A June of Ordinary Murders by Conor Brady

Author:Conor Brady [Brady, Conor]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781466861268
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2015-04-21T07:00:00+00:00

Tuesday June 21st, 1887

TWENTY-TWO

The public holiday marking the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria’s ascent to the throne started across Dublin with a morning that was perfect for a celebration.

The sun shone in a crystal-blue sky. It would be oppressively hot later in the day, but in the hours before that, the air would be sufficiently fresh for citizens to get full enjoyment from the various entertainments and spectacles that had been arranged.

Dublin’s celebrations would not be on the impressive scale planned for London. The imperial capital was thronged with visitors from all over the globe. At Westminster Abbey, forty crowned heads and leaders from Europe and the Empire would join in a thanksgiving service to mark the half-century of Victoria’s rule. On the previous evening they had dined at a celebration banquet at Buckingham Palace. All over Great Britain, celebrations, services and street parties were being planned to take place in the midsummer sunshine.

In the main cities, and particularly in the London area, detectives from Scotland Yard’s Special Irish Branch shadowed the movements of Irish nationalist activists. One informant report after another had brought intelligence of a ‘Jubilee plot’ to bomb or shoot the Queen or other members of the royal family.

It was known that explosives had been shipped into England through the port of Liverpool. Key Irish suspects were on the move. The telegraph wires and the telephone lines between the various police offices across the United Kingdom and between Scotland Yard and the Home Office in London were busy.

At the Dublin locations where Victoria’s loyal Irish subjects would gather to mark the anniversary, the celebrations would be suitably fervent. Virtually all business and public offices had declared the day a holiday. At the Ball’s Bridge grounds in Dublin’s southern suburbs, a great athletic tournament with generous cash prizes had been arranged. In the wealthier districts, householders had organised children’s parties. The principal streets in the city centre were decorated with floral wreaths, Union flags and bunting.

There were religious services at the city’s two cathedrals, Christ Church and St Patrick’s. A special hymn, The Queen Shall Rejoice in Thy Strength, had been composed by the Professor of Music at Trinity College, Sir Robert Stewart. Bands played in the city parks, and there were military parades. Later, each barracks would put on a celebratory banquet for the soldiers, their families and guests. At the Officers’ Mess of the Royal Irish Constabulary at the Phoenix Park Depot, the evening would be marked by a full-dress ball and fireworks.

The detectives of the G Division of the Dublin Metropolitan Police were afforded little opportunity for celebration, however. From earliest light, every available man was assigned to special duties, shadowing people who might be likely to cause an incident or watching at locations where any unbecoming display of disloyalty might be likely to occur.

Detectives patrolled behind the choir-stalls in the cathedrals and along the principal streets where the bunting and decorations were at their most profuse. They mixed with the sightseers who gathered to

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