Eleven years before the trial of Oscar Wilde, Dublin society was shocked by a different homosexual scandal, one which involved several high-ranking officials in the Dublin Castle administration including Gustavus Cornwall, secretary of the General Post Office, and James Ellis French, Royal Irish Constabulary Director of Detectives. Instigated by MPs Tim Healy and William O’Brien in an exposé in the United Ireland Newspaper, weaponising Victorian morality against the British administration itself, the Dublin Castle Scandal of 1884 is simultaneously one of the least well-known, most complicated, and most fascinating moments in Irish history.

This talk will examine how newspaper reports and court documents surrounding this scandal reveal what gay culture was like in 1880’s Dublin, from secret drag parties within the walls of Dublin Castle to clandestine meet-ups in the Botanic Gardens. It will also examine the lives of those caught up in the intrigue from all classes in society, and the devastating effects of the scandal’s backlash on the queer community; the 1885 Labouchere Amendment criminalising ‘gross indecency’ between men, only repealed in Ireland in 1993.

Booking is essential, as places are limited! Email address for bookings is  dublincastleeducation@opw.ie
Meeting point : The Education Room (which is located off the Entrance Hall of the State Apartments)