THE COLLEEN BAWN 1803-1819 Beautiful child of Croom murdered 206 years ago.
“The sea was high and the storms were blowing, the tall young boatman he smiled at me, he threw my body to the wild winds rolling by Carrig Island where the winds blow free.”
The Colleen Bawn, the sad history of the beautiful child of only a little over fifteen years of age who was murdered because of lust, greed, and class distinction, took place over two hundred years ago on 14 July 1819. Ellen Hanly, born in 1803, was a small farmer’s daughter from Ballycahane, Croom, County Limerick. Her stunning beauty and child like features stood out as the innocence of a girl of her age. John Scanlan was son of a rich farming family. Scanlan was older by at least fourteen years or more than Ellen but when he laid eyes on her, she stole his heart away. The tragic story which has been famed in opera and cinema still holds out as one of the most tragic in our history.
Join Author Pat Fitzgerald and Author/Historian Joe Queally as they tell the story of The Colleen Bawn, through photos, history and song.
