Irish Conspiracies: Recollections of John Mallon (the Great Irish Detective) and Other Reminiscences

The reminiscences of English journalist Frederick Moir Bussy, especially his recollections of Ireland in the late nineteenth century and of famous Irish detective John Mallon.

Bussy spent a considerable portion of his professional life reporting on happenings in Ireland. In this book he offers readers in-depth insight into the politically motivated murders of Lord Frederick Cavendish (Chief Secretary for Ireland) and Thomas Henry Burke (Permanent Undersecretary) in Phoenix Park in Dublin in 1882, by the Irish nationalist group ‘The Invincibles’, the controversial criminal trials which followed and the wider impact these killings had.

The book includes a biography of Bussy’s close friend, John Mallon, a well-known Dublin detective who was a Catholic and a Nationalist and rose to the rank of Assistant Commissioner of the Dublin Metropolitan Police. Through Mallon’s experience Bussy tells the story of informers and spies in Ireland, including the great societal hate of informers that developed. Mallon shared his experiences with Bussy despite having refused to give evidence to the Parnell Commission looking at crime in Ireland in the late 1880s.

Bussy’s journalism further covered many of the most strenuous periods of Land League activity in Ireland. In this book Bussy is strongly critical of British rule in Ireland and of the way Ireland and the Irish people are often misrepresented in the British media. Of particular interest he relates his first-hand experience of witnessing various shocking incidents of police violence in Ireland, perpetrated by the Royal Irish Constabulary and Dublin Metropolitan Police.

Bussy’s writing is vibrant and his experience is vast. This book offers numerous important insights for historians of Ireland. It also details very well the methods of journalists of the era, especially the changing nature of reporting including changes facilitated by technology.

First published in 1910 by Everett & Co. This special edition is published by Lewisham Press, 2021.

Bernard Frederick Frankland Moir Bussy was born in London in 1858. He died in 1922 and is buried in the West Norwood Cemetery and Crematorium in London.

£6.99