About

About the Author

– past, present and future projects –

Jack Kiernan is an author, historian, retired Irish Army Corporal Fitter Technician and former National Welfare Officer with PDFORRA (the army representative association). He lives and works in Mullingar, the town where he was also born and raised. He has a particular interest in cold cases, unsolved murders and alleged miscarriages of justice.

Is It Me? The Joseph Heffernan Story (first published in 2011 and re-issued, in a revised and updated edition, in 2013) deals with the murder of Mary Walker, on a hot summers day in Mullingar in 1909. It was a crime that shocked the nation and Joseph Heffernan, who was tried and convicted, paid for it with his life – the last person to be hung in Dublin’s Kilmainham Gaol. However, rumours have persisted, down through the years, that he may have been innocent.

Why Did They Lie? (published in 2018) uncovers shadowy events that took place during the Irish Civil War (1922-23), shedding important light on a dark chapter in Irish history, offering an assessment that also challenges certain assumptions about the course of events, the personalities and leadership dynamics involved.

The soon-to-be-published, I Declare Before My God looks at the sad and tragic cases, from the 19th century, of a father and son, Brian and James Seery, both of whom were sentenced to hang, in entirely separate circumstances, 24 years apart, both having been convicted on questionable evidence. Brian died in Ireland on 13 February 1846; his son, James, in Australia on 14 November 1870, aged just 33 years. Further information ...

In addition, he has written biographies of Mullingar boxers, Chris Cole and Eddie "The Killer" Byrne, which will shortly be available to buy online. Further information ...