Critical Mick

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Irish Murders: The Shocking True Stories
by Terry Prone
Poolbeg, 1992

Shocking True Stories, or Dramas Explicitly Painted in Soap Opera Tones?

One of 2007's biggest trends in Irish publishing is the rise of True Irish Crime. For sake of contrast, Critical Mick goes Old School by re-examining Terry Prone's 1992 Irish Murders: The Shocking True Stories.

Before there was Paul Williams' The General- before the IRA blasted The General himself into his eternal reward- there was Irish True Crime. Yes, that's right: my essay is wrong to imply that Williams invented the genre. A title called Irish Murders: The Shocking True Stories has for the last fifteen years promised the "startling, comprehensive, shivers-up-the spine" truth about dirty Dublin deeds, from deep within all good second-hand bins.

Prone's Irish Murders is a notable book for two reasons:

In truth, statistics from "Crime in Ireland: Trends and Patterns, 1950 to 1998, A Report by the Institute of Criminology, Faculty of Law, University College Dublin for The National Crime Council" show that the Ireland of 1992 was not a placid crime-free wonderland. There were more than 40 instances of lethal violence (murder and manslaughter) across the country that year. Prone just makes it seem that way, as the most recent case included in Irish Murders took place in 1981.

The gleeful, excited tone of the writing also lends the impression that a murder in Ireland is something exotic. That does not feel appropriate in the context of the current year's drug wars, drunken stabbings, and parents committing to suicide their whole families. With the Celtic Tiger's wealth and immigration, Ireland has become calloused to violence. It's hard to delight today in dramas that Irish Murders explicitly paints in soap opera tones.

With its short chapters, accessible reading level and focus on excitement, the writing in Irish Murders kept reminding me of Peter Eicher's The Elvis Sightings. Maybe that's just me, though. And maybe Terry Prone is as versatile as a session musician, playing what this particular audience wants to hear. The fiction which won her the Francis MacManus prize might have been entirely different for all I know. That still does not excuse a few big boo-boo's. The back cover, for instance, titillates with the promise of full details on the "double murder by Malcolm Macarthur." His oddball slaying of a sunbathing nurse is covered, but Irish Murders includes no mention of Macarthur's second victim, Donal Dunne. Oops.

Critical Mick says: Though it does not portray a true impression of today's true crime or that of 1992, Terry Prone's Irish Murders is a notable title in the library of the genre. It may even help pass an hour or two, if you are into misery lit and find chapters with sensationalist titles like "Oh Jesus, Jenny!" and "Rape, Murder and Necrophilia on a Riverside Walk" appealing. It does what it says on the tin: splashes up shocking incidents from the 1800's through the 1930's to the 60's and 80's.

Check back on criticalmick.com over coming months to see how current True Irish Crime titles like Jenny Friel's The Suspect compare!

I actually found the chapter on Burke and Hare's enterprises in 1826 London quite interesting.

Yo! This review and all content on the DFA Guide site are copyright 2007 Mick Halpin. All links to other sites and documents are copyright to whatever source wrote something cool enough for Mick to give it a referral. Try to claim them as your own work and bad karma will catch up with you, baby. Believe it.

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This Page Was Last Updated On 12 November, 2007.