The Parnell Commission was a judicial inquiry in the late 1880's into allegations of crimes by Irish parliamentarian Charles Stewart Parnell which resulted in his vindication. Inquiry or enquiry is any process that has the aim of augmenting Knowledge, resolving Doubt, or solving a Problem. Charles Stewart Parnell ( 27 June 1846 &ndash 6 October 1891) was an Irish Protestant landowner nationalist
On 6 May 1882 two leading members of the British Government in Ireland, Chief Secretary for Ireland Lord Frederick Cavendish, and the Permanent Under-Secretary for Ireland, T.H. Burke. Events 1527 - Spanish and German troops sack Rome; some consider this the end of the Renaissance. Year 1882 ( MDCCCLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Lord Frederick Charles Cavendish (30 November 1836 – 6 May 1882 was an English Liberal politician and protégé of the Prime Minister, were stabbed to death in Phoenix Park, Dublin by the Irish National Invincibles. The Phoenix Park (Páirc an Fhionn-Uisce is the largest enclosed urban public Park in Europe located 3 km to the north west of Dublin city centre in Ireland Dublin (ˈdʌblɨn/ /ˈdʊblɨn or /ˈdʊbəlɪn/, bˠalʲə aːha klʲiəh or cliə(ɸ is both the largest city and capital of Ireland. The Irish National Invincibles (Dosháraithe Náisiúnta na hÉireann usually known as "the Invincibles" were a radical IRB splinter group active in Dublin
In March 1887, The Times published a series of articles, "Parnellism and Crime", in which Home Rule League leaders were accused of being involved in murder and outrage during the land war. The Times is a daily national Newspaper published in the United Kingdom since 1785 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register. The Home Rule League, sometimes called the Home Rule Party, was a Political party which campaigned for Home rule for the island of Ireland from 1873 to The Times produced a number of facsimile letters, allegedly bearing Parnell’s signature and in one of the letters Parnell had excused and condoned the murder of T. H. Burke in the Phoenix Park
Parnell immediately declared the letter a forgery. After considerable argument, the government eventually set up a Special Commission to investigate the charges made against Parnell and the Home Rule party. The commission sat for nearly two years. In February 1889, one of the witnesses, Richard Piggott, admitted to having forged the letters; he then fled to Madrid, where he shot himself. Richard Piggott (1838? - Madrid, 1889 was a journalist for The Times, well known for the 'Piggott forgeries' Madrid (pronounced in English in Spanish and colloquially in Spain) is the Capital and largest city of Spain. Parnell’s name was fully cleared and the Times paid a large sum of money by way of compensation after Parnell brought a libel action.
In an out-of-court settlement Parnell accepted £5,000 in damages. When Parnell re-entered parliament after he was vindicated, he received a standing ovation from his fellow MPs.
A balanced and up-to-date overview of the "Parnellism and Crime" affair is given by T. W. Moody (1968), who was able to take advantage of the important modern contributions of Henry Harrison in the 1940s and 1950s and of Leon Ó Broin in the 1960s. Captain Henry Harrison ( 17 December 1867 – 20 February 1954) was an Irish politician and MP
References
Leon Ó Broin, Comhcheilg sa Chaisleán (Conspiracy in the Castle), Dublin, 1963 (later expanded and published in English)
Henry Harrison, Parnell, Joseph Chamberlain and The Times, Belfast and Dublin, 1953
T. W. Moody, The Times versus Parnell and Co. , 1887-90, Historical Studies (Papers read before the Irish Conference of Historians), VI, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1968
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