AEOLUS
Cavendish and Burke were #2 and #3 in rank in the British Dublin Castle government of Ireland. They were on their way to meet #1 the Lord Lieutenant Earl Spencer (John Poyntz Spencer, 1835 - 1910, shown in this photo) in the viceregal lodge. Thirteen men were later arrested and charged with conspiracy to murder. They were apparently out only for Burke as a "Castle Catholic." Two (James Carey, and Michael Kavanagh) turned state's evidence, five (Joe Brady, Dan Curley, Michael Fagan, Thomas Caffrey and Tim Kelly) were hanged, and 3 were sentenced to penal servitude. In the aftermath, Irish nationalist leader Charles Stewart Parnell denounced 'these vile murders' and offered to resign from parliament, an offer turned down by British Prime Minister Gladstone; this increased Parnell's already huge popularity in both Britain and Ireland, being seen as a moderate reformer who disapproved of violent or terrorist tactics. However, Gladstone's Minister Lord Hartington, the elder brother of Lord Cavendish, split with Gladstone on Home Rule in 1886 and 1893 and led the breakaway Liberal Unionist Association which allied itself to Lord Salisbury's conservative governments.
