Soldiers of the Short Grass. Dan Harvey

      Looking east from the Water Tower circa 1905 (courtesy of the National Library of Ireland).

      Within days of their departure, however, Edward’s stint at the Curragh became a lot more enlivened when he was introduced by his fellow officers to Nellie Clifden, an Irish actress, whom they were to smuggle into his quarters on no fewer than three occasions (6, 7 and 10 September). News of this liaison eventually reached his parents that November, by which time Edward was studying at Cambridge. Appalled by his son’s indiscretion and concerned about possible adverse consequences, Albert visited Edward at Cambridge to issue a stern reprimand. This, according to one BBC documentary, involved a long walk during which it rained heavily and both received a drenching. Two weeks later Albert fell ill and died. A grief-stricken Victoria blamed Edward for her husband’s death – ‘killed by that dreadful business’, the worry over Edward’s conduct. Albert had been diagnosed with typhoid fever but may well have been suffering for some time before with a chronic disease; speculation suggests he may have had Crohn’s Disease, renal failure or abdominal cancer. Edward’s ‘romance’ with Nellie Clifden was fleeting and he soon moved on from this indiscrete dalliance, marrying Princess Alexandra of Denmark in 1863. Edward, who was neither clever like his father nor authoritative like his mother, nevertheless had charm and continued to have affairs with other women despite his lengthy marriage to Princess Alexandra of Denmark. When Victoria died in January 1901 the overweight and then fifty-nine-year-old philanderer became the new monarch. Few sovereigns had come to the throne with so little expected of them; it was generally believed that he would be unable to emulate his mother. But Edward VII was to forge his own distinctive brand of monarchy. Victoria’s withdrawal from public life on the death of her husband years before had removed the role from public view. In stark contrast, Edward was to become highly visible. Even though he commenced his reign with a huge deficit of experience in terms of dealing with public life, was dangerously overweight and chain-smoked cigars, he immediately conjured a coronation of great splendour to create the maximum impact, thus transforming the public face of the monarchy. To the surprise of many of his contemporaries, he proved himself a more than capable monarch, playing an important role in renewing relationships with allies that had been damaged by the Boer War. He was to become a people’s king and, on his death in May 1910, his body lay in state. No other British monarch had ever received such an honour.

      Bold Fenian Men

      In 1858, just two years after the end of the Crimean War, and while the role of the Curragh Camp was being consolidated, the Irish Republican James Stephens founded the Irish Republican Brotherhood or Fenian Brotherhood in Dublin. John Devoy, a labourer’s son born in County Kildare was one of its leading members and his heartfelt aim was infiltration of the British army, mutiny and the internal take-over of military barracks as a signal for an all-out insurrection. During the Fenian preparations for a rebellion against British rule in Ireland, Devoy was made responsible for the recruitment of members among the Irish in the ranks of British regiments, both in Ireland and England. This task he undertook effectively. Many had a sympathy for insurrection, a smouldering disaffection having turned to defiance against British rule as a result of the Great Famine (‘An Gorta Mór,’ 1845–52) and its legacy of death, eviction and emigration; there was also huge discontent over land ownership and the associated oligarchy of predominantly absentee landlords. Limited electoral franchise was another flashpoint, the right to vote being confined to a few adult males. With Irish loyalty to the Crown dwindling, General Hugh Henry Rose, the 1st Baron Strathnairn, was appointed commander of the forces in Ireland to confront the Fenian conspiracy. If there were fears (as it happened, well grounded) of dissatisfaction amongst Irish members in regular regiments, there were even greater fears concerning militia units, causing the cancellation of training camps in 1866 and 1867 just at the time the Curragh Commission met to decide the future of the camp. Devoy and others responsible for Fenian organization in the British army in Ireland had sympathizers amongst civilian staff in military establishments who identified likely allies within the ranks; these men, once they had been approached, were ‘recruited’ in the backrooms of public houses and the like into the ‘circles’ (cells) of the Fenian organization.

      While the Fenians were busy, so too were the agents of British military intelligence – the spies and the informers. Fenian plans for attack were becoming clearer, and counter-plans were prepared. Court-martial became the first line of defence. Of the court-martials associated with Fenianism, six were in the Curragh. One Fenian plan that was uncovered involved seizing the Curragh in its entirety or, at the very least, burning it partially or completely. Plans to seize Victoria Barracks in Cork and the Royal Barracks in Dublin were foiled along with the prevention of the seizure of the Curragh Camp. The suppression of the Fenian Rising when it did eventually occur on 5 March 1867 was easily achieved. The British possessed an overwhelming force compared to the poorly armed Fenians, and the government concentrated additional troops in those areas where they considered it most likely that a rising would break out, notably in Dublin’s city centre in spite of a Fenian mobilization at Tallaght which was known to be a decoy intended to draw British forces from the city centre. The nation-wide rebellion that the Fenians had hoped for descended into a series of uncoordinated skirmishes which quickly petered out. British army units suspected of containing elements of ‘military Fenians’ had previously been dispatched to far corners of the empire, having been replaced by units from England. Whilst the immediate threat was removed, nevertheless, radical nationalist resentment against British rule remained.