Irish National Invincibles
| Irish National Invincibles | |
|---|---|
 Grave of James Fitzharris (Skin the Goat) | |
| Also known as | Invincibles |
| Leader | James Carey |
| Dates of operation | 1881–1883 |
| Split from | Irish Republican Brotherhood |
| Country | Ireland |
| Motives | To kill the authorities in Dublin Castle |
| Headquarters | Dublin |
| Ideology | Irish nationalism |
| Major actions | Phoenix Park Murders |
The Irish National Invincibles, usually known as the Invincibles, were a splinter group of the Irish Republican Brotherhood.[1] This group of assassins were active in Dublin between late 1881 and 1883, with an intent to kill the authorities in Dublin Castle.[2]
Phoenix Park Murders[edit]
After numerous attempts on his life, Chief Secretary for Ireland William Edward "Buckshot" Forster resigned in protest of the Kilmainham Treaty.[3] The Invincibles settled on a plan to kill the Permanent Under SecretaryThomas Henry Burke at the Irish Office. The newly installed Chief Secretary for Ireland, Lord Frederick Cavendish, was walking with Burke on the day of his arrival in Ireland when the assassins struck, in Phoenix Park, Dublin, at 17:30 Saturday, 6 May 1882.
The first assassination in the park was committed by Joe Brady, who attacked Burke with a 12-inch knife, followed in short order by Tim Kelly, who knifed Cavendish. Both men used surgical knives. The British press expressed outrage and demanded that the "Phoenix Park Murderers" be brought to justice.
A large number of suspects were arrested. By playing off one suspect against another, Superintendent Mallon of "G" Division of the Dublin Metropolitan Police got several of them to reveal what they knew.[4] The Invincibles' leader, James Carey, and Michael Kavanagh agreed to testify against the others. Joe Brady, Michael Fagan, Thomas Caffrey, Dan Curley and Tim Kelly were hanged by William Marwood in Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin between 14 May and 4 June 1883. Others were sentenced to long prison terms.
No member of the founding executive, however, was ever brought to trial by the British government. John Walsh, Patrick Egan, John Sheridan, Frank Byrne, and Patrick Tynan were welcomed in the United States, where sentiment toward the murders was less severe, although not celebratory.
Aftermath[edit]
Carey was shot dead on board Melrose Castle off Cape Town, South Africa, on 29 July 1883, by Donegal man Patrick O'Donnell, for giving evidence against his former comrades. O'Donnell was apprehended and escorted back to London, where he was convicted of murder at the Old Bailey and hanged on 17 December 1883.[5]
In literature and song[edit]
In Episode Seven of James Joyce's Ulysses, Stephen Dedalus and other characters discuss the assassinations in the offices of the Freeman newspaper. In Episode Sixteen Bloom and Dedalus stop in a cabman's shelter run by a man they believe to be James 'Skin-the-Goat' Fitzharris.
The Invincibles and Carey are mentioned in the folk song "Monto (Take Her Up To Monto)":
When Carey told on Skin-the-goat,
O'Donnell caught him on the boat
He wished he'd never been afloat, the filthy skite.
Twasn't very sensible
To tell on the Invincibles
They stood up for their principles, day and night by going up to Monto Monto......"
Phoenix Park Murders
| Phoenix Park Murders | |
|---|---|
| Location | Phoenix Park, Dublin, Ireland |
| Coordinates | 53.35737°N 6.319411°W |
| Date | 6 May 1882 5:30pm (UTC±00:00) |
| Target | Thomas Henry Burke |
Attack type | Stabbing assassination |
| Weapons | Surgical knives |
| Deaths | Lord Frederick Cavendish Thomas Henry Burke |
| Perpetrator | Irish National Invincibles |
| Assailants | James Carey, Joe Brady, Tim Kelly, and co-conspirators |
| Motive | Irish nationalism |
,_by_John_D._Miller,_pubd_1883_(after_Sir_William_Blake_Richmond,_exh._RA_1874).jpg)
The Phoenix Park Murders were the fatal stabbings of Lord Frederick Cavendish and Thomas Henry Burke in Phoenix Park in Dublin on 6 May 1882. Cavendish was the newly appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland, and Burke was the Permanent Undersecretary, the most senior Irish civil servant. The assassination was carried out by members of the rebel group Irish National Invincibles,[1] a more radical breakaway from the Irish Republican Brotherhood.
Murders[edit]
The Invincibles failed numerous times to kill Chief Secretary "Buckshot" Forster before he resigned his office in protest at the Kilmainham Treaty.[2] The group then settled on a plan to kill the Permanent Under Secretary Thomas Henry Burke at the Irish Office. Newly installed Chief Secretary for Ireland Lord Frederick Cavendish, on the very day of his arrival to Ireland, was walking with Burke to the Viceregal Lodge, the "out of season" residence of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.[citation needed]
The first assassination was committed by Joe Brady, who stabbed Burke with a 12-inch knife, followed in short order by Tim Kelly, who stabbed Cavendish. Both men used surgical knives, delivered by Mary Ann Byrne,[3] in order to avoid making a lot of noise while carrying out the killings. Cavendish was not a target and his presence was happenstance. Thomas Myles, resident surgeon at the nearby Dr Steevens' Hospital, was summoned to render medical assistance to the victims.[4]
The Lord Lieutenant, Lord Spencer, described hearing screams before witnessing a man running to the Lodge grounds shouting "Lord Frederick Cavendish and Mr. Burke are killed."[5] The assailants were driven away in a cab by James Fitzharris (nicknamed "Skin the Goat") who served as a getaway driver.[6]
Investigation[edit]
The hunt for the perpetrators was led by Superintendent John Mallon, a Catholic who came from Armagh. Mallon had a pretty shrewd idea of who was involved. He suspected a number of former Fenian activists. A large number of suspects were arrested and kept in prison by claiming they were connected with other crimes. By playing off one suspect against another Mallon got several of them to reveal what they knew.[7]
The case was successfully prosecuted by the Attorney General, Solicitor General, James Murphy Q.C. (later Mr Justice Murphy), and Peter O’Brien, before Justice William O’Brien.[8][9] Invincibles' leader James Carey, Michael Kavanagh and Joe Hanlon agreed to testify against the others. Joe Brady, Michael Fagan, Thomas Caffrey, Dan Curley and Tim Kelly were convicted of the murder,[10] and were hanged by William Marwood in Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin between 14 May and 9 June 1883. Others, convicted as accessories to the crime, were sentenced to serve long prison terms. The getaway driver, James Fitzharris, was acquitted of murder but retried as an accessory and convicted.[10]
Only the case of Tim Kelly gave any real difficulty. He was 19 and generally said to look much younger, and by referring to him as "a child" his defence counsel created enough unease for two juries to disagree. Only after an unprecedented third trial was he found guilty.[10]
Implications[edit]
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Charles Stewart Parnell's policy of allying his party to Gladstone's Liberal Party in 1886 to enable Home Rule was also ultimately defeated by the murders. Gladstone's Minister Lord Hartington was the elder brother of Lord Frederick Cavendish. Infuriated by the manner of his brother's early death, Hartington split with Gladstone on the Home Rule bills[11] of 1886 and 1893 and led the breakaway Liberal Unionist Association which allied itself to Lord Salisbury'sconservative governments. In the ensuing 1886 general election the Conservatives and Liberal Unionists swept the board. This delayed Home Rule by 28 years, until the Third Irish Home Rule Bill which was passed technically in 1914, but which was never effected.[citation needed]
Reaction[edit]
Charles Stewart Parnell made a speech condemning the murders in 1882. This increased his already huge popularity in both Britain and Ireland. He had just enabled some reforms under the Kilmainham Treaty four days before the murders. Parnell's reputation increased in Ireland, being seen as a more moderate reformer who would never excuse such tactics.[12]
In March 1887, The Times printed letters purportedly from Parnell claiming sympathy with the murderers and that his public denunciation of them was insincere. It emerged that the letters were forgeries written by journalist Richard Pigott,[13] and Parnell was personally vindicated by the Parnell Commission in 1888–89.[14]
Memorial[edit]
There is a cross cut into the grass at the location of the killings. It is 60 centimetres (24 in) long, filled with a small amount of gravel and cut thinly.[15]