While listening to a(n) historical piece of Irish news, a throwaway reference grabbed my attention. It was a reference to a Satanic murder in Palmerstown in the 70’s. My interest piqued, I went searching.

So what do a [Satanic crucifixion](https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/kidnapped-child-was-murdered-in-satanic-rite/26737369.html), a [rat skull necklace](https://www.broadsheet.ie/2016/06/22/the-devil-is-in-the-detail/), [Opus Dei](https://theheelersdiaries.blogspot.com/2019/11/an-open-letter-to-independent.html), a missing [death cert](https://uk-database.org/2013/12/02/kidnapped-child-was-murdered-in-satanic-rite/) and a quiet Dublin suburb all have in common? In June of 1973, John Joseph Horgan was discovered, crucified, above a makeshift Satanic altar in his neighbours attic. He was only 7 years old. His 16 year old neighbour was the murderer, Lorcan Bale. Lorcan’s family were part of Opus Dei, and Lorcan had a penchant for making necklaces from the skulls of rats that he’d killed.

I had never heard of this case before, neither had many other people it seemed, at least until 2011 when author David Malone wrote his book – The Boy In the Attic. Malone had been doing research on an unrelated case when he discovered the information about this Satanic themed murder. He also discovered that no Death Certificate had been issued. This eventually lead to an inquest and the book.

The case was solved very quickly, but Lorcan only spent 7 years in prison then was released and he moved to London. During his incarceration, every second weekend he was allowed out to have a supervised meal with his parents. Crazy. There seems to be an awful lot of strange goings on surrounding this case, with Opus Dei, pedo priests, crooked cops et al, but I’m not one to jump to conclusions. I’m still reading and falling further into this particular rat-hole rather than rabbit hole…

NB. The links above are just some of the examples of what’s online regarding this case.

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by Arbitraryfloss

7 comments

  5. This is a fascinating (albeit disturbing and sad) case that I will definitely be looking into!

    My only irk is the perpetuation of ‘satanic panic’ throughout the case, there is nothing satanic about it. There is nothing satanic about a crucifixion, or inherently satanic about an alter, the liklihood that it would have been is next to none; The Satanic Rituals were published in 1972, and the idea that this child would have gotten ahold of the book by 1973 to set up an altar as dictated by the founder of the religion Anton LaVey is negligible. The idea that the blame would be put on a non-theistic religion, when there is evidence that the family were members of an extremist Catholic sect, is somewhat baffling.

    It seems more like the murder was fueled by indoctrination, and as often happens, the difference between metaphorical and literal interpretations of their belief system was never truly explained. I’m led to believe that this and a level of mental illness led to this case, and shrouding it in mystery and alleged ‘satanism’ is an easy scapegoat instead of addressing the true issue, Catholic extremism and a strong disconnect between fact and fiction for the perpetrator.

  6. I remember this being talked about when I was a kid back in the 80s. I’m from Palmerstown. There were lots of ghost stories and myths thrown together and the stories were told. I remember wondering if this one actually happened because it seemed so far fetched but I remember my mate being adamant that it was true because he lived on the same street

  7. thanks for the links,the broadsheet one was very informative . Am I the only one who thought the reaction of the victims parents was off?

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