Longford links of murder mystery writer John Christopher Lenehan

John Lenehan, son of Michael Lenehan and Mary Derwin, was born in Gurteenagloon, Moydow in County Longford in December 1889.

He was brought up in rural Ireland and educated at the local national school in Moydow.

His family were farmers but Lenehan’s ambition was to be a teacher and he trained at the Marlborough Training College for Teachers in Dublin.

In 1912 he accepted the post of assistant teacher in the Sandiacre Boys School. His teaching career was disrupted by the First World War, as were his plans to marry Linda Selina Fletcher, the daughter of a lace manufacturer from Long Eaton, Derbyshire.

John Lenehan was designated as a driver in the Royal Field Artillery and fought in some of the major battles of World War I, including the Somme.

He survived the war and returned to his position of primary school teacher. He married Linda Fletcher his English bride in Shardlow, Derbyshire in 1919, the couple moved to live near her family home in Sandiacre, Derbyshire where Lenehan was already a primary school teacher.

In 1923 their only child, John Richard Lenehan, was born. Incidentally John Richard Lenehan served throughout World War II, in North Africa.

John Christopher Lenehan started to write detective stories in the evening, while still teaching in the day, a pattern of work that, as far as we know, continued for all of his writing life.

The main characters in his books were Inspector Kirby and Charlie Ryan. In 1929 his first two novels were published by Herbert Jenkins.

The Marked Pistol was published in April 1929 and The Tunnel Mystery in October 1929.

The Tunnel Mystery was the only one of Lenehan’s books to be also published in America.

Between 1929 and 1943, Lenehan wrote twelve detective novels and one light fiction novel, The Joyful Jays (1941), which was a humorous book in the style of P. G. Wodehouse.

Lenehan’s final book, Driven to Death, was published posthumously in 1944, although it seems likely the book was written before the Second World War as it has no mention of air raids, rationing and black-outs and other features of British wartime life.

Although Lenehan was a popular writer in his time, he was never one of the best-known crime writers of his generation.

His books have not been reprinted in paper form and the early books are now collector’s items. Fortunately, some of his books have been republished as e-books and they are fascinating reading for those who like period detective stories and those who are interested in 1930s life and social attitudes.

The following of his publications are available on Kindle.
The Tunnel Mystery
The Silecroft Case
The Mansfield Mystery
The Masked Blackmailer
Boston Belle Meets Murder
Deadly Decree
Driven to Death

Others titles include, One Death too Many, and Guilty but not Insane.

Although John Lenehan was fifty when World War II broke out, it seems probable that he had re-enlisted and served in some capacity.

According to the 1939 register he was a Special Constable with Derbyshire County Council. He was a member of the order of the Knights of Columba and held the Office of Grand Knight of the Order during 1941 and 1942.

In June 1942 he collapsed while officiating at the Sandiacre Boys Schools sport and was in Nottingham General Hospital for a period. He died on June 3rd 1943 in Long Eaton, Derbyshire, England.

He is buried in Long Eaton Cemetery. His World War I record of service, can be viewed on the website longfordatwar.ie.

* My thanks to Luke and Alec Baxter and Mairead Ni Chonghaile for all their help in compiling this article.

Main Photo caption: Each time Crime Writer John C Lenehan a native of Moydow, Co Longford published one of his books, the Longford Leader gave him a mention. Pictured above is the remains of the Lenehan homestead in Gurteenagloon, now owned by the Baxter family. Right: Photo of the late John C Lenehan from his obituary in The Long Eaton Advertiser on June 5, 1943, courtesy of findmypast