The newly appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland, Lord Frederick Cavendish, although not the intended victim, was assassinated alongside him while they walked through Phoenix Park in Dublin.

Burke was the Invincibles' intended target because he had been working for the Dublin Castle administration as head of the Civil Service for many years and was a supporter of the Irish Coercion Acts during the Land War.

[4] Burke was in favour of both Home Rule[5][6] and reform of land issues, although as a civil servant he did not make his views known publicly.

...those who have had opportunity to be well informed have always held that Mr. Burke confined himself within the immediate duties of his post, and that he was rather averse then otherwise to coercion...in the opinion of a great many people he has for a long time been the real ruler of the country".

Burke's report to Forster lamented the sad flood of light this throws on the Irish land question ... an absentee landlord, careless sub-agents, fraudulent bailiffs and a wretched tenantry.

The ornamental carved stone cover of the grave bears the inscription, "Sacred to the memory of Thomas Henry Burke Esq.

The second monument, composed mainly of black marble from Cong[10] erected adjacent to the grave, bears the inscription, To the memory of Thomas Henry Burke, Under Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

This monument is erected by his many friends among the Irish Resident Magistrates as a mark of their appreciation of his high character and eminent public service.