“Irish stew…in the name of the law” (knock-knock joke)

A popular knock-knock joke is:
 
Knock knock.
Who’s there?
Irish stew.
Irish stew who?
Irish stew in the name of the law.
 
The last line should sound like “I arrest you in the name of the law.” “Irish Stew in the name of the Law”—without the “knock-knock” joke format—was published in the memoir Adolf Hitler: My Part in his Downfall (1971) by Irish-English comedian and writer Spike Milligan (1918-2002).
 
     
Wikipedia: Spike Milligan
Terence Alan “Spike” Milligan KBE (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish-English comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright and actor. The son of an Irish father and an English mother, his early life was spent in India where he was born. The majority of his working life was spent in the United Kingdom. He disliked his first name and began to call himself “Spike” after hearing a band on Radio Luxembourg called Spike Jones and his City Slickers.
 
Milligan was the co-creator, main writer and a principal cast member of The Goon Show, performing a range of roles including the popular Eccles and Minnie Bannister characters. Milligan wrote and edited many books, including Puckoon and his seven-volume autobiographical account of his time serving during the Second World War, beginning with Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall.
 
Google Books
Adolf Hitler:
My Part in his Downfall
By Spike Milligan
Harmondsworth: Penguin Books
1971
Pg. ?:
He doled out something into my mess tin. “What is it?” I asked. “Irish Stew,” he said, “Then”, I replied, “Irish Stew in the name of the Law.”
   
Google Books
Books and Bookmen
Volume 18
1972
Pg. 11:
I couldn’t think of anything to say except Milligan’s answer to the army cook in his Bexhill-on-Sea artillery unit: ‘Irish stew in the name of the law.’
 
16 January 1982, The Irish Times (Dublin), “The Saturday Column” edited by Conor O’Clery, Weekend, pg. 6, col. 6:
Knock knock.
Who’s there?
Irish stew.
Irish stew who?
Irish stew in the name of the law.
   
Google Books
December 1982, Boys’ Life, “Think & Grin,” pg. 82, col. 1:
Carrot: Knock, knock.
Potato: Who’s there?
Carrot: Irish stew.
Potato: Irish stew, who?
Carrot: Irish stew in the name of the law. — J. Santos, Hayward, Calif.
 
Twitter
Adam Bird
‏@adambird
@jemimakiss Policeman wants a free meal, sits down at a restaurant, lsays to the waiter “Irish Stew, in the name of the law”
6:42 AM - 11 Feb 2009
 
Twitter
Laura Cousins
‏@LauraFCousins
@incurablehippie Knock Knock. Who’s there? Irish Stew. Irish Stew who? Irish Stew in the name of the Law!
3:25 PM - 23 Oct 2010
 
Google Books
The Amazing Book of Knock Knock Jokes
By Jack Goldstein
Andrews UK Limited
2015
Pg. ?:
Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Irish stew.
Irish stew who?
Irish stew in the name of the law!
   
Twitter
LordWoolamaloo
‏@LordWoolamaloo
@GarthCremona as the old joke goes “Irish Stew… in the name of the law” 😊
2:05 PM - 10 Dec 2016