Dead women: What they can teach us about murder in the Republic of Ireland

Abstract

Female homicide or femicide is an increasingly worrying and complex problem for many western European countries and continues to be a major issue globally. The Republic of Ireland has seen a substantial increase in cases of female homicide in recent years prompting an outcry from both women’s groups and the wider public, which has led to discussions within government as to the best way forward in dealing with the ever-increasing situation of unlawful killing of women in the country. Despite the outrage little research exists on the subject beyond the newspaper headlines and media reporting. In a review of 240 cases of female homicide over a 30-year period from 1991–2021 using newspapers and court reports, many patterns emerge regarding the causes of death and motives behind the killings.