Friday 9 January 2015

Saturday 17th January 1976 – Two children found brutally murdered in Govan

Golspie Street before it was demolished

In January 1976 a massive police hunt was launched to find the killer of two Glasgow children brutally murdered in their home in a case that senior detectives at the time described as possibly the most brutal they had experienced.

On Saturday 17th of January 1976, the bodies of John McMonigle aged 13, and his sister Irene McMonigle aged 12, were found bound, gagged, and battered almost beyond recognition in their home at 108 Golspie Street, Govan, by their father when he returned home with his other daughter, 9-year-old Elizabeth, after a visit to a flat in Pollock to which the family were due to move that night.
Irene and John McMonigle
The children were watching television when their father, Mr John McMonigle aged 36, left for Pollock with Elizabeth around 2.30pm. A meal had been prepared for the children and they had also been given money for sweets. It is thought that the children were attacked sometime between 2.30pm and 4pm.


The McMonigles were the only family still occupying a flat in Golspie Street, an area that was to be pulled down under a redevelopment scheme. Hardly a window remained intact in the close of No.108, neighbouring tenements also presented a similar picture of decay and destruction. Relatives spoke of Mr McMonigle’s constant battle to keep his home intact from vandals, squatters and down-and-outs.

Golspie Street before it was demolished

After the murder councillor Andre McMachan who represented Govan in Glasgow District Council suggested that immediate efforts should be made to demolish all empty tenements in Govan – ‘My heart goes out to the father of these kids’ he said, ‘Tenements like these, which have been emptied of all or most of their official tenants, are an incitement to madmen. They are being used unlawfully by some dubious people and they represent a risk to the community. I think it is necessary now to demolish them.’
The flat had been broken into a fortnight earlier, and the children were under strict orders from their father not to let anyone in while he was away.
Alexander Miller
On the day of the murder John was wearing a blue pullover with Bay City Rollers style tartan flashing on the shoulders while Irene was wearing a brown tweed dress.


In the hunt that followed for the killer, a team of 60 detectives took statements from more an 3500 people. Two months later 28 year old Alexander Miller was arrested and charged with the murders. Miller had lived next door to the McMonigles but had moved away under the redevelopment. He has broken into the McMonigles’ house a fortnight earlier and was returning to steal a television that he has spotted previously.
When Irene interrupted him shouting, ‘I know you, I’ll tell my daddy’, he tied both children up and battered them to death.
He was charged with murder but admitted culpable homicide with diminished responsibility. He was described at the time as ‘mentally defective’ and was sent to Carstairs.

New Golspie Street development






43 comments:

  1. God bless those poor we kids I knew the family I used to play football with john. A. K. A brush we were about the same age I still think about them to this day and always will god bless you Elisabeth and all your family from Donald mc Leod. 🙏

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  2. God Bless, Govan will always remember, RIPx

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  3. hope they are flying high in heaven god bless their souls and their families x

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  4. Rip those little children

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  5. I am their big cousin Catherine I remember them as happy Children who were very caring and fun loving poor wee souls did not deserve the nightmare they went through they were robbed of a life of love and happiness with their father and little sister Elisabeth. Rest in peace little ones safe now in the arms of Jesus xxxxx

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    1. We were born and brought up on LANGLANDS Road and knew these kids they were lovely

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  6. I remember this, was absolutely heartbreaking

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    1. Really awful and all for a stupid telly. Heartbreaking is putting it mildly..

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  7. I can still vividly remember reading this terribly sad story as an eight year old and being truly sad and scared for the first time. I didn't want mum and dad to leave the house ever again.

    God bless John and Irene xx

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  8. I was at school with wee John. St constantines. We nicknamed him Brush because his hair was always sticking up. I remember when this happened and the horror and disgust we all felt at the time. God bless both of them.

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  9. I think me and my brother we last too see them We passed each other coming from school. Police took our statements Was horrific to imagine what was done to them

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  10. I remember this very well as a 10 yr old girl , i remember being at chapel on the day of the funeral. I think every household in govan turned out in respect of these angels and their family
    May god bless your souls john and irene
    Rest in peace in the arms of the angels

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  11. knew the family .I lived I the lower end of elder street no 3 our building was not in the same state as the building in golspie street .can remember kids telling my dad that we were posh so and so,s . my heart goes out to them even to this day .

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  12. Elizabeth was in my class and I remember Brush too. I served as an altar boy at their funeral and will never forget the white coffins or numbers of people who were there. God bless you and those family members left behind.

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    1. Heartbreaking still! I was an alter boy at the funeral. I’m visiting Glasgow today, I’ll be visiting St. Convals

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  13. Of all the murders in glasgow, this must go down as the most wicked evil act to ever happen in that proud hard working class city.

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  14. This is a very sad and disturbing chapter in the Govan story, and it's had many good and bad, no one should ever forget these children, as to do so would be a crime, we should have a plaque or something put up in that area. I for one would donate. Never forget...

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  15. I was 11 years old when this happened. For a long time after this kids were frightened to play outside especially when it got dark, and also being warned not to speak to strangers.
    I remember my wee Ma taking me into Govan on the day of the funeral, and Govan Road was a sea of black, everyone had turned out to pay their last respects to John and Irene.
    I too would donate towards a plaque being erected! This is long overdue.
    God bless both of you and your family
    Never forgotten

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  16. I saw a bench in the walled garden Bellahouston park yesterday with Irene & Johns name. I knew they must have died tragically as on same day and looked the details up so many people lost their life that day as life would never be the same for the family again this is where I am in favour of death sentence.

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  17. I remember these poor wee kids and how awful and devastating fir this family which should have been a new chapter of their lives Rip John and irene 🙏🙏

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  18. I only found out about this when I visited my Cousin in Govan. I was truly shocked when she told me. I lived in Nethan Street and we used to watch weddings in Golspie Street, for the scrambles. I'm sure these 2 wee yins were there also. It was even more of a tragedy as they were moving to a new house next day. I still think about this and can only hope the Dad has recovered from this tragedy. It will always be in his thoughts, but can only wish he managed to lead a reasonable life since. Us Govanites tend to stick together when there is problems to deal with, so I'm sure he would have had plenty of help in dealing with such a tragedy. I read that almost all of Govan turned out for their funeral. All my thoughts are with him and his other child.

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  19. Years have gone bye, as the street has gone too, but what happen on that street will haunt Glasgow forever a shame, my heart goes out to there Da, and the rest of the in laws and all this for a TV. Stupid.....

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  20. Awful the only thing I can say is..... Why.... So bloody sad I can't say how I feel about this😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

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  21. Years go past, all the old area has gone, but people will never forget what happened on that street all those years ago. It's a sad story and every time I read it I get more and more upset and angry........

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  22. Govan is a rough auld place, you had many a gang fight, football fights at the old firm games, but the hard men of that area never would cause children any harm, then out of the shadows comes a monster and does this. They should have hanged this fella, now he wants out. I and plenty other boys and lassies had hard upbringing but never had a thought to do an awful act like this.... The man(rat) what did this should never walk the streets again......

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    1. You are right we had Fred O'hara, Joe macmans, Lord baldy, watty notryal, John Neeson,Ronnie

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  23. What a shame, I looked through the whole story of this incident and the violence used was bang out of order, the whole story is really upsetting from start to finish.it just makes you wonder why some people act the way they do, I mean to say when this idiot seen it was just 2 young people in the house why did he not just about turn and bolt?, or maybe he knew they were in alone and had something else on his mind. No one will ever know, but it's heartbreaking what happened. God Bless the pair of them.

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  24. Never forget get a plauge in goven, this was wrong, I will put £200,to a plauge to these people

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  25. Everyone is upset about this horrible act, but what can we do years later, but let's forget these waines lost their life for a poxy telly😭😭😭

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  26. The fight to get a headstone, is at last completed I for one are very happy about this(even if I only put £5) ,but it's all I had, at least the whole area put in as best they could. Now let's get it erected and remember(as if we could forget).

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  27. Will never forget this barbaric murder of two innocent wee ones.
    Heartbreaking for the family and hope they all find peace some day and wish them the very best ❤️❤️❤️ always.

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    1. Like you, people forget but we remember, this animal will get out in 3,months because he's not right ok, let the bastard move on, I will seek revenge for brush, and the wee yin, is that right or wrong 🤔

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  28. Let's not get carried away, OK this fool did what he did, because he's just an idiot, who obviously had something wrong with his nut, if that was not true why keep him locked up for 40 yrs. The young yins are gone, but people will never forget what he did, but perhaps we should look into the forgiveness as this fella was not right... Was... He... Who knows.. I for one think the bastard should have went to Barlinnie and hung.... Simple as that as decent people think this but are just to scared to say it. As it's not right in today's society.... Is... It...

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  29. I was younger than Irene and John, but remember it well. I didnt understand it at the time as the adults would talk round about the subject in their own kind of coded language whenever us kids were around, but only as i grew older, the detail and horror became apparent. The following year my da moved us to Ayr to what he thought would be a better, safer life. I remember sitting in my da's house in Ayr and he showed me the Daily Record with the article about the volunteers doing the gardens and that beast was actually right outside my new house in Somerset Gardens/former Mackie Street, Ayr posing for photos. I was enraged by this, how dare he stand outside my window smiling and planning his future when our friends were robbed of theirs! Let him rot in Ayr Clinic until he dies and I hope its slow and agonising.

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    1. I am not Unkown, I am Irene Faulds, daughter of Geordie and Betty, sister of George, Liz and Jim. I will stand by my views and not be anonymised.

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  32. I remember this like it was yesterday. I was 11 at the time and I was so filled with terror and fear that I couldn't leave the house. I told my mum I was being sick and she told me to stay in bed. After a couple of days she said that she hadn't heard me being sick at all and forced me to tell her what was wrong. I told her it was the Golspie Street murders. She banned me from reading newspapers and watching the news after that.

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  33. I can never ever get this Terrible act out of my head so only God knows what it was like for their family
    I was 13 years old and in John's class at St Gerard's in our 1st year at secondary school.
    I was a shy boy & stood over at the Peirce institute on my own crying whilst watching those white coffins being carried into the chapel and the look on their poor Dad's face I could never forget.
    Once they were inside I went in but did not join my classmates as I was meant to I stood at the back a 13 year old with a wet face and a throat that would not allow me to speak,sing a hymn nor repeat any responses to the prayers and left me lonely and too embarrassed to join my classmates
    However I did say them in my. head so I hoped that counted but I didn't know if quiet prayer could be heard by God.
    I waited again at the end of the service and hurt even more as that poor tortured man and his daughter bravely accompanied Irene & John on the last leg of their journey on this earth.
    They had a Father who's flame of love could not be extinguished ever.

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  34. We were the Wilson Family who was born and brought up on LANGLANDS Road and knew these kids I remember crying at the sad news and remember the police coming to my mum and dad's door they were lovely kids I remember seeing their little coffins and funeral

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  35. Years have gone past...but Glasgow people will always remember these children...this is something that should never be left to pass into history, I'm 67 abd when I'm thinking to myself over my life I always come back to this sad, sorry, tale...

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  36. John was my Best friend his wee sister was a pain but a good friend sadly missed

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