The Trial of Robert Martin
By
The Jury
Robert Martin of Dangan was charged with having murdered in Galway, Lieutenant Henry Jolly, an officer in General Dormer's regiment of foot. Martin was tried at the King's Bench, Dublin, on 2nd May 1735. The Court being set, the following were sworn as a jury: Michael Burke, Thomas French, Henry Burke, Ross Mahon, William Boylan, John Halliday, John Broughton, Walter Lambert, David Poor, George Davis, and one whose name is not recorded in the report of the trial.
Evidence of Witnesses
The first witness for the Crown was Lieut. George Bell. He stated that he was not present at the time of the quarrel between the prisoner and the deceased, but very soon after the deceased's death he saw him on the ground in a pool of blood. His body showed several fresh bleeding wounds, three of which were on his right side close on his breast, and one of them pierced out of his back quite through the body. Deceased has also two wounds more on the left side, which also penetrated the body. Being asked by the Court if deceased has any other wounds, he said, a few on his left hand and arm but they would not prove fatal. He added that he had given this evidence at the Coroner's inquest on the body of the deceased at Galway. Few questions were put to the witness by the Court and the prisoner - his evidence being limited to a description of the deceased's wounds.
Captain Edward Southwell was sworn. He declared that while Mr. Jolly and he were playing billiards in a coffee-house in Galway, the prisoner rushed into the room, drew his sword, and instantly demanded satisfaction from "the rascal who spat on him as he was passing by". Witness answered that it was he who spat but not deliberately on Mr. Martin, and tendered his apologies. Martin, however, insisted on further satisfaction, and witness asked permission to return to his barrack for a sword promising that he would return quickly and give the satisfaction asked for. He added that neither he nor the deceased were armed. The prisoner asked the witness was there not an attack made on him by Mr. Jolly "with an instrument not a sword, at the billiard table before he drew his sword? The witness answered no.
Robert Watson, the coffee-boy, swore that there were four yards distance at the billiard-table between Mr. Martin and Mr. Jolly, the latter standing by the window and Mr. Martin at the door with his sword drawn, and approached Mr. Jolly. Mr. Jolly took up a chair to defend himself through the frame of which the prisoner made several thrusts at the deceased.
Evidence on behalf of the prisoner was given by Julian Mathews, Nicholas Bates, Mr. Donnelly, and others. Mr. Donnelly's evidence was very much in favour of the prisoner and impressed the jury.
Verdict
The Court having summed up and charged the jury, a verdict of not guilty was returned, after a short absence, by the jury.
The report of the trial, in the form of a pamphlet and printed in Dublin, is a hasty and imperfect one, and was issued immediately after the trial to gratify public curiosity. The jury panel was from Galway and the verdict was typical of a "Galway Jury".
About Robert Martin and Lieutenant Jolly
The "Convert Roll" of 1745, shows "Robert Martin of Dangan in the County of Galway, Esq.," as having become a Protestant. He built Cleggan House, at the head of Cleggan Bay in 1740, as shown on an inscription over the entrance. Martin died in 1792.
Lieutenant Jolly was buried in St. Nicholas's Church, Galway, where a small mural tablet was erected bearing the inscription: "Near this place lies the body of Henry Jolly, Lieutenant of Grenadiers in the Hon. General James Dormer's Regiment of Foot".