Shooting of RIC Constable Murtagh

Popes Quay, Cork, where Constable Murtagh was killed.

Forty six years old Joseph Murtagh, who was originally from County Westmeath, was shot dead at eleven o'clock on the evening of 19th March, 1920 while walking along Popes Quay in Cork City, as he returned from the funeral of his colleague Constable Healy.

A widower with two grown-up children, he lived at the Sunday's Well station on the north side of the city, not far from where he was attacked. He was apparently an inoffensive officer, well liked by his colleagues. A farmer prior to joining the R.I.C., he had served with the police for twenty three years at the time of his death.