The Republican journal., 1883-08-16
Informer Carey's History.
CAREER WHICH BEGAN WITH BRICKLAYING
AND ENDED IN A NIOLENT DEATH.

A CAREER WHICH BEGAN WITH BIICKLAYING
AND ENDED IN A VIOLENT DEATH.
James Carey, the Irish informer who was
shot dead Monday OH the steamer Melrose.
while going from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth.
South Africa, was apprenticed to Il bricklayer
at fourteen years OF age, but never became Il
good workman, being considered "duiter'' by
his brothers of the trowe The Fenian move
nent served to give scope for his talents, and
III 1860 he was an active and trusted b or
lieutenant in the Fenian Brotherhood. then
! under the control of james stephens. The seiz-
ure of the Irish People, the arrest of the leading
spirits OF the conspiracy, the revelation of
Maggie, the first Fenian traitor and the conse-
quent hight of many who were implicated in
his evidence, left vacant the centreship of the
brlcklaycrs and stonemason's circle to which
Carey was attached, and he stepped into the gap
and took up the post.
That he labored strenuously in the cause"
was subsequently proved in the abortiye fasco
of 1867, when 5000 or 1000 Dublin Fenans
turned out, with no other weapons than nature
had provided them. to face the British garrison.
On that occasion James Carey's circle furnished
the largest contingent to the ''rsing'' of any
circle in Dublin. Carey headed his men in per-
son, and when the enemy was encountered and
commenced peppering his unarmed squad he ran
away. or, to quote his own words, " retreated"
alone with them. The result of this insane at
tempt at rebellion was fre.h crop of arrests,
penal sentences and flights. Carey. however,
| seems to have been Singularly fortunate in
escaping the network spread by English spies
and Irish inf0rmers.
some time afterwards Carey again came to
the front and assisted i'll rebuilding the shattcr
| ed Dublin organization so vigorously that in
| 1876, when the treasuryship of its directory
| became vacant, he was unanimously elected to
it. When Carey accepted the place of treas
urer of the Dublin Directory of the |. K. B be
| was an ordinary brcklayer, performing 4 daV'S
| Work Tor days wages, and apparently in no
| better financial circumstances than his fellow
| Workmen. Soon aftcrward he abandoned the
| drudgery Of bricks and mortar and started in
| business as Il contractor. He commenced to
| build cottages for himself and in wear or 50
| was comfortable if not atflucntly situated. Ugly
| whispers began to be heard that the treasurer
| was manipulating the eXchcquer to his own
| benefit They grew louder and more frequent,
and at last an audit of the accounts was de-
manded The demand was conceded. No flaw
| could be found i'll the items of receipt and en-
pendlture but vague feeling of distrust re-
manned even among the auditors, and Mr.. Carey
| resigned his charge Of the money bags.
| After this he seemed to have given up his re-
Ioutionary ideas, and his neXtroe was that of
a champion of the Irish working classes. an
advocate for the adoption of home manufac-
turc III preference to English imported goods,
and an all-round social refomner. In this
character he earned an unpleasant reputation
! for himself hv arrnSin@ = Scotch firm. who
had received from the corporation of Dublin
| the contract for paving and scwering that city,
Of using inferior material and poor workman
ship and failing to prove the truth of his
charges. He made. nevertheless, so much
political capital by his charges that a few weeks
subsequently he was elected to the town
council. 1t was probably about this time that
he entered into the ''lnvncbe" conspiracy.
| Some months after the assassination of Lord
/ Cavendlsh and MI Burke the police arrested
him and many others. Eventually Carey and
seven confcderatcs We're arraigned on Il charge
of murder After parleying for some time
| with the authorities he confessed that he was
not only present at the assassination, but that
! he was one of the master spirits of the con-
| Spiracy He had belonged to the Fenian
| brotherhood since 1862, and became an Irish
| lnVincblc in 1891. lie arranged plans for the
| murder Of Secretary Forster, but they fell
through. Finally it was decided to kill Mi.
Burke, and Carey took party of seven, con-
sisting of Curley Joseph IIanlon. Pagan,
Brady. Kelley, McCatirey and Patrick Delaney.
into Phoenix Park. The murders were COM
mitted by Brady and Curcy, Carey taking no
actual part in the stabbing, but aiding and
abetting. Carey gave evidence against the
seven prisoners, five of whom Were afterwards
! hanged Mrs. Carey was boycOttcd and Carey ;
house was set on fire, presumably by Inyinci-
| bles. ON the application of the coIlectOr-gen-
eral OF rates Carey was adjudged Il bankrupt on
! account of the rates on his property not having
| been paid He threatened to resume his place
|
as brickayer. These threats were made in
/ order to induce the government to give him
I some reward or purchase his consent to EN-
/ l9rate. His applications for a written pardon
4 We're unhcedtd: his demands for terms We're
unansWercd; his brother Peter was removed
from his company so that he did not know
! what had become of him; other nfOrmerS had
/ left the prison and he knew not whittier they
| had gone He began to suspect that sonnet thing
| had been done with his family, and The eX-
| preston in Il letter. written shortly before he
was taken from kilmainham, shows he was
suspicious that they had been, ts he terms it.
| .'kidnapped." Carey'S elder children were first
sent away; then his wife and the Younger
members of the family followed, it being init
| mated to them that Carey would meet them at
Il certain port.
Carey's fate is that common to Irish nform-
ers. Bailey, who gave the police information
| which enabled them to make the most extensive,
| seizure of arms and ammunition ever made by
! them in Ireland, was found murdered in Skip
! per's alley, Dublin three days after he had
! been driven by the taunts of the inmates from
| the workhouse, i'll which he had taken refuge.
| Pierce Maggie, to whose revelations were due
| the conviction of the staff of the Irish People
newspaper, and the first executive of the Irish
| Revolutionary Brotherhood, escaped Irish ven
Seance for eleven years, and one autumn
morning IN 1916 his corpse was found under Il
London Railway arch, with a huge cheesc-knife
driven through his heart. Warner, Talbot and
! Meara shared the common fate. The last in
| former who suffered the death penalty previous
to Carey was man named Clarke, who was
| traced all the way from Mayo to Western
Australia and shot whilst engaged in ploughn2
| field.