Capital Punishment in Independent Ireland by David M. Doyle, ... - 9781789620276

Capital Punishment in Independent IrelandA Social, Legal and Political History\nAuthor(s): David M. Doyle, Liam O'Callaghan\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Liverpool University Press, United Kingdom\nImprint: Liverpool University Press\nISBN-13: 9781789620276, 978-1789620276\nSynopsis\nThis is a comprehensive and nuanced historical survey of the death penalty in Ireland from the immediate post-civil war period through to its complete abolition. Using original archival material, this book sheds light on the various social, legal and political contexts in which the death penalty operated and was discussed.\n\nIn Ireland the death penalty served a dual function: as an instrument of punishment in the civilian criminal justice system, and as a weapon to combat periodic threats to the security of the state posed by the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Through close examination of cases dealt with in the ordinary criminal courts, this study elucidates ideas of class, gender, community and sanity.