On December 17, 1883, Patrick O'Donnell, a native of Meenacladdy, County Donegal, was executed by hanging in Newgate Prison, London. He had been convicted of the murder of James Carey, a prominent leader of the Irish National Invincibles and a police informer. Carey had turned state's evidence, leading to the conviction and execution of several Invincibles involved in the Phoenix Park Murders. O'Donnell shot Carey aboard the passenger ship Melrose en route to South Africa. The case garnered significant public attention and became a symbol of Irish nationalist resistance against British rule.
