Seventeen men, who paid the ultimate price for their crimes on the
gallows, have been lowered into the earth deep within the walls of
Crumlin Road Gaol in plain wooden coffins. The first was in 1854, the
last in 1961. This is the story of execution in Belfast and of the men -
soldier and terrorist, labourer and tramp, American Jew and farmer - who
were prepared to take a life; of the men, women and children who were
their victims; and the hangmen the State paid to kill on the public's
behalf. It is a remarkable story, often sad and gruesome, occasionally
quirky but always fascinating.