The reports of the inquests read like nothing except what
comes out of Ireland. The soldiers did not give their evidence at all clearly ; they were in fact as confused at the inquests as they apparently had been in the fighting in Phoenix Park. Meanwhile the Irishmen who took part in the inquests used every occasion to confuse the issue further and to trip up the bungling witnesses. After all, the members of the guard who took part in this affair were but boys. We may well believe that the survivors had no very plain recollection of what happened in a very incoherent episode. The Irish case was that Kennedy was an innocent civilian who was returning home from his work when he was unex- pectedly challenged, and that he did not even hear the challenge owing to deafness. On the other hand, there was explicit evidence, in spite of the muddle-headedness of the witnesses, that Kennedy really used a revolver. As his body lay un- guarded on the road for some time, it would have been easy for any passing civilian to remove the weapon. The fact that the weapon could not be produced proved nothing.
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