Dominick Dáll Bodkin was born into the Bodkin family, one of the renowned Tribes of Galway—a group of 14 merchant families that dominated the political, commercial, and social life of Galway city. Though noble by birth, Dominick Dáll had a notorious reputation. Known for being blind in one eye, pockmarked, and a heavy drinker, he was estranged from at least one brother, Oliver Bodkin of Carrowbeg House, near Tuam in County Galway.

Dominick resided at Carrowbeg House, which technically belonged to another brother, Counsellor John Bodkin, who lived in Dublin and only visited the property occasionally. The Bodkin family was large and divided, with several nephews and interlinked lines bearing the same names.

In 1737, Dominick Dáll’s nephew, Dominick fitz Counsellor, mysteriously died in his sleep at Carrowbeg.

The Carrowbawn House massacre, orchestrated by Dominick Dáll Bodkin and carried out on the night of 18 September 1740, remains one of the most brutal and chilling episodes of familial mass murder in Irish history. The crime was rooted in a bitter inheritance dispute and a web of long-standing resentment between members of the prominent Bodkin family, one of the original Tribes of Galway. The primary conspirators were Dominick Dáll, a one-eyed, hard-drinking outcast with a violent reputation, and his nephew, John fitz Oliver Bodkin, a disgraced law student who had lived a life of excess and had been disowned by his father, Oliver Bodkin of Carrowbawn House, near Tuam, County Galway. After Oliver Sr. cut off John's financial support and changed his will in favor of his youngest son, Oliver fitz Oliver, John resolved to eliminate his father, stepmother, and half-brother in order to regain his inheritance. He enlisted the help of his uncle Dominick Dáll, as well as two co-conspirators: John Hogan, a herdsman and foster-father to the younger Oliver, and a hired thug known only as Burke.

The four men gathered on the night of 18 September, first dispatching the household dogs to avoid detection. They then made their way into the servants’ quarters, where they slaughtered five people — three male servants and two young women — by slitting their throats. Moving into the main house, they killed the housekeeper and her husband before turning their attention to the rest of the residents. In the guest room, Marcus Lynch, an overnight visitor, was found and murdered by John fitz Oliver. John Hogan then entered the master bedroom and murdered Oliver Bodkin and his wife in their sleep. However, when it came time to kill the child, Oliver fitz Oliver, Hogan hesitated. Perhaps moved by his foster-father bond, he instead smeared the boy’s face and clothes with blood to make it appear he was already dead, hoping to deceive his fellow killers. But Dominick Dáll saw through the ruse and, showing no mercy, took the boy’s life himself, reportedly by decapitation.

The next morning, the horror was discovered by Francis II de Bermingham, Lord Athenry, who had been alerted by surviving day servants. Authorities quickly apprehended the perpetrators, and on 6 October 1740, Dominick Dáll, John fitz Oliver, and John Hogan were taken to Bridewell prison in Tuam. All three confessed to the killings, with Dominick Dáll admitting to personally murdering six of the eleven victims. On 8 October, they were executed at Claretuam crossroads, not far from the scene of the massacre. At the gallows, John fitz Oliver made a final accusation, claiming that his cousin John fitz Counsellor Bodkin had murdered his own brother Dominick in 1737. Following this declaration, Dominick Dáll and John fitz Oliver were hanged and then gibbeted in which their bodies left to rot in public view  while Hogan's head was placed on a spike above the market house in Tuam. Their remains were buried beneath the gallows tree.

The chain of events did not end there. The newly accused John fitz Counsellor fled but was eventually captured on 22 October 1740 hiding in a bog. He was tried the following March at Ennis, refused to speak at his trial, and was subsequently hanged. His head was severed, following the same grim tradition.