Why Did Ireland Close the Door on Pre-1922 Cases? I Asked for the Government Records.

If you’ve been following this campaign, you know I keep asking one question.

Why December 6, 1922?

In March, the Irish Government adopted a new policy that only convictions imposed after the foundation of the State would be eligible for consideration for Presidential pardons going forward.

Then that policy was used to deny my request for an independent examination of the surviving evidence in the 1882 Lough Mask case.

I wasn't asking the Government to simply pardon anyone. I was asking for the surviving evidence to be independently examined. There is a difference.

I challenged that decision and kept asking a pretty basic question: if credible evidence still exists, why should a date on the calendar determine whether anyone is even willing to examine it?

And I wanted to know how the Government arrived at that policy in the first place.

So on August 28, I filed a Freedom of Information request with Ireland’s Department of Justice.

I didn't ask them to explain the policy to me again.

I asked for the records behind it.

I asked why December 6, 1922 was chosen.

I asked what other options were considered.

I asked whether they considered reviewing cases individually instead of using a blanket exclusion.

I asked whether independent historical examination of surviving evidence was considered separately from eligibility for a Presidential pardon.

I asked whether the Attorney General’s Office was consulted about the legal or constitutional basis for the policy.

And I asked for the statistics, analysis and resource assessments behind the decision.

Well, that request has now officially been acknowledged.

DOJ-FOI-2026-1023

Basically, I want to see how they built this policy and why they decided an entire group of historical cases should fall on the other side of that line.

Because somewhere along the way, this stopped being just about Michael Flynn, Thomas Higgins, Patrick “Long” Higgins and my family.

That’s why I started the Pre-1922 Justice Project.

Not every old conviction is going to turn out to be wrong. I’ve never claimed that.

But if credible evidence still exists, somebody should be willing to look at it.

Change.org only allows me to show part of the Department’s acknowledgment in the image attached to this update. I’m posting the full acknowledgment letter on the Pre-1922 Justice Project Facebook page so anyone who wants to can read the entire document for themselves and see exactly what I asked the Department to produce.

Follow the Pre-1922 Justice Project on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/share/1Dz3omCemG/?mibextid=wwXIfr

We aren't asking history to reach a predetermined conclusion.

We're asking that the evidence be allowed to answer the question.

And this project has become bigger than my family.

If your family is dealing with something like this in Ireland, a historical conviction, surviving evidence that nobody will examine, or an ancestor whose voice you believe was never properly heard, please don't hesitate to reach out to me.

If I can help, research with you, point you toward what I've learned, or simply help make some noise, I will.

I'm here to fight for every silenced voice and every ancestor whose evidence still deserves to be heard.

The Crown silenced enough Irish voices. We don't need to silence their evidence again in 2026 because somebody drew a line on the calendar at December 6, 1922.

And apparently Ireland managed to get an Irish-American banshee in Pennsylvania going.

I'm already known for being a huge pain in the arse and not shutting up, so that probably wasn't their best move. 

But seriously, thank you to every single person who has supported this campaign, signed the petition, shared the story, asked questions, helped with research, or simply stood behind what we are trying to do.

This is about making sure the voices that were silenced under the Crown aren't silenced forever by modern Ireland.

Michael Flynn. Thomas Higgins. Patrick “Long” Higgins. And every other person whose surviving evidence may still have something to say.

Their evidence deserves to be heard.

Thank you for helping me make sure it is.

Don't Silence the Evidence.

#DontSilenceTheEvidence #Pre1922JusticeProject