Robert McGladdery

Robert Andrew McGladdery (18 October 193520 December 1961) was the last person to be executed in Northern Ireland and the island of Ireland.

He was convicted of the murder of Pearl Gamble, aged 19, whom he had battered, strangled and stabbed to death on 28 January 1961 and whose body was discovered at Upper Damolly, near Newry, County Down. It transpired the murderer and victim were distant cousins. Gamble had gone to a dance at the Henry Thomson Memorial Orange Hall (located on a site that would become a Maxol petrol station beside the telephone exchange) in Newry with three girlfriends. She had been seen dancing with her boyfriend and Robert McGladdery. McGladdery was portrayed by Michael Condron.

The murder and subsequent execution is the theme of Eoin McNamee's 2010 novel, Orchid Blue.