Phoenix Park Murders

Cavendish was the newly appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland and Burke was the Permanent Under-Secretary, the most senior Irish civil servant.

The Irish National Invincibles failed numerous times to kill Chief Secretary William Edward Forster before he resigned his office in protest at the Kilmainham Treaty.

Newly installed Chief Secretary Lord Frederick Cavendish, on the evening of his arrival to Ireland, decided to walk alone from Dublin Castle to his new residence in The Phoenix Park.

Both men used surgical knives, delivered by Mary Ann Byrne,[3] in order to avoid making a lot of noise while carrying out the killings.

As previously mentioned, Cavendish had just arrived in Ireland that day so these men were completely unaware of his identity and he was not the intended target, however as he was now a witness to the assassination he could not be left alive.

Thomas Myles, resident surgeon at the nearby Dr Steevens' Hospital, was summoned to render medical assistance to the victims.

Joe Brady, Michael Fagan, Thomas Caffrey, Dan Curley and Tim Kelly were convicted of the murders,[10] and were hanged by William Marwood in Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin between 14 May and 9 June 1883.