The executions of the Phoenix Park
Murderers.
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“The Invincibles” as they called themselves were a previously unknown Irish Nationalist group who had stabbed to death the Permanent Under-secretary for Ireland, Thomas Henry Burke and Lord Frederick Cavendish, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, as they walked through Dublin’s Phoenix Park on the evening of Saturday 6 May 1882. This high profile case was put in the hands of Superintendent John Mallon who rounded up a number of known Fenian activists. He persuaded “The Invincibles” leader, James Carey and Michael Kavanagh to testify against the others and in due course Joseph Brady, Thomas Caffrey, Daniel Curley, who was alleged to have masterminded the murders, Michael Fagan and Timothy Kelly were tried separately and all condemned to death. William Marwood came to Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin to carry out the executions of the five men on a gallows set up specially for the purpose in one of the prison’s yards. These were the first private executions at Kilmainham Gaol. In view of security concerns newspaper reporters were not allowed to witness them.
Twenty two year old Brady was the first to die on 14 May, with Curley following on the 18th. It was a busy period for Marwood who had to return to England to carry out the hangings of Joseph Wedlake and George White at Taunton on 21 May and then travel to Glasgow to execute Henry Mullen and Martin Scott on 23 May at Duke Street prison before returning to Dublin for the executions of Fagan on 28 May and Caffrey on 2 June and finally Kelly on 9 June. A metal plaque close to where the gallows stood bearing the names of the five “Invincibles” can still be seen in Kilmainham.
My friend Traugott Vitz has analysed the executions of these five men below.
I was not looking for it. I was just reading an old British government paper,
over 120 years old. It was the “Minutes of Evidence” of the “Capital Sentences
Committee” (1886-1888). I needed it for my research project “British hanging
technique 1868-1964”.
This Committee had been convened in 1886 by the then
Home Secretary Sir Richard Assheton Cross. Sir Richard was fed up with a
seemingly never ending series of botched executions and embarrassing public
indiscretions of
The Committee very meticulously reviewed every
circumstance, item of equipment, theory and person involved in the process of
judicial hanging, and for that purpose heard surgeons, prison warders, aldermen,
under-sheriffs, engineers, even the hangman. No stone was left unturned.
The “Minutes” made fascinating read with a wealth of
details. One day I was working my way through the evidence given by one William
Alexander Carte, surgeon in the Coldstream Guards, on several executions which
he had witnessed. And there I suddenly stopped. What was that? Describing
himself and his field of expertise to the Committee, Dr. Carte said that he had
been “acting as Medical Officer in one of Her Majesty’s prisons” when he saw
these executions.
“Acting as” – so he was not actually holding that
position, was he? And why didn’t he say which prison it was? Only a few pages
earlier I had read the evidence of a Dr. Gibson who had made no secret of the
fact that he had been the prison surgeon of Newgate.
Slightly bemused, I read on. And then there was one
more sentence which looked odd: Dr. Carte was asked by a Committee member to
say, without mentioning names, whether he had seen “this case hanged”, and what
his findings at the post mortem examination were. Dr. Gibson, I remembered, had
freely enumerated names and execution particulars without being restricted.
What was this? What was so frightfully secret about the “cases” Dr. Carte had
seen and about the prison where he had seen them that the Committee did not
want to see it in print? Not even in such an unobtrusive pamphlet as the
Minutes of Evidence of a Departmental Committee? After all, this would in all
probability never be circulated outside the circle of Home Office bigwigs and
their gentleman friends.
This was worth a closer look.
I traced Dr. Carte’s military career and found that
there was not one military surgeon by the name of Carte but two, both of them
christened “William”. But one of them was a participant in the
(By the way: It all came to a sudden end in May 1896
when one day after midnight a police constable encountered him in the company
of a young female, described as “flower seller”, in the shrubbery of a London
park – drunk. Such behaviour was deemed inconsistent with the conduct of an
officer and gentleman.)
Anyway – “
A few internet searches later I was glaring wide-eyed
at the fact that “Carte”, “Kilmainham” and “execution” made sense only in
connection with five Irish radicals who had been condemned to die for the
murder of Lord Cavendish and Under Secretary Burke in Phoenix Park, Dublin.
From then on, every bit of information that I gathered
from newspaper reports and contemporary books on the events in
The Committee had tried to shroud in secrecy which
name belonged to which execution particulars, and vice versa. Would it be
possible to pull away the veil?
The names of the five men hanged at Kilmainham could
easily be found:
Joseph Brady was hanged first, on 14 May 1883. Four
days later Daniel Curley was executed. On 28 May, Michael Fagan followed.
Thomas Caffrey was hanged on 2 June, and one week later the youngest of them,
Timothy Kelly, was put to death.
At that time, executions were very often witnessed by press
representatives, and their narratives were sometimes remarkably detailed. In
the case of the
Joseph Brady
According to The Standard (15
May 1883 page 3 column E), “Dr. Carte, jun.” was present at the inquest. He
asked the coroner “whether it was desired that he should make a post-mortem
examination” and, after having received a positive answer, disappeared from the
courtroom.
Then, says the Standard,
“Frederick Searle, chief warder, gave evidence of identification.” How long
might Mr. Searle’s evidence have taken? Two minutes? Five? This is of some
importance because immediately after the sentence just quoted, the newspaper
report continues: “Dr. William Alexander Carte then returned into Court and
said he had made an examination of the body; the immediate result of the
hanging was complete dislocation of the cervical vertebrae, causing rupture of
the chord” (sic!) “high up in the neck. Death was instantaneous.”
It seems impossible that Dr. Carte’s examination, if it had taken place
during Mr. Searle’s evidence, could have been a complete autopsy – he just did
not have the time. Even cutting into the neck only (plus washing his hands
before returning to the courtroom…) could hardly have been done in that short
space of time. Dr. Carte’s diagnosis at the inquest was therefore in all
likelihood based on manipulations of head and neck, perhaps combined with
manual scanning of the vertebral column from the mouth.
That it was Dr. Carte junior who was present at the execution is further
confirmed by an eyewitness quoted by Tighe Hopkins (Kilmainham Memories, p.
94f): “The doctor was standing on a chair immediately under the drop, so as to
examine the body the instant it had fallen; and he took out his watch to note
how long the pulse beat after death. Dr.
Carte himself was not present at this execution, and his representative was an
extremely cool young fellow, who is now an army surgeon.” (Italics mine.)
I think we may assume that Dr. Carte senior, the staff surgeon at the
The Standard does not give
particulars such as height, weight, and length of drop. We have to look elsewhere.
The anonymous “History of the Phoenix Park Patriots”, allegedly by James
Francis Corrigan, contains the following passage (p. 41): “Death was
instantaneous, the vertebrae of the neck being literally smashed to pieces. The
length of the drop being eight feet eleven inches, the effect of this on the
neck of a man who weighed fourteen stone can easily be imagined.“ (The same
sentences are to be found as well in the New Zealand Herald of 7 July 1883, p.
2). Patrick Tynan adds (The Irish National Invincibles And Their Times, p. 322)
the recollection of a man who knew Brady well and describes him as “about five
feet ten” in height.
Now it is time to return to Dr. W. A. Carte’s evidence before the Capital
Sentences Committee. He witnessed
several executions but also collected
recorded cases in addition to those of which he had personal knowledge. He saw
three different hangmen at work (MoE [Minutes of Evidence] 410), one of whom
had never hung a man before.
When asked about individual cases, Dr. Carte says that
he saw a man hanged with a drop of 8
ft 11 in, weight 194 lbs, age 21 or 22. The injuries he found were: a complete
separation (by one inch) between the second and third cervical vertebrae with a
complete rupture of the spinal cord – it was completely disintegrated from the
medulla oblongata one inch and a half down the cord. The axis sustained a
fracture through its left pedicle at the margin of the superior articular, and
through the posterior arch of the canal for the vertebral artery, accompanied by
displacement down-wards on that side; the tip of the left transverse process
was also broken off. On the right side there was an imperfect fracture or
cracking of the pedicle at its junction with the superior articular facet (MoE
462-465).
I think this evidence refers to Joseph Brady. Drop
height and weight agree with the description in the “History” and in the New
Zealand Herald. (Dr. Carte mentions only one other case where the drop distance
was 8 ft 11 in but says that in this case death was due to asphyxia.)
It is quite clear that these anatomical details could
not have been gathered during five minutes and by feeling and scanning the
neck. Dr. Carte claimed that he performed complete post mortem examinations on
all executed persons of whom he gives anatomical details before the Committee.
I think that he must have done that after
the inquest and before Brady was buried. Since he had the coroner’s
authorization there was no impediment in law. F. M. Bussy (Irish Conspiracies
p. 155f) says Brady’s head was cut off and transported in a table napkin to the
Royal College of Surgeons by Detective John Mallon, to be left for Dr. Carte.
Such a removal of body parts from the prison would be quite unheard of – on the
other hand: For a thorough and meticulous examination the facilities in the
college were surely far better than in the prison. The head and neck may have
been returned to Brady’s coffin before burial.
Daniel Curley
Newspapers describe Daniel Curley as a man of about 35
years, a labourer.
The Morning Post
(19 May1883, p. 2) says he got a drop of 9 ft 2 in, and that death was
instantaneous. As the medical officer present “Dr. W. A. Carte” is named. “The
doctor’s examination proved the terribly destructive force of the long drop.
The vertebrae were completely broken. … Dr. Carte deposed that death was caused
by rupture of the spinal cord, the result of hanging, and the usual formal
verdict was returned.”
The Morpeth Herald (19 May
1883 page 5 column F) was a bit more verbose, even quoting verbatim from the
inquest: “Dr. Carte said: I have examined this body, and found a severance of
the spinal cord high up in the neck, which was the result of hanging. The only
external mark was a slight excoriation, the mark of the rope. The injuries I
found on making a post mortem
examination.“ Towards the end of the article the correspondent of the paper
says that the drop was “about” nine feet.
This same paper, in describing security precautions, gives a hint why
Dr. Carte senior needed a deputy at all: “Dr. Carte, military magistrate, is in
charge of the military and police. … The Commissioner of Police has just
arrived, and is in consultation with Dr. Carte as to the arrangements of the
military and police in reserve at the neighbouring barracks and in town; but no
other military magistrate besides Mr. Carte has been requisitioned for duty, no
serious disturbance being apprehended.”
In Dr. W. A. Carte’s evidence before the Committee, this execution appears, I
think, as follows (MoE 494-497): Age 31, weight 154 lbs., length of drop 9
feet. Result: Dislocation was between the second and third vertebra; the axis
had sustained fracture through the canal for the vertebral artery on the left
side; the tip of the transverse process was also separated; upon the right
side, the transverse process was broken off, but there was no fracture through
the canal for the vertebral artery. The tips of the transverse processes of the
third vertebra were broken off on both sides; there were also fractures of the
anterior arches of the canals for the vertebral arteries on both sides.
The age given by Dr. Carte does not quite agree with the newspaper
reports, but Curley is the only one of the five who is over 30 at all.
Michael Fagan
Fagan was 24 years old, a blacksmith and a native of
Kilpatrick, a village near Mullingar (Lloyds Weekly, 3 June 1883 p. 7).
The Freeman's Journal (29 May
1883 page 5 column D + E) reports verbatim from the inquest: “Dr. William A.
Carte sworn and examined by the Coroner — You have examined the body of this
man? I have. On a superficial examination I found that there was under the
angle of the left jaw just a slight excoriation, caused by the thimble of the
rope. There was an unusual amount of mobility in the face. Then I made a post mortem examination, and I found a
very complete dislocation high up in the neck — dislocation of the bones with
rupture of the spinal cord. That was sufficient to cause death. That was the
effect of hanging? That was the effect of hanging.“
I should like to connect Michael Fagan’s execution to
the following evidence of Dr. Carte (MoE 469-480): Age 22, height 71 inches,
weight 161 lbs, length of drop “9 feet ½ inch measured after death and after
the stretching of the rope”.
Dr. Carte describes his further findings thus (MoE
478-480): “In making an incision along the vertical spines the finger ran
suddenly into a cavity between two of the bones, which were discovered to be
the third and fourth cervical vertebrae; there was also a gap of nearly an inch
between these vertebrae. … The tip of the transverse process of the axis on the
left side was completely broken off. … The posterior root of the canal for the
vertebral artery on the left side of the axis was also fractured ; the right
side retained its integrity. The anterior tubercle of the transverse process of
the third vertebra was also broken off on the left side and the tips of the
transverse processes of the fourth bone were torn off on both sides.”
Again, the age does not quite fit the description in the
newspapers, but I don’t think the reporters had access to official data, and
had to rely more or less on their own guesses and some hearsay.
Thomas Caffrey
It seems that his execution went wrong although it may
be hoped that he was not aware of it. The newspapers agree that he did not die
from a broken neck but from asphyxia.
The Manchester Courier (4 June
1883 page 6 column E) reports:
“The inquest, although fixed for nine o’clock, did not
commence until a quarter to ten, at which hour the representatives of the Press
were admitted. The jury had been previously sworn, and had viewed the body.”
It is not probable that the swearing of the jury and
the viewing of the body took up 45 minutes; a good part of this delay must have
been caused by something different. It is tempting to presume that perhaps Dr.
Carte performed his post mortem examination before the inquest but took longer
than planned. The newspaper report goes on:
“Subsequently Dr. W. A. Carte was sworn. He stated
that he had made a post mortem examination.
What was the cause of death? — The cause of death was
asphyxia, produced by hanging.
Was there no rupture? There was no rupture of the
spinal cord as far as I could make out.
A Juror — Was death instantaneous?
Dr. Carte — No;
not quite instantaneous. Insensibility was instantaneous. Death was painless.
The jury then returned a verdict that Thos. Caffrey
died from asphyxia, caused by hanging.”
The italics in the above quotation are mine – the
wording should be remembered. (Lloyd’s
Weekly, 3 June 1883 p. 7 has the same wording.)
Other newspapers reported similarly: “Death was not
instantaneous, but sensibility must have been lost immediately, the death being
painless.” (Reynolds’s Newspaper of 3
August 1883 p. 1 – precisely the same words appear in the Morning Post of 4
June 1883, p. 3)
Now Dr. Carte, in his evidence before the Capital
Sentences Committee, said the following:
“435. Have you ever witnessed a death by strangulation
which was immediate? — No; but I have witnessed one which, I believe, was
perfectly painless.
436. You think that insensibility followed
immediately? — Yes, it followed immediately, because the shock was very great,
there was nearly dislocation.
437. What were the circumstances of the execution? —
The man got a sufficiently long drop, but the noose was badly placed, it was
applied almost at the back of the neck (suboccipital), the worst possible
position in my opinion, but he got such a long drop that I think concussion
immediately resulted and sensibility was at once lost. He did not show any
violent voluntary struggles, but remained in a perfectly quiescent state for
two or three minutes, the initial period of voluntary struggling being in
abeyance, and then ensued about two minutes, during which movements of a
rhythmical and apparently automatic nature took place.
438. Do you think that the involuntary struggling was
attended with any distress? — I do not believe it was; I believe that the
execution failed to secure dislocation because the position of the knot was
wrong, though the length of the drop was correct.
439. Do you remember what was the drop? — It was 8
feet 11 inches. I remember carefully contrasting that case with another case,
both cases being almost precisely the same except as regards the position of
the knot in one case it was occipital and in the other it was submental, death
being caused by asphyxia in the former, and resulting from dislocation in the
latter.”
There are but few points in this description on which
to base the identification of this “case” with Thomas Caffrey: The drop length
reported by Dr. Carte agrees with the “nine feet” mentioned by the Manchester
Courier (loc. cit.), and the circumstances match: The prisoner died of asphyxia
while unconscious after having got a very long drop. However it must be
admitted that there is one general assumption: That Dr. Carte, during his
evidence, gave the details of all the
Kilmainham executions, not just of four of them. If this is so, this execution
is the only one of which the description matches the newspaper reports on
Caffreys hanging.
Timothy Kelly
He was the youngest of the conspirators, being only 19
years of age.
The Sydney Morning Herald (25 July 1883, p. 4) wrote:
“There was not the slightest hitch in the execution, and death was
instantaneous. At the inquest Dr. W. A. Carte deposed that there was a complete
severance of the spinal cord.”
The Western Daily Press (of
Again we are told that Carte senior was on duty
outside the prison, the most verbose description being given by the
So Dr. William Carte senior was a J.P., a justice of
the peace, in addition to everything else.
This is what his son had to say on Timothy Kelly’s
hanging (MoE 483-491): “Age 19; weight 152 pounds; and the drop was 9 feet 1
inch. […] 484. Now will you describe the injuries to the spinal column; where
was the knot in this case—was it submental?—It was just as before—a shade to
the left of the point of the chin, and it finally rested beneath and slightly
anterior to the angle of the left jaw. […] 486. Now would you describe the
injuries after death, if you please, beginning with the second vertebra?—As
before, there was a dislocation between two bones, the second and third
cervical vertebrae. […] 488. What was the injury in this case?—The transverse
processes of the axis were both torn through and separated. 489. On both
sides?—Yes; and also the transverse processes of the third bone on both sides.
490. Both the processes of the third?—Yes; but on the left side the injuries
were more severe, more concentrated. 491. Was the fourth injured?—The fourth
was uninjured.”
The age of 19 years alone would be enough to connect
Dr. Carte’s evidence to Kelly, none of the others was that young. Dr. Carte gives 154
pounds as his weight - this is not very much. And as being a lightweight Kelly
obviously considered himself: "Marwood will have a terrible job on me, the
weight of my body will never break my neck." (Freeman's Journal (Sydney),
17 November 1883, p. 5, quoting from
a letter by the informer Carey to Brady's parents.)
If we assume that Dr. Carte’s evidence contains the
details of all five Phoenix Park executions, then it is clear that the person
whom he describes as “weight 194 lbs, drop 8’ 11” must be Brady – his weight
and drop length are corroborated by other sources.
As we just said already, the youngest prisoner must be
Kelly.
The asphyxiated one must be Caffrey which leaves only
Curley (the oldest, over 30) and Fagan. If we accept that Curley is the one
whom Dr. Carte describes as “31 years old”, then the remaining case must be
Fagan.
Sources (in addition
to the newspapers mentioned in the text):
Minutes of Evidence of the Capital Sentences
Committee, The National Archives (Kew), Public Record Office, HO
144/212/A48697,2 | (Dr. Carte’s evidence: No. 407-552) http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/Aberdare%20Minutes%20of%20Evidence.pdf
[Anonymous; allegedly by James Francis Corrigan] A History of the
Phoenix Park Patriots,
Bussy, Frederick Moir,
Irish Conspiracies. Recollections of John Mallon (The Great Irish Detective)
and Other Reminiscences,
Hopkins, Tighe, Kilmainham Memories. The Story of the Greatest Political Crime
of the Century. With Many New and Important Details,
Tynan, Patrick J.[oseph]
P.[ercy], The Irish National Invincibles And Their Times (English Edition with
Appendices and Index),