Clerkenwell bombing

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The prison wall destroyed by the explosion

The Clerkenwell explosion ( English Clerkenwell bombing ) was on 13 December 1867 London Clerkenwell the north London district of Islington committed and was directed against the prison Clerkenwell. The explosion destroyed numerous buildings. 12 people died and 120 were injured. The bombing was an important event in the history of Anglo-Irish relations.

Sequence of events

The perpetrator had pushed the bomb , a beer keg filled with gunpowder , on wheels to the outer wall of the prison. The aim of the attack was to free prisoners who belonged to the Irish Republican Brotherhood and who were fighting for Ireland's independence from the United Kingdom . Several houses were damaged by the force of the explosion.

Trial and Execution

Michael Barrett was charged as a suspect ; he was born in Drumnagreshial , County Fermanagh and a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. A witness testified that Barrett told him he was involved in the crime with an accomplice named Murphy. Barrett, however, declared himself innocent and named witnesses to testify that he was in Glasgow on the day of the crime . After a two-hour trial, Barrett was found guilty. It was hanged by William Calcraft on May 26, 1868 in front of around 2000 enthusiastic spectators . Barrett's death was the last public execution in England.

Reactions and consequences

The bombing robbed the Irish Republicans of sympathy among the London population. Karl Marx , who was then living in London, wrote to Friedrich Engels that the London masses, who had shown great sympathy for Ireland, were now being driven into the arms of the reactionary government. Charles Bradlaugh condemned the attack as an act that destroys sympathy and aroused resistance from all classes. Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli , who had banned political demonstrations in London the day before the explosion, no longer had to fear any resistance to this measure. After the attack, he spoke out in favor of repealing the habeas corpus law in England , which only permitted deprivation of liberty on judicial orders. The newspapers fueled public fears of more serious attacks and linked any crime in London to Irish nationalism. Security has been tightened, tens of thousands of auxiliary police officers have been hired and a special department of the secret service has been established to counter the Irish Republican efforts.

reception

Irish writer James Joyce made reference to the Clerkenwell bombing in several works, including his most famous novel Ulysses .

Gary Schmitt , former director of the neoconservative Project for the New American Century , describes the Clerkenwell explosion as the first terrorist attack on British soil in a monograph on Islamic terrorism published in 2010 .

literature

  • Brian Jenkins: The Fenian Problem: Insurgency and Terrorism in a Liberal State. 1858-1874

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Bruce Nelson: Irish Nationalists and the Making of the Irish Race. P. 35.
  2. ^ John Richardson: The Annals of London. P. 290.
  3. ↑ Kevin B. Anderson: Marx at the margins. P. 130.
  4. ^ Dion Boucicault: Irish Identity on Stage. P. 48.
  5. ↑ Yonah Alexander, Alan O'Day: Ireland's Terrorist Dilemma. P. 54.
  6. ^ Weldon Thornton: Allusions in Ulysses.
  7. ^ Gary J. Schmitt: Safety, Liberty, and Islamist Terrorism.

Coordinates: 51 ° 31 '28.1 "  N , 0 ° 6' 25.8"  W.