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Tragic Tale Of The Colleen Bawn
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September 24, 2017
The tragic story of the Colleen Bawn is the tragic story behind Gerald Griffith's The Collegians, and, more importantly, the horrible story of the murder of Elli Hanley in 1819. Wooed away from the home of her uncle by a right young swine called John Scanlan, married in a questionable ceremony and eventually taken out onto the Shannon in a boat and strangled at his behest by servant Stephen Sullivan. An ugly, sordid little tale, and while this slime little volume is fascinating, for the most part, I can't help but feel it doesn't do the story justice.
The first part of the book is a dramatised account of the whole affair - well dramatised, too, the various episodes are quite engrossing - interspersed with straightforward reportage. It's very readable, but feels frustratingly incomplete and narrow of focus. The actual murder itself is not described till the end, and then relies wholly on Sullivan's confession, which feels more like a literary trick to keep the reader guessing as to whether Scanlan in particular was truly guilty.
There are so many aspects of the story that seem underdeveloped. The various families involved, the histories of the characters. Surely Scanlan's military record could have been explored, sure more social and historical context could have been given. The respective treatments of Scanlan and Sullivan once captured seem ripe for dissection. Daniel O'Donnell at an early stage in his career is ushered on and off again with unseemly haste. Gerald Griffith gets nary a mention, though surely his own reporting of the case must be available. No mention at all of Scanlan as fugitive enjoying social occasions and hunting parties with the local gentry? And something about him joining a troop of fusiliers and then deserting? What? Even where records are scarce, surely a more complete portrait could have been achieved, a more in-depth examination. Were there repercussions beyond the administration of justice? What further became of the surviving families? Ellie Hanley became an enduring figure of popular culture, is there any sense of the real girl behind it all?
Part two is a condensed retelling of The Collegians, which felt a bit pointless except as a time-saver for people too busy to read the original.
Part three is a supposedly first-hand account by the Rev Richard Fitzgerald who, as a young student on holiday from Trinity, met the doomed girl and the two rogues on a steamer travelling down the Shannon. Fitzgerald paints a heart-rending picture of a young innocent in thrall to a careless rake. His heart positively aches for the poor thing, sending him into passions of purple prose on the debased rake and the sweet maiden. Later, hanging around as he does with his cousin, as he keeps reminding you, the Knight of Glin, he gets a first-hand look at the body, a ringside seat at the inquest and occasional glimpses into the subsequent investigation and man-hunt. Despite the occasion purple flight, a lot of this is quite readable and compelling, though it's pretty hilarious that in describing Scanlan's trial, he forebears to even name the counsel for the Defence.
After the Rev Fitzgerald come a series of original documents; letters of various kinds and deeds pertaining to leases of land by the Scanlan family. I can't help but think that more could have been made of these in a more determined historian/crime-writer's hand. Pity.
A curiosity and, maybe, a starting point some day for a new account of these events. I have to say it feels overdue.
The first part of the book is a dramatised account of the whole affair - well dramatised, too, the various episodes are quite engrossing - interspersed with straightforward reportage. It's very readable, but feels frustratingly incomplete and narrow of focus. The actual murder itself is not described till the end, and then relies wholly on Sullivan's confession, which feels more like a literary trick to keep the reader guessing as to whether Scanlan in particular was truly guilty.
There are so many aspects of the story that seem underdeveloped. The various families involved, the histories of the characters. Surely Scanlan's military record could have been explored, sure more social and historical context could have been given. The respective treatments of Scanlan and Sullivan once captured seem ripe for dissection. Daniel O'Donnell at an early stage in his career is ushered on and off again with unseemly haste. Gerald Griffith gets nary a mention, though surely his own reporting of the case must be available. No mention at all of Scanlan as fugitive enjoying social occasions and hunting parties with the local gentry? And something about him joining a troop of fusiliers and then deserting? What? Even where records are scarce, surely a more complete portrait could have been achieved, a more in-depth examination. Were there repercussions beyond the administration of justice? What further became of the surviving families? Ellie Hanley became an enduring figure of popular culture, is there any sense of the real girl behind it all?
Part two is a condensed retelling of The Collegians, which felt a bit pointless except as a time-saver for people too busy to read the original.
Part three is a supposedly first-hand account by the Rev Richard Fitzgerald who, as a young student on holiday from Trinity, met the doomed girl and the two rogues on a steamer travelling down the Shannon. Fitzgerald paints a heart-rending picture of a young innocent in thrall to a careless rake. His heart positively aches for the poor thing, sending him into passions of purple prose on the debased rake and the sweet maiden. Later, hanging around as he does with his cousin, as he keeps reminding you, the Knight of Glin, he gets a first-hand look at the body, a ringside seat at the inquest and occasional glimpses into the subsequent investigation and man-hunt. Despite the occasion purple flight, a lot of this is quite readable and compelling, though it's pretty hilarious that in describing Scanlan's trial, he forebears to even name the counsel for the Defence.
After the Rev Fitzgerald come a series of original documents; letters of various kinds and deeds pertaining to leases of land by the Scanlan family. I can't help but think that more could have been made of these in a more determined historian/crime-writer's hand. Pity.
A curiosity and, maybe, a starting point some day for a new account of these events. I have to say it feels overdue.
Displaying 1 of 1 review