On 12th July 1871 retired Head Constable Thomas Talbot was shot in Hardwicke Street, Dublin while returning to his lodgings in Dorset Street. His assailant, a Fenian called Robert Kelly, was chased from the scene by police at whom he fired shots, wounding one. He was apprehended still in possession of the revolver which, when checked, was found to contain two rounds and four spent cases. Talbot had been shot in the head with the bullet lodged at the back of his skull. He was taken to Richmond Hospital where he was able to enter on foot unaided. The eminent surgeon William Stokes was summoned to treat him. Stokes persisted in trying to remove the bullet causing a severe bleed from a severed artery. Post-operatively Talbot suffered a secondary bleed which, together with septicaemia, proved fatal.
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