Water Never Forgets - The tragic story of An Cailín Bàn (1819)

The case of Ellen Hanley, known as the Colleen Bawn (An Cailín Bán, the fair girl), is one of Ireland's most enduring and tragic historical criminal cases. In July 1819, the fifteen-year-old working-class girl from County Limerick was induced to elope with John Scanlan, a wealthy, upper-class Anglo-Irish landlord and former Royal Navy officer. Driven by greed and a desire to marry an heiress to clear his debts, Scanlan conspired with his servant, Stephen Sullivan, to murder Ellen.