In 1882, the grounds around the house became the location for a famous murder. Two men were stabbed to death with surgical knives while walking back to the residence from Dublin Castle. They were the Lord Frederick Cavendish, the British Cabinet minister with responsibility for Irish affairs, and Thomas Henry Burke, chief civil servant. A small insurgent group called the Invincibles was responsible for the deed. The Lord Lieutenant, the 5th Earl Spencer, heard the victims screams from a ground floor window in the drawing room.