London Correspondence: Jack the Ripper & the Irish Press
Alan Sharp
Ashfield Press, February 2005
ISBN: 1901658 45 7
Casebook Review: 
Very well-written and well-researched book on a little-studied aspect of
the Ripper crimes; namely, the Irish reaction to (and political use of)
the Ripper crimes. "Irish issues" in 1888 at the forefront of British
politics, along with events such as the Phoenix Park murders, the Parnell
Commission, Fenian terrorism and the controversy of Irish Home Rule. When
the Ripper murders took place in London, the Irish papers stood up and
took notice - and some of them made political hay out of the tragedies,
using them to discredit English jurisprudence and authority.
Certainly this is a book for well-read students of the case. Relying
heavily on contemporary Irish press reports, the information gleaned here
is not so much on the murders as they occured, but rather on how the
murders were viewed through the politically-charged lense of Irish
journalism. Nevertheless, there are several previously unpublished
reports dealing with strictly Irish aspects of the investigation - a
Ripper suspect in Belfast, Ripper letters received in Dublin, and many
others which will be new to most or all students of the case.
High marks and well-recommended.
