More about this story
In and around 1786, Dublin’s first-ever police force was mobilised, and the first case they were confronted with was the 11 Grangegorman Lane Murder, where a sturdy servant girl had been robbed, beaten and strangled. In the months leading up to the murder, a number of young servant girls were lured into ditches and robbed, and the police were inundated with so many complaints that a nightly patrol was placed on the district. Pitied and unsuspected, a handsome, deformed beggar dragged himself across the streets. This was Billy in the Bowl. This was the man they were looking for, the Stoneybatter Strangler.
