The Kilmainham Treaty In negotiations with Parnell, Gladstone promised to fix the problems in the Second Land Act by: • allowing tenants access to the land courts, even if they had written leases • helping tenants who were in arrears to pay their rents.
He also promised to drop coercion. In return Parnell promised to help restore peace to the Irish countryside. While nothing was formally written down, Parnell referred to their agreement as the Kilmainham Treaty. By calling it a treaty, Parnell was giving the deal the guise of an international agreement, which strengthened his support among nationalists.
Police interrupt a Ladies’ Land League meeting. The Phoenix Park Murders
Parnell was released from Kilmainham prison on 2 May 1882. Four days later, a group of extremist breakaway IRB members known as the Invincibles ambushed the newly appointed Chief Secretary, Lord Frederick Cavendish, and the Under Secretary, Thomas Henry Burke, in the Phoenix Park. The two men were savagely stabbed to death.
In response to their murders, Parnell offered Gladestone his resignation as an MP. He felt that his links with the IRB during the Land War would make his position as leader of the Home Rule Party too controversial. Gladstone did not accept Parnell’s resignation, even though Cavendish was his nephew. He believed that Parnell was still in a position to help prevent further violence in Ireland. The Phoenix Park murders, in fact, were so shocking that they discredited physical force nationalists. Many Irish people now wished to pursue only peaceful parliamentary politics to win Ireland some form of independence.
