The Irish National Invincibles, usually known as the Invincibles, were a freedom fighter organization based in Ireland active from 1881 to 1883. Founded as splinter group of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the group had a more radical agenda, and was formed with an intent to target those who implemented English policies in Ireland.

Phoenix Park Attack

After numerous attempts on his life,

Chief Secretary for Ireland The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant, and officially the "Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant", from the early 19th century u ...

William Edward "Buckshot" Forster resigned in protest of the

Kilmainham Treaty The Kilmainham Treaty was an informal agreement reached in May 1882 between Liberal British prime minister William Ewart Gladstone and the Irish nationalist leader Charles Stewart Parnell. Whilst in gaol, Parnell moved in April 1882 to make a ...

. The Invincibles settled on a plan to kill the Permanent Under Secretary Thomas Henry Burke at the Irish Office. The newly installed Chief Secretary for Ireland,

Lord Frederick Cavendish Lord Frederick Charles Cavendish (30 November 1836 – 6 May 1882) was an English Liberal politician and ''protégé'' of the Prime Minister, William Ewart Gladstone. Cavendish was appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland in May 1882 but was ...

, was walking with Burke on the day of his arrival in Ireland when they struck, in

Phoenix Park The Phoenix Park ( ga, Páirc an Fhionnuisce) is a large urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its perimeter wall encloses of recreational space. It includes large areas of grassland and t ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

, at 17:30 Saturday, 6 May 1882. Joe Brady attacked Burke, followed in short order by Tim Kelly, who knifed Cavendish. Both men used surgical knives. A large number of suspects were arrested, interrogated and tortured. Superintendent Mallon of "G" Division of the

Dublin Metropolitan Police The Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP) was the police force of Dublin, Ireland, from 1836 to 1925, when it was amalgamated into the new Garda Síochána. History 19th century The Dublin city police had been subject to major reforms in 1786 and ...

got several of them to reveal what they knew. 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 Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The '' Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging ...

William Marwood William Marwood (1818 – 4 September 1883) was a hangman for the British government. He developed the technique of hanging known as the " long drop". Early life Marwood was born in 1818 in the village of Goulceby, the fifth of ten childre ...

Kilmainham Gaol Kilmainham Gaol ( ga, Príosún Chill Mhaighneann) is a former prison in Kilmainham, Dublin, Ireland. It is now a museum run by the Office of Public Works, an agency of the Government of Ireland. Many Irish revolutionaries, including the l ...

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 fled to the United States.

Aftermath

Carey was shot dead on board ''Melrose Castle'' off

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, South Africa, on 29 July 1883, by

Donegal Donegal may refer to: County Donegal, Ireland * County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster * Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland * Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...

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 The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

and

on 17 December 1883.

In literature and song

In Episode Seven of

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the Modernism, modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important ...

'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) "Monto (Take Her Up To Monto)" is an Irish folk song, written in 1958 by George Desmond Hodnett, music critic of the ''Irish Times'', and popularised by the Dubliners. Frank Harte was also known to sing the song. Lyrics Well, if you've got a wing ...

": ''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......"''

References

External links

Podcast about the Irish National Invincibles and the Fenian Dynamite Campaign with Dr. Shane Kenna.

{{IRB Irish Republican Brotherhood Defunct organisations based in Ireland History of Ireland (1801–1923) Irish revolutionaries Organisations based in Dublin (city) History of County Dublin Anti-imperialism in Europe Irish nationalist assassins Irish republican militant groups