The Fenian dynamite campaign (also known as the Fenian bombing campaign) was a campaign of

political violence Political violence is violence which is perpetrated in order to achieve political goals. It can include violence which is used by a State (polity), state against other states (war), violence which is used by a state against civilians and non-st ...

orchestrated by

Irish republican Irish republicanism () is the political movement for an Irish republic, void of any British rule. Throughout its centuries of existence, it has encompassed various tactics and identities, simultaneously elective and militant and has been both w ...

paramilitary groups in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

from 1881 to 1885. It involved attacks using

explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An ex ...

s such as

dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern German ...

on British government and civilian targets and was 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 ...

, United Irishmen of America and Clan na Gael with the ultimate aim of ending

British rule in Ireland British colonial rule in Ireland built upon the 12th-century Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland on behalf of the English king and eventually spanned several centuries that involved British control of parts, or the entirety, of the island of Irel ...

Infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and pri ...

was attacked along with government (including military and police) targets as part of the campaign, which killed 4 people, including a young boy, and wounded 86. The campaign met with widespread backlash in Britain and a mixed response in Ireland, and led to the establishment of the Special Irish Branch by the Metropolitan Police to counter the campaign. By 1885, the campaign petered out, though Irish republicans would continue to carry out attacks in Great Britain well into the 20th century.

Timeline of the campaign

;1881 *14 Jan 1881: A bomb exploded at a military barracks in Salford, Lancashire.Porter, Bernard. ''The origins of the vigilant state: the London Metropolitan Police Special Branch before the First World War''. Boydell & Brewer, 1991. Pp.27-28 A young boy was killed *16 Mar 1881: A bomb was found and defused in the Mansion House, London. *5 May 1881: Bomb explodes at Chester Barracks, Chester. *16 May 1881: Bomb attack at Liverpool police barracks. *10 June 1881: Bomb planted at

Liverpool Town Hall Liverpool Town Hall stands in High Street, Liverpool, High Street at its junction with Dale Street, Castle Street, and Water Street, Liverpool, Water Street in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for E ...

, *30 June 1881: Disguised explosives found aboard SS Malta at Liverpool. *2 July 1881: Disguised explosives found aboard SS Bavaria in Liverpool. ;1882 *12 May 1882: A bomb exploded at the Mansion House, London. ;1883 *20 January 1883: In

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, bombs exploded at Tradeston Gasworks, Possil Road Bridge and Buchanan Street Station. About a dozen people were injured. *15 Mar 1883: In London, bombs exploded at government buildings at

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London, England. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It ...

and at the offices of ''

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 ...

'' newspaper. There were no injuries. *29 March 1883: Fenians Denis Deasy, Timothy Featherstone and Patsy Flanagan are arrested while police in

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

raid the homes and businesses of associates of Deasy and Flanagan. *28 May 1883: Future Easter Rising leader Tom Clarke is sentenced to

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 ...

for life. *11 June 1883: Gallagher Trials begin. *22 August 1883: Fenian 'Red' Jim McDermott arrested. *31 August 1883: Those responsible for Glasgow bombings in January were arrested. *30 Oct 1883: Two bombs exploded in the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

, at Paddington (Praed Street) station (injuring 70 people) and Westminster Bridge station. *December 1883: Trial of Glasgow bombers. ;1884 *26 Feb 1884: A bomb exploded in the left-luggage room of Victoria station, London. The building was empty at the time and no-one was injured. Other bombs were defused at Charing Cross station, Ludgate Hill station and Paddington station. *11 April 1884: John Daly arrested with explosives at

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

. *30 May 1884: Three bombs exploded in London: at the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police's

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 ...

(CID) and Special Irish Branch in

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 the basement of the

Carlton Club The Carlton Club is a private members' club in the St James's area of London, England. It was the original home of the Conservative Party before the creation of Conservative Central Office. Membership of the club is by nomination and elect ...

, a

gentlemen's club A gentlemen's club is a private social club of a type originally established by males from Britain's upper classes starting in the 17th century. Many countries outside Britain have prominent gentlemen's clubs, mostly those associated with the ...

for members of the Conservative Party; and outside the home of Conservative MP Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn. Ten people were injured. A fourth bomb was planted at the foot of

Nelson's Column Nelson's Column is a monument in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, Central London, built to commemorate Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson's decisive victory at the Battle of Trafalgar over the combined French and Spanish navies, during whi ...

but failed to explode. *30 July 1884: John Daly, James Egan and William O'Donnell tried at Warwick Assizes under charges of treason. *13 Dec 1884: Two American-Irish Republicans, who were planting a bomb on London Bridge, were killed when their bomb prematurely exploded. One of the men was William Mackey Lomasney. ;1885 *2 Jan 1885: A bomb exploded at Gower Street station, London. *24 Jan 1885: Three bombs exploded in London, in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

chamber, in

Westminster Hall Westminster Hall is a medieval great hall which is part of the Palace of Westminster in London, England. It was erected in 1097 for William II (William Rufus), at which point it was the largest hall in Europe. The building has had various functio ...

and in the Banqueting Room of the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

. Two police officers and four civilians were injured. Two men; Henry Burton and James E. Gilbert, were sentenced to penal servitude for life as a result. *10 February 1885: Dynamite found at Harrow Road, London.

References and notes

External links

‘One skilled scientist is worth an army’ – The Fenian Dynamite campaign 1881-85
at The Irish Story
Thomas Clarke Treason Felony Convict J464
at The Irish Story {{IRB 1880s in England 1880s in Ireland Irish Republican Brotherhood Terrorism in the United Kingdom Explosions in the United Kingdom Terrorist incidents attributed to Irish republican militant groups

Timeline of the campaign

See also

References and notes

Further reading

External links