Edward 'Doc' Byrne was a

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

, fl. 1880–1884. A native of

Tuam Tuam (; , meaning 'mound' or 'burial-place') is a town in Ireland and the second-largest settlement in County Galway. It is west of the midland Region, Ireland, midlands of Ireland, about north of Galway city. The town is in a civil parishe ...

,JOTS 2, Journal of the Old Tuam Society, The O'Flanagan's of Tuam and Australia, pp.58-62 Anne Tierney Byrne was a noted journalist covering the Maamtrasna murder trials, while he was a reporter for ''

The Freeman's Journal The ''Freeman's Journal'', which was published continuously in Dublin from 1763 to 1924, was in the nineteenth century Ireland's leading nationalist newspaper. History Patriot journal It was founded in 1763 by Charles Lucas and was identified ...

''. He was present at the execution of Myles Joyce at

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

jail in 1882. The

diligence Diligence—carefulness and persistent effort or work—is listed as one of the seven Seven virtues#Seven capital virtues, capital virtues. It can be indicative of a work ethic, the belief that work is good in itself. : "There is a perennial ...

of his activities brought him to the attention of the

Dublin Castle administration in Ireland Dublin Castle was the centre of the government of Ireland under English and later British rule. "Dublin Castle" is used metonymically to describe British rule in Ireland. The Castle held only the executive branch of government and the Privy Cou ...

. Queries on Byrne's identity and exact motivations brought about very detailed physical and biographical details from the

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

Royal Irish Constabulary The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the island was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom. A sep ...

. However, the administration found that Byrne had no malicious intentions in his investigations. He later became an editor of ''The Freeman's Journal'' and died after 1900.

References

* ''Edward Byrne: A Memoir'', Frank Callanan, 1991. * ''Maamtrasna: The Murders and the Mystery'', Jarlath Waldron, 1992. Mass media people from County Galway {{ireland-journalist-stub