Radio drama to revisit landmark 1780 trial
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An hour-long docu-drama to be broadcast on Cork radio this Thursday will revisit a landmark trial in Irish legal history.
The Price of Liberty, to be aired on LifeFM at 3pm on Thursday, and again at 5pm on Saturday, explores the 1780 case of Father Neale and Lord Doneraile.
Lord Doneraile, a Protestant landlord, had horse-whipped Father Neale, a Catholic priest, after he refused to recant his criticism of an adulterous parishioner whose sister was Lord Doneraile’s mistress.
Lord Doneraile was convinced that a jury would not convict a Protestant on charges brought forward by a Catholic, but the jury eventually found in favour of Father Neale and awarded him 30 guineas.
The case brought John Philpot Curran, Father Neale’s lawyer, to prominence as one of Ireland’s most famous lawyers.
The programme combines interviews with Dr Patrick Geoghegan of Trinity College Dublin and Dr David Fleming of University of Limerick with dramatised recreations of key moments from the case.
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