Murder and infanticide on the increase in Ireland in 1914

Dublin, 25 November 1915 - There were 32 charges for murder in Ireland in 1914.  Of these charges, 10 were for the murder of infants aged under one year old. This amounted to an increase of five on the total for 1913.

There were a further 20 attempted murders, compared with 15 for 1913, while the reported cases of manslaughter rose from 19 to 30.

The total number of indictable offences was 8,504 in 1914, amounting to an annual rate of 1.94 per 1,000 of population.

The number of cases of drunkenness amounted to 54,715, being 31% of all offences committed.

These figures were released as part of the return of general criminal statistics in Ireland.

[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]