When Brian Seery died, he left behind a wife and a young family of five, including a son, James, later to be sentenced to death in Australia, where he had moved to find work in the goldfields of the Gippsland region of Victoria. Charged and found guilty of the murder and mutilation of a body, he was sentenced to hang and executed on 14 November 1870, aged just 33 years.

James Seery, like his father before him, was sent to an early grave under very questionable circumstances. In the view of author, Jack Kiernan, in the Ireland or Australia of today, neither case would get into court.

Once again, Jack Kiernan carefully assembles the available evidence in a manner that lets the reader decide while, at the same time, leaving no doubt as to how he views the circumstances and the judgements that were handed down. He also offers a stinging critique of the colonial and Ascendancy mindsets and attitudes that resulted in many such travesties of justice.

I Declare Before My God by Jack Kiernan

Non-fiction, Irish history, Australian history, 19th century, colonialism, capital punishment, miscarriages of justice

190 printed pages with B&W photo illustrations

First published in Ireland, in 2019, by The Manuscript Publisher

ISBN: 978-1-911442-11-0