First, a hat was found floating in the Shannon. The “mysterious” case of Henry Ellison-Macartney received the attention it did partly because of who his brother was – MP for South Antrim, William Ellison-Macartney – a unionist politician who served as grand secretary of the Orange Order. Athlone was only supposed to be a pit-stop for Henry on a longer journey from Clogher, Co Tyrone to Westport. Reports circulated and the missing man’s MP brother travelled to Athlone the following Monday. Residents along the Shannon quickly came forward to report hearing cries of “murder!”, “murder!” – “Don’t kill me” and “Don’t drown me” were variants reported in the press.

Source: The Irish Times May 19, 2019 06:00 UTC