Tragedy turns to violence in the Dublin Coroner’s court in this story from the Strathearn Herald of 11 May 1878. Anne Lynch, a servant who committed suicide by drowning herself in the Grand Canal at Rialto (otherwise Harcourt) Bridge, had left a note stating that she had done so due to pregnancy following on seduction by her employer. At the inquest into her death, her brother John sought to effect physical vengeance on her seducer.

John Lynch was later convicted of common assault and bound over to keep the peace. That he did not suffer a more serious penalty may have been due to the widespread sympathy felt in Dublin for the deceased girl and her family. See below a terse report of Lynch’s trial from the Belfast Telegraph of 8 June 1878: