Page 36 - Garda Journal Summer 2019

away before the second bill was introduced in 1893. It passed in the House of Commons but it did not make it through the House of Lords.
Charles Stuart Parnell, Home Rule Party Chairman Election
Gibson did not have to trouble herself with this struggle for domestic self-governance. Much of her childhood was filled with the privilege of travelling back and forth between Dublin and London, per her father’s profession. She was made a debutante in the court of Queen Victoria at the age of 18. Despite the many luxuries she enjoyed, Gibson’s early life was also plagued by many bouts of sickness. She contracted scarlet fever, pleurisy, massive hysteria and was known for her violent temper. Gibson also explored various religions, first delving into Christian Science before the esoteric religious movement of theosophy. However, neither maintained her interest. She converted to Catholicism in 1902 when she was 26 years old.
The following years would see another attempt at passing a Home Rule bill and worsening relations between pro- and anti-British Irish citizens. World War I did restore some balance the goal shifted from internal conflict to the external threat of defeating Germany. However, that distraction would not last long as supporting the war became another mode of division. Amidst it all, Gibson had become overwhelmingly obsessed with religion. By the time she reached her 40s, she dutifully followed John O’Fallon Pope, the Jesuit scholar, embarked on religious retreats, and was consumed by the principles of mortification and martyrdom.
She was committed to a mental asylum in 1922, the same year the Irish Free State was formed, when she suffered from a nervous breakdown and was declared insane. After two years, she travelled to Rome to live in convent with a nurse named Mary McGrath. At this point in her life, she had lost many loved ones and developed a fixation on death. Gibson believed that per God’s wishes, she needed to kill someone as a sacrifice.
At first, she thought that offering herself would be sufficient. Gibson contracted a gun in February 1925 and shot herself in the chest. The Irish Times ran the story on the 2nd of March and recounted the gruesome scene. She was staying in a pension in Rome at the time and was found wounded in her bed after other inhabitants had heard a shot in her room. Her only request was for the calling of a confessor. When Gibson was taken to the hospital, the doctors concluded the shot had deeply penetrated as it passed through her ribs. Unbelievably, she survived.
In March of the following year, Gibson faced the death of her Mother. Her obsessions with taking someone’s life intensified and by April 1926, she had chosen her new target. She would kill Benito Mussolini.
Benito Mussolini in his black suit
A socialist in his youth, Mussolini was expelled from the party after he changed his views towards World War I. He initially fell in line with other members of the socialist party and condemned Italy’s involvement in World War I. With time, however, he saw war as an opportunity for Italy to gain world power. This radical shift in attitude led to his being dismissed from the party, but not before his sentiments could leave an impact. Many other young socialists left the party and followed after him. When Italy officially entered the War on the 26th of April 1915, Mussolini and his supporters celebrated the news.
Italy’s entry came as a result of signing the secret Treaty of London in 1915. Before the War, Italy had formed an alliance with the Empire of the Austria- Hungary in the Triple Alliance and the Central Powers of the German Empire. Instead of taking the side of the Central Powers when the War began in 1914, Italy declared neutrality. This decision was made largely due to the belief that Italy would not gain the territories it desired since they were under Austria’s possession. The Italian government used the early months of the war to strategise how the country could best maximise the benefits of participating. Enter the secret Treaty of London.
36 GARDA JOURNAL
FEATURE | Violet Gibson