From the Strabane Weekly News, 31 January 1914:
“COUNTY DONEGAL MYSTERY
Disappearance of £300
DOMESTIC SERVANT CHARGED WITH THEFT
Remarkable Evidence of Superstition
At Lifford Crown Sessions – before His Honour Judge Cooke – a domestic servant named Winifred McCarron was charged with the larceny on the 17th of November of £300, the property of Michael McFaul, from the dwelling-house of his brother, Patrick McFaul, of Annagh, near Clonmany, County Donegal, where, at the time the money disappeared, the accused was employed as a servant.
His Honour, in his address to the Grand Jury in reference to this case, said it was a very remarkable one. On the 4th of November a man called Michael McFaul brought home from the city of Derry the sum of £300, which he got from his brother Patrick. The money was made up of fourteen £20 notes and two single £10 notes. On going home, he placed the money in the drawer of the dressing-table in his bedroom, and he did not appear to have looked at it again until the 17th of November, when a mysterious fire occurred.
Mrs McFaul, the wife of Patrick McFaul and apparently the lady of the house, was working in the kitchen with Winifred McCarron. The latter asked Mrs McFaul if she heard a noise. Mrs McFaul said she heard something like a hen fluttering down the stairs. On going up to Michael’s bedroom they found it full of smoke, and on the fire being extinguished it was found that a suit of clothes belonging to Michael had been burned in the wardrobe, but nothing else in the room had been burned. The drawer that contained the £300 had some burned paper in it. The mysterious fact was that the drawer was not burned or scorched in any way, nor was the coverlet of the dressing table scorched in any way.
Winifred McCarron did not seem to have given any assistance in putting out the fire. It remained a curious state of affairs, but no suspicion was aroused. The McFauls did not seem to think that anyone made away with their money. The impression of the whole household appeared to be that some mysterious agency did away with the money. However, for some other cause McCarron was dismissed on the 20th of November, and on the same afternoon she attempted to pass £20 notes at the Derry Post Office. He really did not gather from the depositions what the explanation of the case might be, but he understood the money was not forthcoming and there could be very little doubt that the defendant attempted to pass some of the money in the Derry Post Office. There was some evidence that she did actually not know what the value of the notes was, and asked a friend in Derry what they were. This friend told her they were £20 notes, and she ought to be very careful of them. He only gave these particulars because it was a very remarkable and mysterious case and there seemed to be something beneath the surface with which they were not acquainted.
The defendant pleaded guilty.
Mr Philip O’Doherty, MP, who appeared for the defendant, said the money had been unfortunately destroyed, and it only remained for him to explain the circumstances under which it had disappeared. He hoped that when he had done so his Honour would see that the poor girl was not to be looked upon as a criminal.
In the first place the money was lying for two or three weeks in the drawer It was placed there carelessly and without sufficient security. It was a great temptation to be left before this girl, and without thinking, perhaps, of the consequences, and out of some chagrin or indignation or anger, imaginary or real, against some person, she thought she would have revenge. She went to the drawer and took out three notes and burned the rest. She was illiterate and did not know what the amount of the notes was she took.
Afterwards she left the employment of the McFauls and went to Derry, and she told a friend there that she wanted to get some change as she had a pound note. On seeing the note this friend told her it was a £20 note, and that was the first time the defendant knew the value of the note. They went to the post office, but the clerk was scarce of change but did not change it. The defendant then went to the house of a woman named McGlynn, and she got restless and nervous and spent a very sleepless night, and she began to recognise for the first time that she had done wrong. In the morning she burned the three notes to relieve herself any further responsibility and danger, as she thought.
She was the only person who could facilitate the McFauls in being recouped by the bank, and she was willing to give any assistance in her power. Unfortunately, the numbers of the notes were not known, and the bank would require greater security on that account. He believed the girl was mentally deficient somewhat, and when she burned the notes had got into such a condition of mine that she did not know what she was doing. He asked his honour to take a lenient view of the case and allow the girl out under the Probation of Offenders Act. She had already been in custody two weeks, and that was during Christmas time. She had suffered almost unendurable torture, and this would be a life-long lesson to her.
Mr Mackey SC said the recovery of the notes was very important.
His Honour – Are the Crown satisfied the money has been destroyed?
Mr Mackey – We don’t know. The serious part of the business is that there seems to have been two burnings. She is undoubtedly illiterate but had means of ascertaining the value of the notes.
His Honour – What are the prospects of the bank?
Mr Mackey said he did not know of any machinery whereby the bank could pay the money unless the notes were identified. It might be 40 or 50 years before they found they were £300 short in their circulation.
His Honour – There might be different banks.
Mr Mackey – I believe they were all Ulster Bank notes It was such a case that I thought it my duty to send it on to the Attorney-General to see if he would send it to the assizes, but he directed it to be brought at the quarter sessions.
His Honour – What do you suggest?
Mr Mackey – The only thing I could suggest is that you adjourn any sentence to the next sessions, and in the meantime should assist in connection with the recoupment of this money.
His Honour – What do the McFauls say about it?
Mr Mackey – They thought it was the Fanad Ghosts that were responsible.
His Honour – They seemed to have thought it was the ‘wee folk’.
Mr Mackey – Or some sort of spiritualism. The grandfather’s clock as stopped at the time of the feud, and it was thought there was something inside it. I don’t know whether it was the Fanad Ghosts that came over from Mr O’Doherty’s constituency that are to blame. We cannot trace any of the money in circulation of the locality.
Michael McFaul was then examined.
Mr Mackey – You thought the ‘wee folk’ in Inishowen had done away with the money?
Witness – Yes
In reply to the judge, witness said he lost three pound notes out of a box that was locked in August last.
His Honour – You didn’t suspect that anyone burned the notes in the box or drawer?
Witness – No.
His Honour – You thought it was a supernatural or mysterious power that burned your notes?
Witness – Yes.
His Honour – I hope you will be wiser another time.
Mr Mackey – Had you photographs of a young lady along with the notes in the box?
Witness – I had photographs.
Mr Mackey – And they were burned?
Witness – Yes, all in the box.
Mr O’Doherty – There are photographs of a young lady you were going to marry?
Witness – No.
Mr O’Doherty – At that time was it understood you were going to get married to the young lady whose photographs you carried so carefully?
Witness – I didn’t carry them so carefully.
District-Inspector Lowndes, examined, said he was practically convinced that the notes had been destroyed.
His Honour said that he believed the notes had been destroyed, and that the defendant did this out of some unexplained revenge. He would allow the accused out under the Probation of Offenders Act in her own recognisance of £40, and two sureties of £20 each, to be on good behaviour. In the meantime, she could assist the McFauls in their endeavour to get the money from the bank. “
Other reports described Ms McCarron as ‘a stylishly dressed girl’. Reading between the lines, there seems to be hints that she had, once upon a time, attracted the attention of Michael McFaul, only to be thrown over for the young lady whose photographs were kept in the drawer. Perhaps in the circumstances it was simply easier for the McFaul family to attribute the burning to ghosts?
More about the once-famous Fanad ghost here.
Share this:
