Irish Eye on Hollywood:
Canadian Irish Murder Gets TV Treatment

Margaret Atwood.

By Tom Deignan, Contributor
October / November 2016

A notorious murder case in Canada involving an Irish immigrant is the basis for a forthcoming Netflix series. The streaming service is developing the best-selling Margaret Atwood novel Alias Grace into a six-hour mini-series. As the Hollywood Reporter put it: “Published in 1996, Alias Grace follows Grace Marks, a poor, young Irish immigrant and domestic servant in upper Canada who, along with stable hand James McDermott, was convicted of the brutal murders of their employer, Thomas Kinnear, and his housekeeper, Nancy Montgomery, in 1843.” James was eventually executed by hanging, and Marks was sentenced to life imprisonment. She became infamous for her crime, though in the decades that followed new evidence emerged and Grace Marks was eventually pardoned. Look for Alias Grace on Netflix next year. ♦

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