Ep. 58 - Ireland's Darkey Kelly

A pub on Fishamble Street in Dublin is named Darkey Kelly's. The name commemorates a dark time in Ireland's history when a woman had to do what she could to keep out of poverty, and this particular woman, Darkey Kelly, was accused of multiple murders and hanged and burned at the stake for her crimes. But did she really commit these crimes or was she framed after the local sheriff got her pregnant? And does her spirit still haunt this area as an apparition known as "The Green Lady?"

There is a legend told in Dublin about a witch named Darkey Kelly. This story of a witch burned at the stake held on for years and it was one that survived and passed on because not much was known about Darkey Kelly. There are no pictures of her. No one painted a picture of her. The only evidence that she practiced witchcraft came from the claims of a nobleman. History indicates that she wasn't witch. But she might have been a serial killer.

Christchurch Cathedral sits in the heart of medieval Dublin and was originally built in wood by Sitric Silkenbeard, a Viking king, in the 11th century. The Normans rebuilt it in stone in the 12th century. It is a beautiful mixture of medieval and Victorian stylings that stands in stark contrast to what was once near it, the red-light district. Fishamble Street runs along the cathedral and off of it is Copper Alley. The alley is said to be the oldest street in Dublin and there was a mint here where coins were pressed in the 17th century. The nickname "copper" harkens back to that. Copper Alley is also located within the Liberties neighborhood that got its name because it was outside of the city walls and ran by its own rules. The neighborhood has always been working class and has the nickname "The Brooklyn of Dublin." The Golden Triangle of brewing and distilling would make its home in the neighborhood and the strong scent of malt always filled the air. This was a poor area in the 16 and 1700s and was filled with taverns, theaters, illegal casinos and bawdy houses, more commonly known as brothels. The most notorious red-light district in Europe was here. And I should mention that there was another nickname for this place: hell. 

In 1700s Dublin, there were two things that collided to make this the perfect spot for sex work: urban poverty and a large military presence. The women who worked this area had little choice but to sell their bodies. They were called wantons, molls, and flaggers, because they walked the stone flagged streets. Sex work anywhere is dangerous, but in hell, it was the worst. There was rape, violence, kidnapping, and murder. Even the brothels themselves were dangerous. Four brothels were demolished because there was so much violence associated with them in 1791. Most of the women would try to work together for safety. Despite the danger, hundreds of women worked in the profession. Records from 1777 reveal that there were 200 sex workers living in Dublin's House of Industry, which was a workhouse or like America's poor farms. Some of these sex workers rose to the top of their profession and became madams running their own houses. Dorcas Kelly was said to be one of these women. 

I don't know much about Dorcas Kelly before she pops up in the red-light district of Dublin. Everything I read said that Dorcas got the nickname Darkey because the name Dorcas means "dark" in Gaelic. But I knew that Dorcas was a Biblical name and in Greek it meant "gazelle" or "doe." Gaelic for dark is Dorcha, but even in this case it is wrong because people say Darkey Kelly had dark hair and eyes and that is why she had that nickname and in Gaelic, that word would be Dubh (duv) or Ciar (keer). The important thing is that history knows her as Darkey. It's believed she was born in Ireland in 1730 and she was described as having penetrating dark eyes, milk white skin and raven black hair. She was beautiful. Some narratives claim she was raised in a wealthy family. Somehow, she ends up in Dublin as a sex worker and because she was shrewed businesswoman, she climbed her way to the top and was a madame. Darkey ran a brothel in Copper Alley called The Maiden Tower. That name came from Isoldes Tower, which was the most important tower in the walls that the Normans had built in the 13th century around Dublin. The tower was for defense. So a very inspired name indeed. And if one thinks of a tower as a place of defense, it isn't surprising to hear that Darkey set about to renovating the brothel and adding secret rooms and a jailhouse for rowdy customers.

As part of this story, I have to talk about Dublin's Hellfire Club. The Wicklow Mountains that overlook the city of Dublin have a peak named Mountpelier at the northern edge. It was here that the Hell Fire Club built their infamous sporting lodge on the summit. The lodge was originally built for Anglo-Irish politician William Conolly in 1725 and stones from two flattened prehistoric passage tombs were used in its construction. Definitely a way to ensure that your structure is open to hauntings. The architect was more than likely Edward Lovett Pearce and the style was Palladian. The ground level had the servants quarters and the kitchen. The second level had a hall and two reception rooms. A third level had sleeping quarters. The exterior had a semi-circular courtyard that had a low stone wall around it. It was a nice private place and quickly became a private club for the rich young men of Dublin to gather and engage in debauchery of all kinds. And many believe that they also practiced occult rituals. The name "hell fire" was inspired by legends that claimed that the Devil came to play cards here. One of the members of this club was Simon Luttrell.

Simon Luttrell was born in to Henry Luttrell, an Irish army officer who fought for the Jacobite cause. He was eventually given the estate of Luttrellstown and was murdered in 1717. That murder was never solved. Simon didn't become a military man like his father, rather he followed the political route. He served in Parliament for various constituencies from 1755 to 1780. And he was the first Earl of Carhampton. Luttrell was married with nine children, but this didn't stop him from becoming the "King of Hell." That's what people called him because he loved to hang out in hell, which you now know was Copper Alley and the Liberties area. People described him as lecherous, rakish, lewd and just a bad dude. He was a client of Darkey Kelly.

And it is here where the story gets a bit muddled. Luttrell didn't just visit the ladies at The Maiden Tower, he was a client of Darkey herself. Some stories say that Darkey got pregnant and gave birth to Luttrell's child and other stories say that she just claimed to be pregnant with his baby, but that no baby was ever born. Whatever the case, Darkey wanted money. Luttrell wasn't about to give her money or admit to being the father, so he made up a story. And that's how Darkey went from madame to witch. And the story Luttrell told was that Darkey cast spells and even murdered her own baby. This made the people of Dublin fear Darkey. It should be noted here that some legends claim that Luttrell had killed the baby during an occult ritual at the Hell Fire Club. I personally think, based on what happens later, that Darkey was pregnant and hadn't given birth to a baby until right before she was executed. 

So what led to Darkey Kelly being not only hanged, but also burned at the stake if the witch part of this story is not based in fact? John Dowling was a shoemaker in Dublin and he liked to enjoy excursions out to Copper Alley. On a particular night in 1760, some say St. Patrick's Day, he paid a visit to The Maiden Tower and was never seen alive again. Even without a body, court records reveal that Kelly was accused of the murder of Dowling and that she was found guilty. Initially, she contested the trial, claiming to be pregnant, but this turned out to not be true and the trial went forward. She was sentenced to die and this was carried out on January 7, 1761. Kelly was partially hanged, cut down and then burned at the stake on St. Stephens Green on Gallows Road, which is today Baggot Road. Her working girls were enraged when officials tried to toss her body into a pit by the gallows, instead of giving Kelly a proper burial. The women grabbed their madame's remains and took her back to the brothel for a proper and swinging wake. The party was pretty crazy and 13 of the women were arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct.

But that wasn't the end of this story. A newspaper article in The World was revisiting the case 30 years later and it claimed that Kelly was a serial killer because investigators had raided the brothel and found "five bodies of murdered gentlemen" in its hidden rooms. Where this came from no one knows because it was never part of the original court case. No one really knows if Darkey killed the shoemaker. Was she just punished because the city was clamping down on prostitution? There was more still to this though with Simon Luttrell's son Henry getting involved. In the 1780s, a madame named Maria Lewellyn procured a 12-year-old girl for Henry and he raped the young girl. Stories claim that this was Darkey Kelly's sister, but she was more than likely just somebody so close to Kelly that they were like sisters. The young victim told her parents what happened and they sought justice. Henry was a powerful man in Dublin and he was able to get the girl and her parents imprisoned on trumped up charges. Public outcry got the charges overturned, but the mother had already died in prison. No one knows what became of the young girl. 

The legend of Darkey Kelly inspired the naming of a pub in her former stomping grounds. This is located at 19 Fishamble Street across from Christ Church Chapel. Employees here claim that things move on their own and that a shadow figure is seen in the mirrors. It is near here that her apparition is said to be seen and then disappear into Copper Alley. She is also known as The Green Lady. There are 40 steps that lead to St Audeon’s Church of Ireland and it is at the bottom of these that a misty green form is seen hovering for a few minutes before disappearing into a stone wall. 

Was Darkey Kelly a witch or a serial killer or even a murderer? Was she just a victim of the time and the heavy hand coming down on prostitution at the time? Did Simon Luttrell just find an easy way to rid himself of Kelly? Does she haunt the Liberties area seeking justice? That is for you to decide.