Rev McLaughlin

In 1862 there was a case of the Catholic Priest from St Paul's Parish, Shettleston, being called in a court case against one Terence McGee (aparently no relation). The priest was asked to reveal the identity of Terence, who was accused of stealing money from a letter.

The priest knew the answer because it had been revealed to him in confidence by Terence, but not in the confessional. Despite this, Rev McLaughlin refused to release the information to the court as a matter of principle. As a result, he was imprisoned for a while.

The story has been gathered together by John, and I have included images of the actual pages, mostly from the Glasgow Herald, for anyone who might be interested.

Enjoy reading the story, then looking at the extracts from the papers. It's a challenge, what with the small print and the way that language was used in those days. These writings are also on a physical CD that John had.

Here is the full transcription made by John of everything he found about the case. We do not know what caught his attention, but let us presume that, during his investigations into Granny Reynolds' family, he came accross Terence McGee's name in one of his searches, saw the story, and found it entertaining enough to include in his work.

The Case of Rev McLaughlin

In 1862 there was a case of the Catholic Priest from St Paul's Parish, Shettleston, being called in a court case against one Terence McGee (aparently no relation). The priest was asked to reveal the identity of Terence, who was accused of stealing money from a letter.

The Case of Rev McLaughlin

Terence McGee

The following extracts are the actual newspaper reports