The Invincibles: Remembering these politically-charged murders can have modern-day lessons.
The Phoenix Park Murders were a watershed moment in Irish Republican history. They were labelled as treason and terrorism at the time. The murders were even referenced in the Aeolus chapter of Ulysses (set in the Freeman’s Journal) and also in The Dubliners song “Monto.” But what actually happened and its ramifications for Ireland are more complicated than just a double murder.
Events
17:30 Saturday, 6th May 1882 was a balmy evening in the British Empire’s second city. Two of the most powerful men in the country are walking through the Phoenix Park, without a care in the world. And why would they feel anything less than safe? Lord Frederick Cavendish was the Chief Secretary for Ireland and was married to the niece of the British Prime Minister Gladstone. He was also a personal friend of Gladstone, having served as his secretary for a number of years. His life had been one of luxury and influence. It was far removed from the realities of day-to-day existence in the troublesome little colony he had just arrived in that morning.
His walking companion was Thomas Henry Burke. Burke had just gotten out of a horse-drawn cab on Chesterfield Avenue near the park gate. Burke was the Permanent Undersecretary of Ireland, a position of massive importance. They were on their way to the Viceregal Lodge. It’s now the residence of our president, Áras an Uachtaráin. But then it was the second home of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. They were both rich and powerful individuals. But on that summer night, they were to discover they were not invincible.
Without warning, emerging from ambush positions in the undergrowth, seven strangers swarmed them from all directions.
Thomas Henry Burke
Lord Frederick Cavendish
The Aftermath
Lord Lieutenant Spencer waited in the lodge for his esteemed colleagues to arrive. They were to discuss the latest machinations of the British occupation. His chamber music was interrupted by the sounds of screams. Looking out the large picture window, he saw a shadowy figure running across the sunlit pristine lawns declaring “Cavendish and Burke are killed!” The two men were found brutally stabbed to death shortly afterwards.
These seemingly senseless homicides had far-reaching repercussions for both Ireland’s imperialist rulers, and for Ireland itself. Whilst the attack was ill thought-out, it was certainly not without provocation.
Several recent atrocities committed by the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) provided fodder for perceived retaliation attacks on symbols of British rule. Only the day before, in Ballina County Mayo, the RIC fired rounds indiscriminately into a crowd of civilians, murdering women and children. Yet it was this crime against two “important” men that sent seismic shocks through British society. A modern-day comparison would be if the Tánaiste and their chief civil servant were assassinated in the street.
There was a huge and largely indiscriminate roundup of suspects. Any known Fenians, or even just adult Irish men in the vicinity were hauled before the Dublin Metropolitan Police. Superintendent John Mallon, the head of the investigation, was known for his heavy interrogation skills. But they weren’t required. The assassins were part of a Fenian secret society, who left calling cards in all of Dublin’s newspapers claiming responsibility for the crime. The called themselves “The Irish National Invincibles.”
Memorial Cross in Phoenix Park
The Invincibles
The Invincibles were a splinter group of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). The IRB were considered a terrorist organisation by the British. But their modus operandi differed greatly from the impulsive actions employed by the Invincibles. The Invincibles had a short-lived cell – it only operated between 1881 and 1883. They lacked professionalism, even when dealing with arguably “easy” unarmed targets. This, combined with their willingness to rat each other out, proved to be their undoing.
They had picked Burke only after numerous bumbling attempts to assassinate Chief Secretary “Buckshot” Forster. Chief Secretary for Ireland, Lord Frederick Cavendish was merely a lucky bonus. The Invincibles used surgical knives to do their dirty deed. Member Joe Brady stabbed Burke, whilst Tim Kelly dispatched Cavendish. The leaders of the Invincibles were apprehended. Torture methods coerced them in to turning in their comrades in order to avoid the noose in Kilmainham Gaol.
The cell leaders James Carey and Michael Kavanagh testified, likely under extreme duress, against the killers. Brady and Kelly, along with Michael Fagan, Thomas Caffrey, Dan Curley were hanged in Kilmainham between 14th May and 4th June 1883. Dozens of others who were arrested during the thrall were convicted of other assorted and trumped-up Fenian crimes and went to jail. Many were sentenced to serve long prison terms. The getaway driver – James ‘Skin-the-Goat’ Fitzharris – was acquitted but was found guilty on retrial.
Carey was not to escape justice for his perceived treachery however. He was assassinated on a ship off Cape Town on 29th July 1883 by a fellow Irishman Patrick O’Donnell. This was in revenge for his disloyalty at handing over his co-conspirators to the British. For his part O’Donnell himself was executed by the British for the crime of killing Carey.
Repercussions of the Actions of the Invincibles
Far from lighting the spark of a Fenian uprising, the assassinations became a PR fiasco for Charles Stewart Parnell. He was the legitimate face of Irish civil rights at the time. The acts of the Invincibles, compounded by their arguably shameful actions afterwards got great coverage in both the British press and in Parliament. The Irish were painted as chaotic brutes, unworthy of further freedoms. Yet paradoxically it provided a showcase for Parnell’s oratorical wisdom and political skills. He was called on to make many public appearances and speeches about the incident. This won him many hearts and minds on both sides of the Irish sea.
The legacy of the murders would further poison Ireland’s hopes of peace and independence. It outraged and martyred the British occupational government, an overshadowed their numerous atrocities against civilians in Ireland. It arguably sank Prime Minister Gladstone’s Liberal Parties efforts to initiate Home Rule. You can imagine the position Gladstone was in when the “bloody Irish” had just butchered two of his civil servants in his back garden.
The repercussions of the murders also tore the Liberty Party itself asunder. This affected the political landscape of Britain as a whole. The executed Invincibles’ remains sadly lie beneath the slabs of Kilmainham Gaol still. If those short-sighted assassins sought to spread chaos across the empire, then in that enterprise at least, they succeeded!
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Author bio:
Rob Buchanan was one of the winners of 2015 Poetry Ireland Introductions series. His debut poetry collection “The Cost of Living” sold out. He has won national and international awards for his writing, and has been published in a number of poetry journals and magazines including The Stinging Fly, Flare, Live Encounters and Pendemic. Rob was a winner of the Young Ireland Award in Glasgow for his lectures on the Dangers of Democracy. He has written popular current affairs columns for, and been published, in DublinLive, The Outmost, Eile, An Phoblacht , Rukkle, Headspace and The Journal. Rob lives in Dublin and is working on his first novel and a Dublin history anthology.
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