This episode was originally published in February 2024
Robert McGladdery
Robert McGladdery
Pearl Gamble was just 19 years old when she was murdered on the 28 January 1961.
The shop assistant had just been dropped home after a dance at an orange hall just outside Newry when she was brutally murdered in a nearby field.
Early the next morning, her partially clothed body was found at the end of a trail of blood.
Suspicion of the murder immediately fell on 25-year-old Robert McGladdery, who was known locally for his predatorial behaviour.
Less than a year after the vicious murder, McGladdery was sentenced to death by hanging.
Executed by hangman Harry Allen in Crumlin Road jail, McGladdery finally admitted he had murdered Pearl on his day of reckoning.
McGladdery was the last man to be hanged on the island of Ireland.
Ciarán Dunbar is joined by historian Joe Baker and Charlie McSherry, a neighbour of Pearl Gamble to tell the story of her brutal murder.
This episode was originally published in February 2024.
