1884 attack on London Bridge

Illustrated London News, 20 December 1884

On 13 December 1884, three American-Irish Republicans carried out a dynamite attack on London Bridge as part of the Fenian dynamite campaign. The bomb went off prematurely while the three men were in a boat attaching it to a bridge pier at 5.45 pm during the evening rush hour.[1] There was little damage to the bridge, and no casualties other than the bombers. The men's boat was so completely destroyed the police initially thought the bombers had fled.

The Illustrated London News on 20 December 1884 featured a cover illustration depicting the flash of the explosion from under the bridge as seen by witnesses. On 25 December the discovery was made of the mutilated remains of one of the bombers. The bodies of the others were never recovered, but the police were later able to identify the dead men as two Americans, William Mackey Lomasney and his brother-in-law, together with a third man, John Fleming. The men were identified after a landlord reported to police that dynamite had been found in the rented premises of two American gentlemen who had disappeared after 13 December, enabling police to piece together who was responsible for the attack. The three men had already been under surveillance by the police in America and in Britain.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Seán McConville Irish Political Prisoners, 1848-1922: Theatres of War 2003 p 353 0415219914 At 5.45 pm. on Saturday, 13 December 1884, amidst the bustle of the evening rush~hour, there was an explosion at the southwest end of London Bridge. There was little damage to the bridge, and its structure remained sound; windows a considerable distance away ... This comprised three or four men, equipped with a large amount of dynamite and the requisite detonators. Their first attack, on 2 January 1885, was another Underground explosion, just outside Gower Street Station.
  2. ↑ Joseph McKenna The Irish-American Dynamite Campaign: A History, 1881–1896
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