Cartoon published by British satirical magazine, Punch, in 1867 after the Clerkenwell explosion.

In December of 1867, an attempt to rescue Richard O'Sullivan Burke and the prisoner Casey resulted in an explosion at Clerkenwell House of Detention, London. A cask of gunpowder was fired close to the wall of the prison, at 3.45p.m on December 13, 1867. The prison authorities had, however, received prior information, and the prisoners had been exercised in the morning instead of the afternoon. Nevertheless, the resulting explosion saw 12 people killed and 126 injured. The Fenian, Micahel Barrett, who had been in Glasgow at the time of the explosion, was later tried and executed on 26 May 1868.