On tonight's show: The killing of 15-year-old Francis Murphy in 1919; The moral panic over comic books in 1950s Ireland; and Harry Clarke's Geneva Window

The Killing of Francis Murphy

On the night of 14th of August 1919, a 15-year old Fianna Éireann member named Francis Murphy, from Glann, near Ennistymon in County Clare, was shot and killed while sitting in his own home. He was one of the youngest victims to be killed during the War of Independence period. And up until very recently, he was assumed to have been the victim of the Crown Forces.

However, new evidence uncovered by our guests suggests that this was in fact the fatal result of a local agrarian dispute. Our guests have researched this unusual and complex case. Michael Vaughn is a relative of Francis Murphy. Myles is also joined by historian Dr Padraig Óg O’Ruairc, who has extensively researched the War of Independence in County Clare.

Comic Books in 1950s Ireland

During the mid-1950s, a moral panic swept Ireland. It seemed – according to newspaper editorials, the sermons of Catholic priests and resolutions emanating from county councils – that the country was suffering through a crisis of juvenile delinquency: a crisis whose origins lay far beyond our shores.

For many journalists, priests and politicians, the cause of the apparent crisis was comic-books; specifically those imported from abroad - which were misleading the impressionable young people of Ireland.

In this report, Ian Kenneally explores those events by focusing on one particular comic: The Leprechaun. Reporting from Mayo, he meets comic-collector and author David McDonald, to discuss how The Leprechaun comic was produced in Ireland during the mid-1950s as part of a campaign to protect Irish children from foreign influences. Readings are by actor John McGlynn.

Harry Clarke's Geneva Window

In the mid 1920s, the Irish government approached Irish artist Harry Clarke, and asked if he would be interested in designing a stained glass window for the International Labour Court in Geneva. The resulting work subsequently made an unlikely journey across the Atlantic, and is now located in Miami, Florida.

To talk about how and why this happened, Myles is joined by Zoë Reid, Keeper of Public Services & Collections with the National Archives.