Gordon
Shot as a result of a land dispute in which a farmer was shot by Gordon. But apart from graphic accounts of Gordon's trial, there is nothing available to substantiate who Gordon was. The body nver appears to have been found, so no inquest
1920 May 10. Mark Clinton was murdered in a land dispute. The "de facto" government tried a group of men for his murder, and exiled all of them except Gordon who fired the fatal shot. Gordon was executed by the IRA
In the month of May 1920, it was reported to me by the O/C. 5th Battalion - Seamus Cogan - that a man named Mark Clinton had been shot dead on the farm of his uncle -Phil Smith at Coole, Kilmainham wood, by a man named Gordon, an ex-British soldier, and that the two horses with which he was ploughing had been shot dead by a man named McGovern, another ex-British soldier. Gordon received the sum of £2 for the shooting from a William Rogers, an ex-SouthAfrican policeman, who had organised a band of terrorists to seize the land. The objective of the gang was to seize this land and divide it among their adherents.
There follows a lot in the Witness Statement about Gordon's capture in a local pub, and his 2 trials before ....
When G.H.Q.heard of my decision, they communicated it to Austin Stack who was Minister for Home Affairs. Gordon, being a Presbyterian, Austin Stack contacted the Rev. Mr.Irwin from the North of Ireland to give him (Gordon) spiritualconsolation. I met Mr.Irwin at the Russell Hotel, Stephen's Green, Dublin, and brought him to Baytown Park, Dunboyne, the residence of Mr.O'Connor, where Gordon was now detained. He had been moved from Salestown to other
Gordon was duly executed at Castle Farm, Dunboyne.I took charge. Before his execution he wept. I said:"We have given you more time than you gave your unfortunate victim. If you have not asked the Almighty God for forgiveness, I will give you time to do so."I gave him time to make his peace with God