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Part of
News with an Attitude: Ideological perspectives in the historical press
Edited by Claudia Claridge
[Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture 105] 2025
► pp. 82–107

Chapter 5
Transformations and the dynamics of memory

Gladstone and the Phoenix Park Murders

| University of Lancaster
| University of Lancaster
In this study, we explore how the Phoenix Park murders were written about in public and private discourse, utilising the Nineteenth Century Newspaper Corpus, personal diaries and historiography. With the use of social actor analysis (van Leeuwen, 2008), we examine how events underwent ‘transformations’ as they moved from reality to record, and how over time these records worked to shape the dynamics of memory, particularly in relation to notions of accountability. Gladstone was blamed by The Times for allowing the murders to take place but, by focussing on personal relationships, the Liberal press portrayed events far more sympathetically. Soon after Gladstone’s death, an influential biography by his friend, John Morley, worked to prove that Gladstone’s reputation was beyond reproach.
Keywords: Gladstone, nineteenth century, Ireland, Phoenix Park murders, newspapers, diaries, memory, collocation, social actor analysis
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theory and method
  • 3.Data
    • 3.1The newspapers
    • 3.2Gladstone’s Diary and Morley’s ‘Life of Gladstone’
  • 4.Setting the scene
  • 5.Case study 1 — The appointment of Frederick Cavendish
    • 5.1Public transformation
    • 5.2Private to public transformation
  • 6.Case study 2 — The discovery of the news
    • 6.1Public transformation
    • 6.2Private transformation
    • 6.3Private to public transformation
  • 7.Case study 3 — Legislation following the murders
    • 7.1Public transformation
    • 7.2Private to public transformation
  • 8.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
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