Manning, a 25-year-old carter from Johnsgate in Limerick, was found guilty in February 1954 of the rape and murder of Catherine Cooper, a 65-year-old nurse who worked at Barringtons' Hospital in the city.
[1] Nurse Cooper's body was discovered on 18 November 1953 in the quarry under the New Castle, Dublin Road, Castletroy, where she was found to have choked on grass stuffed into her mouth to keep her from screaming during the commission of the crime.
By his own account, he was making his way home on foot after a day’s drinking in The Black Swan, Annacotty when he saw a woman he did not recognise, walking alone.
[3] Although Manning made an impassioned plea for clemency in a letter[4] to the Minister for Justice Gerald Boland, his request was denied, although it was supported by Nurse Cooper's family.
The execution by hanging was duly carried out on 20 April 1954 in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin by Albert Pierrepoint, who had travelled from Britain where he was one of three Senior Executioners.