The Clerkenwell explosion, also known as the Clerkenwell Outrage, was a bombing attack carried out by the

Irish Republican Brotherhood The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB; ) was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic republic" in Ireland between 1858 and 1924.McGee, p. 15. Its counterpart in the United States ...

(IRB) in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on 13 December 1867. Members of the IRB, who were nicknamed "

Fenian The word ''Fenian'' () served as an umbrella term for the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and their affiliate in the United States, the Fenian Brotherhood. They were secret political organisations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries ...

s", exploded a bomb to try to free a member of their group who was being held on remand at Clerkenwell Prison. The explosion damaged nearby houses, killed 12 civilians and wounded 120; no prisoners escaped and the attack was a failure. The event was described by ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' the following day as "a crime of unexampled atrocity", and compared to the "infernal machines" used in Paris in

1800 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 18), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 12 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 16), ...

and

1835 Events January–March * January 7 – anchors off the Chonos Archipelago on her second voyage, with Charles Darwin on board as naturalist. * January 8 – The United States public debt contracts to zero, for the only time in history. ...

and the Gunpowder Treason of 1605. Denounced by politicians and writers from both sides of the political spectrum, the bombing was later described as the most infamous action perpetrated by Fenians in Britain during the 19th century. It enraged the British public, causing a backlash which undermined the

Irish Home Rule Movement The Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for Devolution, self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1870 to ...

Background

The whole of Ireland had been under

British rule The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or dire ...

since the end of the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...

in 1603. The

(IRB) was founded on 17 March 1858 with the aim of establishing an independent republic in Ireland, and the

Fenian Brotherhood The Fenian Brotherhood () was an Irish republican organisation founded in the United States in 1858 by John O'Mahony and Michael Doheny. It was a precursor to Clan na Gael, a sister organisation to the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). Membe ...

, ostensibly the American wing of the IRB, was founded in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1859. The IRB was a revolutionary fraternal organisation, rather than an insurrectionary conspiracy. It had an estimated 100,000 members by 1865, and frequently carried out acts of violence in Great Britain. In 1867, the IRB was preparing to launch an armed uprising against British rule in Ireland, but their plans became known to the

Dublin Castle administration Dublin Castle was the centre of the government of Ireland under English and later British rule. "Dublin Castle" is used metonymically to describe British rule in Ireland. The Castle held only the executive branch of government and the Privy Cou ...

, and members of the movement's leadership were arrested and convicted. Two succeeded in evading the police and fled to England, but they were arrested in Manchester and held in custody. On 18 September 1867, while they were being transferred from the courthouse to Belle Vue Gaol, the police van in which they were being transported was intercepted and they were freed. Police Sergeant Charles Brett was shot dead during the escape. Five suspected of involvement in the escape were tried for murder and sentenced to death. One was pardoned, and one had his sentence commuted, but the remaining three were hanged at Salford Gaol on the morning of Saturday 23 November 1867. Three days earlier, on 20 November 1867, Ricard O'Sullivan Burke and his companion Joseph Casey were arrested in Woburn Square in London. Burke had purchased weapons for the Fenians in Birmingham. Burke was charged with

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

and Casey with assaulting a constable. They were remanded in custody pending trial, and imprisoned at the Middlesex House of Detention, also known as Clerkenwell Prison (formerly the site of Clerkenwell Bridewell and the New Prison). (The prison was demolished in 1890; the Hugh Myddleton School building now stands on the site and has been converted into flats; a plaque commemorates the events.) In the previous weeks, a series of meetings of thousands of people regarding the three men convicted of Brett's murder had been held nearby on Clerkenwell Green, with a deputation sent to the

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

and petition to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

seeking clemency. A march from Clerkenwell Green to Hyde Park was held on Sunday 24 November, preceded by a black banner quoting from

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...

's 1784 poem ''Man was made to mourn: A Dirge'': " Man's inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn."

Bombing

Burke's Republican colleagues tried to free him on Thursday 12 December, without success. They tried to blow a hole in the prison wall while the prisoners were exercising in the prison yard, but their bomb failed to explode. They tried again at about 3:45 pm the following day, 13 December, using a barrel of

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...

concealed on a

costermonger A costermonger, coster, or costard is a street seller of fruit and vegetables in British towns. The term is derived from the words ''Costard (apple), costard'' (a medieval variety of apple) and ''monger'' (seller), and later came to be used to des ...

's barrow. The explosion demolished a section of the wall, but no one escaped: the prison authorities had been forewarned and the prisoners were exercised earlier in the day, so they were locked in their cells when the bomb exploded. The blast also damaged several nearby tenement houses on Corporation Lane (now Corporation Row) on the opposite side of the road, killing 12 people and causing many injuries, with estimates ranging from around 30 to over 120.

Trial

Charges were laid against eight, but two turned Queen's evidence. Michael Barrett and five others were tried 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 ...

from Monday 20 to Monday 27 April 1868.

Lord Chief Justice The Lord or Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary of England and Wales and the president of the courts of England and Wales. Until 2005 the lord chief justice was the second-most senior judge of the English a ...

Cockburn and Mr Baron Bramwell presided with a jury. The prosecution was led by the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

Sir John Karslake and the

Solicitor General A solicitor general is a government official who serves as the chief representative of the government in courtroom proceedings. In systems based on the English common law that have an attorney general or equivalent position, the solicitor general ...

Sir Baliol Brett supported by Hardinge Giffard QC and two junior counsel. Defence barristers included Montagu Williams and Edward Clarke. Barrett, a native of

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of and had a population of 63,585 as of 2021. Enniskillen is the ...

, protested his innocence, and some witnesses testified that he was in Scotland on 13 December, but another identified him as being present at the scene. Two defendants were acquitted on the instructions of the presiding judges in the course of the trial, leaving four before the jury. After deliberating for 2½ hours, three of the defendants were acquitted, but Barrett was convicted of murder at around 6:30pm on 27 April, and sentenced to death. Further enquiries into his claim to have been in Glasgow at the time of the bombing were unable to disturb the sentence, and Barrett was

hanged Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

William Calcraft William Calcraft (11 October 1800 – 13 December 1879) was a 19th-century English hangman, one of the most prolific of British executioners. It is estimated in his 45-year career he carried out 450 executions. A cobbler by trade, ...

on the morning of Tuesday 26 May 1868 outside

Newgate Prison Newgate Prison was a prison at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey, just inside the City of London, England, originally at the site of Newgate, a gate in the Roman London Wall. Built in the 12th century and demolished in 1904, the pr ...

. He was the last man to be publicly hanged in England, with the practice being ended from 29 May 1868 by the Capital Punishment Amendment Act 1868. The trial of Burke and Casey, and a third defendant, Henry Shaw aka Mullady, began on 28 April, all charged with treason, before Mr Baron Bramwell and Mr Justice Keating and a jury. The prosecution claimed that Burke had been involved in finding arms for the Fenians in Birmingham in late 1865 and early 1866, where he was using the name "Edward C Winslow". After a period in the USA, he returned to Liverpool to take part in the preparations for a plan to storm Chester Castle, and then in Ireland. After court hearings on 28, 29 and 30 April, the case against Casey was withdrawn, but Burke and Mullady were found guilty of treason on 30 April, and sentenced to 15 years and 7 years of

penal servitude Penal labour is a term for various kinds of forced labour that prisoners are required to perform, typically manual labour. The work may be light or hard, depending on the context. Forms of sentence involving penal labour have included inv ...

respectively. Burke protested that he was not a subject of the Queen, but a soldier of the United States, but evidence was provided that his mother and sister lived in Ireland, and he was convicted nonetheless.

Aftermath

This bombing enraged the British public, souring relations between Britain and Ireland and causing a panic over the Fenian threat. The radical,

Charles Bradlaugh Charles Bradlaugh (; 26 September 1833 – 30 January 1891) was an English political activist and atheist. He founded the National Secular Society in 1866, 15 years after George Holyoake had coined the term "secularism" in 1851. In 1880, Br ...

, condemned the incident in his newspaper the '' National Reformer'' as an act "calculated to destroy all sympathy, and to evoke the opposition of all classes". The bombing had a traumatic effect on British working-class opinion.

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

, then living in London, observed:

The London masses, who have shown great sympathy towards Ireland, will be made wild and driven into the arms of a reactionary government. One cannot expect the London proletarians to allow themselves to be blown up in honour of Fenian emissaries.

A cartoon by

John Tenniel John Tenniel (; 28 February 182025 February 1914) was an English illustrator, graphic humourist and political cartoonist prominent in the second half of the 19th century. An alumnus of the Royal Academy of Arts in London, he was knight bachelor ...

published in ''Punch'' magazine on 28 December 1867 shows the "Fenian Guy Fawkes" sitting on a barrel of gunpowder with a lighted match, surrounded by innocent women and children. The day before the explosion, the Prime Minister

Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman, Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician and writer who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a ...

, had banned all political demonstrations in London in an attempt to put a stop to the weekly meetings and marches that were being held in support of the Fenians, with a similar vice-regal declaration in Ireland. Disraeli had feared that the ban might be challenged, but the explosion had the effect of turning public opinion in his favour. After the explosion, he advocated the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act in Britain, as was already the case in Ireland, and wider security measures were introduced. Thousands of special constables were enlisted to assist the police. The Metropolitan Police formed a Special Irish Branch at

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's London boroughs, 32 boroughs. Its name derives from the location of the original ...

in March 1883, initially as a small section of the

Criminal Investigation Department The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is the branch of a police force to which most plainclothes criminal investigation, detectives belong in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth nations. A force's CID is disti ...

, to monitor Fenian activity.

, reportedly irritated that only one man was convicted for the bombing, wrote to Home Secretary Gathorne Hardy observing that she was "beginning to wish" that perpetrators of such crimes "be lynch-lawed on the spot". Liberal leader

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

, then in opposition, announced his concern about Irish grievances within days of the explosion, and said that it was the duty of the British people to remove them. This act powerfully influenced Gladstone in deciding that the

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

should be disestablished as a concession to Irish disaffection. Later, he said that it was the Fenian action at Clerkenwell that turned his mind towards Home Rule. When Gladstone discovered at

Hawarden Hawarden (; ) is a village and community (Wales), community in Flintshire, Wales. It is part of the Deeside conurbation on the Wales-England border and is home to Hawarden Castle (medieval), Hawarden Castle. In the 2011 United Kingdom census, ...

later that year that Queen Victoria had invited him to form a government he famously stated, "my mission is to pacify Ireland". In April 1867, the supreme council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood condemned the Clerkenwell Outrage as a "dreadful and deplorable event", but the organisation returned to bombings in Britain in 1881 to 1885, with the

Fenian dynamite campaign The Fenian dynamite campaign (also known as the Fenian bombing campaign) was a campaign of political violence orchestrated by Irish republican paramilitary groups in Great Britain from 1881 to 1885. It involved attacks using explosives such as ...

. The impact of the event was referred to over 50 years later, when a review of

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

's novel '' Ulysses'' in the ''

Quarterly Review The ''Quarterly Review'' was a literary and political periodical founded in March 1809 by London publishing house John Murray. It ceased publication in 1967. It was referred to as ''The London Quarterly Review'', as reprinted by Leonard Scott, f ...

'' in October 1922 described the book as "an attempted Clerkenwell explosion in the well-guarded, well-built, classical prison of English literature". On 24 September 1877, MP

Charles Stewart Parnell Charles Stewart Parnell (27 June 1846 – 6 October 1891) was an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom from 1875 to 1891, Leader of the Home Rule Leag ...

opined to his constituents that "No amount of eloquence could achieve what the fear of an impending insurrection, what the Clerkenwell explosion and the shot in the police van anchester Martyrs incidenthad achieved." Parnell also attributed the explosion and the Manchester Martyrs incident as leading to "some measure of protection being given to the Irish tenant" and the

being " disestablished and disendowed".

References

Sources

thevictorianist.blogspot.co.uk

nowrigglingoutofwriting.wordpress.com

Irish Freedom
Richard English, p. 181-2
Victorian Sensation: Or the Spectacular, the Shocking and the Scandalous in Nineteenth-Century Britain
Michael Diamond, p. 56-7
Ireland's Terrorist Dilemma
Yonah Alexander, Alan O'Day, 53-6
An explosive trial, part 1

An explosive trial, part 2

The last public hanging
information-britain.co.uk
Victorian Hangings: Michael Barrett
truecrimelibrary.com
The Fenian Prisoners at the Bow Street Police Court
Museum of London
Fenian explosion at Clerkenwell Prison
Museum of London
House of detention, Clerkenwell after an explosion
Museum of London

, Metropolitan Police
Irish Political Prisoners, 1848–1922: Theatres of War
Seán McConville, p. 136-138, 260–261
Joyce's Ulysses: A Reader's Guide
Sean Sheehan, p. 99
The Making of Ireland: From Ancient Times to the Present
James Lydon, p. 308 *Contemporary news reports: ** London, Saturday, 14 December 1867 – ''The Times'', Saturday, 14 Dec 1867; pg. 6; Issue 25994; col D ** Central Criminal Court, 20 April: The Fenian Trials – ''The Times'', Tuesday, 21 Apr 1868; pg. 11; Issue 26104; col A ** Central Criminal Court, 21 April: The Fenian Trials – ''The Times'', Wednesday, 22 Apr 1868; pg. 11; Issue 26105; col B ** Central Criminal Court, 20 April ic The Fenian Trials – ''The Times'', Thursday, 23 Apr 1868; pg. 11; Issue 26106; col B ** Central Criminal Court, 23 April: The Fenian Trials – ''The Times'', Friday, 24 Apr 1868; pg. 11; Issue 26107; col C ** Central Criminal Court, 24 April: The Fenian Trials – ''The Times'', Saturday, 25 Apr 1868; pg. 11; Issue 26108; col A ** Central Criminal Court, 25 April: The Fenian Trials – ''The Times'', Monday, 27 Apr 1868; pg. 11; Issue 26109; col B ** Central Criminal Court, 27 April: The Fenian Trials – ''The Times'', Tuesday, 28 Apr 1868; pg. 11; Issue 26110; col C ** Central Criminal Court, 28 April: The Fenian Trials – ''The Times'', Wednesday, 29 Apr 1868; pg. 11; Issue 26111; col B ** Central Criminal Court, 29 April. The Fenian Trials – ''The Times'', Thursday, 30 Apr 1868; pg. 11; Issue 26112; col C ** Central Criminal Court, 30 April. The Fenian Trials – ''The Times'', Friday, 1 May 1868; pg. 11; Issue 26113; col B {{coord, 51.5245, N, 0.1072, W, source:wikidata-and-enwiki-cat-tree_region:GB, display=title 1867 in London

Explosion An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume of a given amount of matter associated with an extreme outward release of energy, usually with the generation of high temperatures and release of high-pressure gases. Explosions may also be generated ...

December 1867 History of the London Borough of Islington Building bombings in London Irish Republican Brotherhood Mass murder in London 19th-century terrorist incidents 1867 murders in the United Kingdom 1860s murders in London History of the Metropolitan Police 19th-century mass murder in the United Kingdom Prison bombings Mass murder in 1867 Terrorist incidents attributed to Irish republican militant groups Residential building bombings in the United Kingdom Attacks on residential buildings in England Attacks on prisons in Europe