Ireland’s Shadow: The Phoenix Park Assassins Unleashed

In the early hours of April 9, 1883, a convoy of police officers escorted six men from Kilmainham Prison to the Green Street courthouse in Dublin, Ireland. The men, accused of the infamous Phoenix Park murders, were: Joseph Brady, Timothy Kelly, Patrick Doolin, Thomas Caffrey, Dunlough Curley, and Fitzharris, infamously known as ‘Skin the Goat.’ The government was on high alert, fearing the prisoners’ friends might attempt a daring rescue. As a precaution, the court building was sealed off, and detectives watched for suspicious activity in Phoenix Park and other parts of Dublin, where individuals resembling Americans had been spotted.