > waistcoat. The gun, produced, was at the boat, and the muzzle was pointing in > the direction where my brother lay. Hill was with me, and we opened the gun and > found that one cartridge had been fired from the left barrel. The right barrel > was loaded and at full cock. There was a duck in the boat under the gun. We > called for assistance and brought the body of my brother home. > Coroner---Did you form any theory as to what had happened? > Witness: I did. I think he was pulling the boat in by the chain, and I think > the stock of the gun was on the seat and when the boat was pulled in and it > fell off the seat and exploded. The gun may have been pointing any other way > until as I surmise the stock fell off the seat into the bottom of the boat and > changed the direction of the muzzle. He would never have left the muzzle > pointing at him. I am sure of that. > Coroner---Was he very experienced in the use of firearms? > Witness---Yes, sir. He had been often up there before shooting duck but this is > the first time he had been up there this season. > The witness pointed out a peculiar dinge on the brass face of the exploded > cartridge, supposed to have killed the deceased, for which he could not account. > Dr. J. H. Halpin, M.O.H., Wicklow deposed---I made a superficial examination of > the body of the deceased. I found a gunshot wound in the upper third of the > right side of the chest. Two of the ribs were broken and the lungs torn. Death > was due to shock, the result of the injury. The theory as to how the accident > occurred as stated by the last witness was probably the correct one. > Coroner--That is all the evidence we have, gentlemen, and I think it is quite > sufficient to enable you to come to the conclusion as to how this poor fellow > met his death. It is evident that it was quite accidental, and it adds one more > to the numerous fatalities that have occurred through the use of firearms. We > have evidence that the deceased was experienced in the use of firearms, but it > only shows that even experienced persons may come to grave injury with the use > of firearms. it was undoubtedly and accident, and I suppose that you all agree > with the doctor that death was due to hemorrhage, the result of a gunshot wound? > Foreman--Yes, Mr. Coroner. > Coroner--We all sympathise deeply with the widow and family of the deceased in > the awful affliction that has pleased God Almighty to sent them. > > John Wilkinson left his wife, Annie, who was pregnant with their child at the > time of his death. The child died at 9 months of age....I have a picture of > John...He was a handsome guy... > > Sara Carroll > *************************************** > 1- Only leave in the body of the mail what is relevant to your answer > > 2- Change the SUBJECT LINE to suit the body of your own Mail to List. > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to IRL-WICKLOW-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message