The mystery of the murdered postman

TIMES PAST
With Willie White
THIS is the strange tale of a postman Larry Griffin from Kilmacthomas, County Waterford, who was murdered on Christmas Day 1929.

Griffin’s bicycle was recovered in the middle of the road on St Stephen’s Day, about two miles from Stradbally village, but his body was never recovered.

It is only in recent years that files released by the gardaí have thrown some light on the mystery. A grandson of Griffins, Seamus Mulrennan, who now resides in Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo, has been the driving force in seeking a resolution to the case over the last number of years. He believes the remains of his grandfather can be found and given a proper burial. Ten locals were charged at the time. They included two guards, a publican, three members of his family and a schoolteacher. The murder drew worldwide attention and the case is still unresolved.

Griffin was a proud man, proud of having landed the prime job as the village postman. His disappearance shocked the village, where Larry was a well-liked and respected man people would say he was a man of honour with no meanness in him.

At the time of his murder, the 48-year-old was married with three children. He had served in the British Army in India and had fought in World War I, where he was wounded. This led to his discharge and, almost immediately, took up his postman’s position. His army service was never an issue and he had no known enemies. He lived in Kilmacthomas and would collect the post there each morning, before cycling the best part of eight miles to Stradbally, where he would make his deliveries.

This was exactly what he did on Christmas morning 1929 he would have been looking forward to collecting his usual Christmas presents. Larry would also be offered a little tipple in most houses he visited; he could have had numerous dinner offers and was finally persuaded to sit and eat in one house.

The recently-released records show Larry delivered his last few letters between 6pm and 6.30pm, and witnesses believe that he set off for home, where his wife was expecting him, sometime before 9pm. Larry never arrived home.

On finding the bicycle and cape, gardaí Dullea and Murphy began looking for Larry. The local teacher, a Mr Cashin, offered to drive them around in their search. The guards accepted, as this was the only motor vehicle in the area, but without success.

With no sign of Larry over the next few days, locals and gardaí from adjoining stations joined in the search but there was still no trace. Larry had promised his son and two daughters money so they could go dancing that night. The children were dressed in their finest but, as time passed, they had the strange feeling that something serious had happened and that possibly their father would not be coming home.

A twist in the case came as the investigation was widened when people who had been in or close to Whelan’s pub gave statements which implied that Larry had been in the presence of garda Dullea outside Whelan’s at 6.30pm that night. Dullea had not mentioned this earlier. He now stated that he had walked with Larry Griffin (who, by then, was fairly intoxicated) a couple of hundred yards out the Kilmacthomas Road before they went their separate ways. Dullea stated that Griffin continued on towards his home village, while he returned to Whelan’s. However, none of the pub’s customers recalled him coming back. But one witness said he saw the two men enter Whelan’s when they turned the corner, rather than continuing out the Kilmacthomas Road. By now, senior garda officers from Waterford city had taken charge of the investigation and proceeded to question Dullea. The quality of the enquiry stepped up a few gears and no-one was immune from the tough questions being asked. The answers left a lot to be desired and were contradictory in most cases. Some garda members stated there was a lot of alcohol consumed in the station, while others denied there was any drinking. Entries had also been altered in the station’s log book. Neither could it be explained how Larry’s bicycle was bone dry, despite the fact that it had rained most of the night and even up to the time the bicycle was found.

Dullea claimed that he and Cissie Whelan had spent the night on the beach. When questioned, Cissie agreed this was the case, but the story was later proven to be untrue. Whelan’s pub, which at one time appeared to hold all the answers, was now turning into the deserted pub, with those who had earlier claimed to be there now stating they were at home with their families.

Of course, the law regarding Christmas Day drinking was no different then than now: it was a closed day. But still, the bottle or two of good quality spirits sent to the garda station had to be consumed, and sure didn’t the guards know there would be no-one in the pub on that special day.

The Waterford investigators were beginning to centre their enquiries on Whelan’s and on the local gardaí, particularly Dullea and Murphy. Dullea maintained he went to the cove that night, while Ciss Whelan, with whom he was involved, stated she was in and out to meet Dullea. And the lads who were hanging about said they never laid eyes on him. Dullea also stated he was not with Griffin, then changed his story and admitted he was. He added that Griffin was not drunk, while everyone else in the village said he was ‘well-on’. The problem was that there were so many variations in statements that it was impossible to tell who was telling the truth and who was not making any attempt to be truthful.

One thing for certain was that at least one, probably two and perhaps even more members of the gardaí were not being truthful and were more than likely involved in the postman’s disappearance. And commissioner Eoin O’Duffy ordered all efforts be made to close the case quickly.

The gardaí made a major breakthrough when a man called Jim Graney Fitzgerald made a statement. In it, he confirmed that Larry Griffin was in Whelan’s pub he was drunk but still drinking. He called for a drink, but one of the Whelan women told him it was Christmas Day and to go home. Larry dropped three half-crowns on the floor, which were picked up by Ned Morrissey. Words were exchanged and Morrissey pushed Griffin, who fell backwards and his head hit the floor. He did not move and Mrs Whelan called a guard, who held a glass to Larry’s mouth to see if he was breathing. He was not and the guard announced that Larry was dead.

Whelan said: “You have killed a man in my house. What are you going to do about it?” Morrissey replied they would remove him and nobody would know about it. This statement led to the ten locals being charged with Griffin’s death. But they all denied the charge. Fitzgerald, afraid to go home, was kept under guard. The one part of the puzzle he had not solved was what had happened to Griffin’s body. Further questioning brought the answer. The school principal, Thomas Cashin, parked outside Whelan’s. He and Morrissey brought the body out to the car and drove away. They drove towards the chapel and that was the last seen of Larry Griffin’s remains. The local guards were transferred to garda HQ and threatened that if they did not reveal what happened they would be dismissed.

Nothing worked, but the state felt that Fitzgerald’s evidence was enough. However, when the case came to trial, he changed his story because of intimidation and fear. The case collapsed and the ten accused were freed. The gardaí dug all the fresh graves in the area to see if there was any sign of Larry’s body. During the day, they searched local mines but no trace was found of the remains.

The local guards were dismissed, Cashin was suspended for a year but had to be reinstated. Many of the ten took libel actions against the gardaí and some newspapers, with some cases still running up to 1970.

Larry Griffin has not been forgotten. Although his death was probably an accident, it’s what happened to his body afterwards that is as chilling as the silence that has prevailed to this day.

It is clear that if this murder were to happen today, modern detection methods would have solved the case within a few weeks. However, this is wishful thinking and Larry Griffin’s body is still missing.