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Fenian dynamite campaign

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Fenian dynamite campaign
Part of Irish republicanism
An 1893 political cartoon depicting Erin telling an Irish republican to stop the campaign
TypePolitical violence
Location
Planned byJeremiah O'Donovan Rossa
Alexander Martin Sullivan
TargetGovernment and civilian targets
Date14 January 1881 – 10 February 1885
Executed byIrish Republican Brotherhood
United Irishmen of America
Clan na Gael
OutcomeFailure
Casualties4 killed
86 injured

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 dynamite on British government and civilian targets and was carried out by the Irish Republican Brotherhood, United Irishmen of America and Clan na Gael with the ultimate aim of ending British rule in Ireland. Infrastructure 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

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1881
  • 14 Jan 1881: A bomb exploded at a military barracks in Salford, Lancashire.[1] A young boy was killed[2]
  • 16 Mar 1881: A bomb was found and defused in the Mansion House, London.[1]
  • 5 May 1881: Bomb explodes at Chester Barracks, Chester.[3]
  • 16 May 1881: Bomb attack at Liverpool police barracks.
  • 10 June 1881: Bomb planted at Liverpool Town Hall,[1]
  • 30 June 1881: Disguised explosives found aboard SS Malta at Liverpool.[3]
  • 2 July 1881: Disguised explosives found aboard SS Bavaria in Liverpool.[3]
1882
  • 12 May 1882: A bomb exploded at the Mansion House, London.[1]
1883
  • 20 January 1883: In Glasgow, bombs exploded at Tradeston Gasworks, Possil Road Bridge and Buchanan Street Station. About a dozen people were injured.[1][3]
  • 15 Mar 1883: In London, bombs exploded at government buildings at Whitehall and at the offices of The Times newspaper. There were no injuries.[1]
  • 29 March 1883: Fenians Denis Deasy, Timothy Featherstone and Patsy Flanagan are arrested while police in County Cork raid the homes and businesses of associates of Deasy and Flanagan.[3]
  • 28 May 1883: Future Easter Rising leader Tom Clarke is sentenced to penal servitude for life.[3]
  • 11 June 1883: Gallagher Trials begin.[3]
  • 22 August 1883: Fenian 'Red' Jim McDermott arrested.[3]
  • 31 August 1883: Those responsible for Glasgow bombings in January were arrested.[3]
  • 30 Oct 1883: Two bombs exploded in the London Underground, at Paddington (Praed Street) station (injuring 70 people) and Westminster Bridge station.[1]
  • December 1883: Trial of Glasgow bombers.[3]
1884
1885

See also

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References and notes

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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
  2. ^ 16 Lives: Thomas Clarke. p. 30.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Shane Kenna. "War in the Shadows".
  4. ^ "London Metropolital Police Service - History - The Fenians". Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
  5. ^ "London Metropolitan Police Service - History - Timeline 1870-1889". Archived from the original on 3 December 2008. Retrieved 21 January 2014.

Further reading

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  • Whelehan, Niall (2012). The Dynamiters: Irish Nationalism and Political Violence in the Wider World, 1867-1900. Cambridge University Press.
  • McKenna, Joseph The Irish-American Dynamite Campaign: A History, 1881-1896 (2012) McFarland & Co
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