Irish War of Independence centenary...Truce..now Civil War.

[Gary Cooper]

28 June 1922​

Dublin Brigade IRA

Just to sow confusion amongst future amateur historians, the Dublin Brigade of the IRA was operating independently of the Four Courts garrison. The Brigade OC, Oscar Traynor, mobilised some of his battalions on the 27th and the rest after the attack on the Four Courts began. Traynor set up his HQ in Barry’s Hotel in Gardiner’s Row. John Hanratty and 125 men and 18 women of the Irish Citizen Army joined Traynor here. That perennial termagant Markievicz was Hanratty’s 2i/c. The ICA also brought along 3,000 rounds of .303 ammunition. The men were dispersed to reinforce IRA positions around the city.

When the fighting broke out, De Valera issued a statement saying “In the face of England’s threat of war some of our countrymen yielded. The men who are now being attacked by the forces of the Provisional Government are those who refuse to obey the order to yield – preferring to die. They are the best and bravest of our nation”. Having successfully colluded with that British government to start a Civil War, De Valera then joined his old unit– the 3rd Battalion of the Dublin Brigade with which he had fought in the Easter Rising. De Valera had been a Commandant in 1916 but didn’t fulfil any command function during the Civil War. The 3rd Battalion had taken over 41 York Street as its HQ.

FSA Colonel Thomas Mandeville , age 46, and 25 year old Staff Captain Michael Vaughan, died from wounds received in an ambush on Lesson Street carried out by men of the 3rd Battalion. Two other officers and their driver, a man named Murphy, survived. Murphy had been wounded by grenade splinters and as he was being stretchered away, Noel Lemass, an IRA officer shot him several times. Murphy survived these wounds as well. Lemass spent most the Civil War in prison but after the Truce was taken for a one way trip to the Dublin Mountains by the FSA.

By day’s end IRA detachments occupied various positions around the city. Apart from the place mentioned already there were posts in Vaghan’s Hotel in Parnell Square, Moran’s Hotel in Talbot Street, The Workmen’s Temperance Club, the Marrowbone Lane Distillery, Tara Hallin Gloucester Street, No 5 Blackhall Street and 44 Parnell Square.

 

[bohs_man]

28 June 1922

The Four Courts
View attachment 673417​

The attack on the Four Courts began at 4.10am. An ultimatum was sent to the garrison at 3.40am, ordering them to surrender by 4 o’clock. No answer was received and at 4am Paddy O’Daly tried without success to phone the garrison. Ten minutes later the first official shots of the Irish Civil War were fired. A few minutes later the two artillery pieces loaned by the British joined in, firing from a position across the Liffey, at the junction of Bridge Street and Winetavern Street (photoabove). The artillery fired a shell every 15 minutes in the hope that the garrison would be induced to surrender by the show of force. The men and women in the Four Courts were made of sterner stuff and the FSA soon ran out of shells. Dalton had to go to Macready to ask for more, telling him that he was afraid that, if he didn’t get more shells, his men would clear off. About nightfall, Macready gave him 50 shrapnel shells, which made lots of noise but were ineffective against buildings of course.

About 1,100 FSA troops were involved in the attack on the Four Courts with 180 IRA men inside, along with some women of Cumann na mBan and a contingent of Na Fianna. A furious fire fight broke out between the two sides in the Church Street area with the IRA using the Vickers on a captured armoured car against the FSA positions in Jameson’s distillery and the steeple of St.Michan’s Church. Generally during the day the firing was confined to brief exchanges interspersed with long quiet periods.

View attachment 673416​

The Four Courts itself was, as I have said previously, unsuitable for defence. The IRA occupied several blocks of buildings, the Four Courts, Records Office and the HQ Block, with the open areas between exposed to fire from FSA positions. Most of the windows were not sandbagged and there weren’t enough men to defend the whole place. Attempts were made to dig trenches and build sandbag passages between the buildings but the manpower shortage and the shortage of sandbags made it a fruitless endeavour.

Edited to add;

Parnell Square

Not all executive forces were in the Four Courts. There was also a small group in the Fowler Memorial Hall in Parnell Square, occupied by Executive troops since late March. A group of FSA led by Commandant Frank Bolster attacked this position at the same time as the Four Courts attack began. The IRA quickly abandoned the building, setting fire to it as they left. Sergeant William Brennan, FSA, was mortally wounded and and an IRA Volunteer named William Clarke was killed in this attack. Brennan died on 5th July of his wounds. Age 23, he had served in the Cheshire Regiment before joining the FSA.

Spot on Gary, much of what you have writtn was confirmed by O'Malley in his book including the trenches dug, the use of the Vickers on the Mutineer armoured car and the lack of sandbags. They were very unprepared for the assault or a prolonged siege.

 

[bohs_man]

28 June 1922​

Dublin Brigade IRA

Just to sow confusion amongst future amateur historians, the Dublin Brigade of the IRA was operating independently of the Four Courts garrison. The Brigade OC, Oscar Traynor, mobilised some of his battalions on the 27th and the rest after the attack on the Four Courts began. Traynor set up his HQ in Barry’s Hotel in Gardiner’s Row. John Hanratty and 125 men and 18 women of the Irish Citizen Army joined Traynor here. That perennial termagant Markievicz was Hanratty’s 2i/c. The ICA also brought along 3,000 rounds of .303 ammunition. The men were dispersed to reinforce IRA positions around the city.

When the fighting broke out, De Valera issued a statement saying “In the face of England’s threat of war some of our countrymen yielded. The men who are now being attacked by the forces of the Provisional Government are those who refuse to obey the order to yield – preferring to die. They are the best and bravest of our nation”. Having successfully colluded with that British government to start a Civil War, De Valera then joined his old unit– the 3rd Battalion of the Dublin Brigade with which he had fought in the Easter Rising. De Valera had been a Commandant in 1916 but didn’t fulfil any command function during the Civil War. The 3rd Battalion had taken over 41 York Street as its HQ.

FSA Colonel Thomas Mandeville , age 46, and 25 year old Staff Captain Michael Vaughan, died from wounds received in an ambush on Lesson Street carried out by men of the 3rd Battalion. Two other officers and their driver, a man named Murphy, survived. Murphy had been wounded by grenade splinters and as he was being stretchered away, Noel Lemass, an IRA officer shot him several times. Murphy survived these wounds as well. Lemass spent most the Civil War in prison but after the Truce was taken for a one way trip to the Dublin Mountains by the FSA.

By day’s end IRA detachments occupied various positions around the city. Apart from the place mentioned already there were posts in Vaghan’s Hotel in Parnell Square, Moran’s Hotel in Talbot Street, The Workmen’s Temperance Club, the Marrowbone Lane Distillery, Tara Hallin Gloucester Street, No 5 Blackhall Street and 44 Parnell Square.

Very interesting that James Connolly's old mob, the Irish Citizen Army became involved and sided with the IRA. I wasn't aware of that.

 

[bohs_man]

A proclamation issued by the IRA 100 years ago today marking the start of the Irish Civil War:

The second line is very telling, the use of the words hereditary enemy and treacherously assailed by recreant Irishmen shows the strentgh of their feeling.

 

[bohs_man]

One for @ugly

O'Malley mentions the following in his book about the Mausers they were using in the Four Courts:

Some of the Mauser rifles were out of action also; the barrels began to glow when the rifles had been used quickly and the luminous sights had dropped off.

I assume these were WW1 era Mauser 98k rifles as most of the 1870 ones used in the Rising had been captured. Was this a common occurrence on weapons of this period and is he talking about the luminous tips on the iron sights?

 

[ugly]

Remember that over 50% of the original Mauser rifles shipped never made it to the Easter rising! That said perhaps they were using luminous painted foresight blades? The Mauser design in theory cools quicker than the Lee Enfield SMLE, but the first Mauser were built with barrel jackets which didn’t help cooling!
Pictures from the period don’t always help as the mix by 1920 ish would be huge!
The UK govt actually supplied the nascent Baltic states with captured weapons (German maxims) and surplus Pattern 14 rifles in .303!

I managed after all these years to use nascent in a post!

Honestly though there is probably a thesis worth of work just on weapons of the period as narrowing it to the Easter rising would be to miss out on the interesting period as a whole!

 

[Gary Cooper]

28 June 1922​

Finding the casualties of the fighting in Dublin is a bit hit and miss. Liz Gillis, whose book The Fall of Dublin gives a good account of the action, says there were 17 fatalities on the day. Below are the names I could find in various sources, including the link at the bottom of the page. The author gets some of the dates wrong. Another good reference is The Forgotten Fallen Vol 1 by James Langton. Volume 1 of Langton's work records the FSA dead. Vols 2 and 3 were supposed to cover the IRA and Civilian casualties but do not appear to have been published yet. Langton also did his work alphabetically, chronogically would have been so much handier.

IRA Casualties

Volunteer Joe Considine, Ennis, Co Clare. Mortally wounded in the Four Courts and died in Jervis Hospital

Volunteer William Doyle. New Ross Co. Wexford, mortally wounded outside the Ormonde Hotel, near the Four Courts.

Volunteer William Clarke, Corporation Street, Dublin. Killed in Parnell Street.

Volunteer John McGowan from Skerries Co. Dublin was fatally wounded in St. Stephens Green and died in St. Vincents Hospital on July 2nd.

FSA Casualties

Colonel Thomas Mandeville, age 46, from Lower Pembroke Street, Dublin, fatally wounded in an ambush in Leeson Street.

Staff Captain Michael Vaughan, age 25. Capel Street, Dublin, fatally wounded in an ambush in Leeson Street.

Sergeant William Brennan, Dublin Guards,mortally in Parnell Square and died on 5th July, age 23.

Civilian Casualties

Rosaline Harrison a civilian, was wounded in the neck in Harcourt Street, and died on June 29th in the Mater Hospital.

Patrick Cosgrave, a 14 year old meesenger boy, was shot dead during fighting around the Four Courts at George's Hill.

Link to the best resource I couldfind on these casualties.

Deaths in Dublin during Irish Civil War 1922-23 – Google My Maps

Deaths in Dublin during Irish Civil War 1922-23

www.google.com

 

[Gary Cooper]

Very interesting that James Connolly's old mob, the Irish Citizen Army became involved and sided with the IRA. I wasn't aware of that.

Me neither. I thought they'd died away after 1916.

Spot on Gary, much of what you have writtn was confirmed by O'Malley in his book including the trenches dug, the use of the Vickers on the Mutineer armoured car and the lack of sandbags. They were very unprepared for the assault or a prolonged siege.

I'm using Liz Gillis's The Fall of Dublin for most of these posts. Unsurprisingly she has used O'Malley's writings herself.

​

The book is part of a series covering the early part of the Civil War allavailable from Amazon in Dead Tree format or on Kindle. The others are;

The Battle for Limerick City by Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc

The Summer Campaign in Kerry by Tom Doyle

The Battle for Kilmallock by John O’Callaghan

The Battle for Cork July-August 1922 by John Bergonovo

 

[bohs_man]

Me neither. I thought they'd died away after 1916.


I'm using Liz Gillis's The Fall of Dublin for most of these posts. Unsurprisingly she has used O'Malley's writings herself.

View attachment 673501
​

The book is part of a series covering the early part of the Civil War allavailable from Amazon in Dead Tree format or on Kindle. The others are;

The Battle for Limerick City by Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc

The Summer Campaign in Kerry by Tom Doyle

The Battle for Kilmallock by John O’Callaghan

The Battle for Cork July-August 1922 by John Bergonovo

Amongst some others i Have Dublin's Fighting Story by Diarmid Ferriter and Calton Younger's The Irish Civil War.

 

[bohs_man]

These boys certainlty liked their proclamations, another one from the Four Courts grrison:

 

[Gary Cooper]

29 June 1922​

The Four Courts

The bombardment of the Four Courts continued as day broke on the 29th. Remember that the FSA was at this time using ineffective shrapnel shells, although the British HQ in the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham was somewhat discomfited when one round landed in the hospital grounds. Emmet Dalton was contacted by Macready and upon investigating found the crew trying to hit a sniper in the dome of the Four Courts with their 18 pounder.

Macready met with Collins, Dalton and Mulcahy to discuss the Provisional Government demands for more artillery. After contacting London, he gave two more 18-pounder guns to Dalton as well as hundreds more high-explosive shells. These guns were located at the end of Hammond Lane and the corner of Chancery Place and Chancery Street and were in action by the afternoon. The FSA gunners began working at breaching the walls of the building for an infantry assault. One of the guns began shelling the Records Office which the IRA was using to store their ammo and explosives and whose positions were manned by the IRA’s youth wing, Na Fianna.

During the day two separate delegations tried to negotiate a ceasefire between the sides. The FSA demanded complete surrender and that the IRA hand over its arms which the IRA refused to do.

As the day wore on the west side of the Four Courts building and the Records Office sustained severe damage from artillery and machine gun fire. The IRA inside were trying to tunnel from cellar to cellar of the buildings but to little avail. A suggestion of an attack on FSA positions in the Four Courts Hotel was abandoned and mines were laid in the courtyards of the complex to hold up the coming FSA assault.

The people manning the Records Office were driven to the back of the building and were eventually ordered to set fire to the Records Office building and abandon it. As Lt Kelleher, the officer commanding the men in the Records Office, returned to carry out this order he encountered a FSA soldier who took him prisoner. FSA troops were already infiltrating the Four Courts from the Church Street side under the command of Commandants Joe McGuinness and Patrick O’Connor.

Meanwhile the barrage on the west side intensified to widen a breach in the walls sufficiently to allow troops attack through it. The FSA attackers began to move in to position for the assault. As night fell men ran the gauntlet moving across the front of the Four Courts to get into position near the western breach. Emmet Dalton and Dermot McManus led these troops.

 

[Gary Cooper]

29 June 1922​

Dublin Brigade IRA

The IRA of Dublin No. 1 Brigade under Oscar Traynor occupied buildings on the east side of O'Connell St. including the Gresham and Hamman hotels. IRA HQ then moved to the Hamman Hotel. Accompanying Traynor here were De Valera, Brugha, Austin Stack and Seán T O’Kelly. Two buildings on the west side of O’Connell Street were taken over as well as other buildings around the city. Sniper fire from all these occupied building cleared the streets of civilians. The FSA supply lorries also suffered harassing fore as they made their way to and from the Four Courts area resupplying the attacking troops.

Traynor was planning on relieving the Four Courts garrison and creating an escape route for them. During the day a large group of IRA made their way down Henry Street to the corner of Capel Street and Mary Abbey to within about 50 meters of the Four Courts. Here they were attacked by an FSA company and pushed back.

Joe O’Connor, O/C 3rd Battalion was ordered to attack as many FSA posts as possible. Men of the 3rd Battalion advanced from Dame St into Temple Bar. 4th Battalion men got as far as the FSA artillery position on Bridge Street before being pushed back.

IRA Casualties

Volunteer Frank Jackson, 3rd Battalion was killed in fighting around Crown Alley. Jackson was a veteran of the 1916 Rising.

Volunteer John O'Mahoney, a former Connaught Ranger from Cashel, Co. Tipperary was killed in action at the corner of Parnell Street and Moore Street.

Volunteer Mathew Tompkins, 1st Battalion. Killed in North Great Georges Street.

Volunteer John Monks. Killed in a firefight in Clondalkin

FSA Casualties

Captain Luke Condron, 1st Battalion, 2nd Eastern Division, was fatally wounded in an ambush on the South Circular Road and died on 2nd July. He was a 27year old veteran of the Easter Rising.

Private James Walsh, Dublin Guards. Walsh’s name is recorded as James, George and James George. He has three different addresses; in Dublin, Kilkenny and Dover and three different dates of death. People seem to agree that he was James and was an ex-British soldier who had only joined the FSA three weeks before his death. He waskilled in the fighting at the Four Courts.

Private Patrick McGarry, age 21 from Kanturk, Co. Cork, was fatally wounded by MG fire off Dominick Street and died the following day.

Sergeant Paddy Lowe, age 24. Lowe was borninDublin but while working in Liverpool, joined the IRA. He was shot and wounded during an arson attack on 19th March 1921 and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Released during the post treaty amnesty, Lowe joined the FSA. He was killed in an ambush on a supply lorry in Capel Street.

A Red Cross medic named M J Curtin is named as being killed at the Four Courts. I’m not sure what side he was on.

Civilian Casualties

Anne McKeon, Age 40, was killed in crossfire during the Four Courts fighting.

Thomas Daly, 45, shot and killed by a stray bullet at his apartment on Eden Quay.

John Bambrick was shot and killed during an IRA attack on a FSA post in Kingstown.

 

[bohs_man]

​

A Red Cross medic named M J Curtin is named as being killed at the Four Courts. I’m not sure what side he was on.

In the Civil War in Dublin by John Dorney the Red Cross medic Curtin is listed as a Great War veteran who was killed whilst tending FSA wounded. Apparently he volunteered on the day hostilities broke out to help out the FSA.

 

[bohs_man]

A Pathe film showing the action at the Four Courts, the Red Cross get a mention too:

 

[Gary Cooper]

29 June 1922​

Outside Dublin

Liam Lynch set up his IRA GHQ in New Barracks in Limerick. His GHQ staff were Ernie O'Malley as Assistant Chief of Staff (O’Malley is stillin the Four Courts), Con Moloney (Adjutant General); Joe O'Connor (Quartermaster General); Sean Moylan (Director of Operations); Dr Con Lucey (Director of Medical Services); Sean Hyde (Acting Director of Intelligence); Jim Moloney (Director of Communications); Sean McCarthy (Director of Publicity) and Maurice Twomey (General Staff Officer). Liam Deasy took over as O/C 1st Southern Division.

IRA from Kerry No. 1 and No. 2 Brigades, led by Humphrey Murphy and John Joe Rice, captured the FSA post of about 250 men in Listowel. The post in Listowel was commanded by Tom Kennelly, formerly O/C 3rd Battallion, Kerry No. 1 Brigade. One FSA soldier, Private Edward Sheehy was killed and another wounded in the attack. About 50 of the FSA troops switched sides and the rest are imprisoned in Ballymullen Barracks in Tralee.

Captain Willie Moran, IRA O/C Bohola Company, East Mayo Brigade led a group of men in an attack on the home of Vice Brigadier Thomas Ruane in Kiltimagh. Ruane was on a recruiting drive for the FSA. As he was being taken from his home along with his brother James, Ruane pulled a gun and shot Moran dead. Ruane was fatally wounded by another IRA man and died on July 5th.

In Donegal, the FSA, led by Joe Sweeney, seized a number of number of posts in the county from the IRA. Finner Camp, Ballyshannon Barracks,Bridgend, Ballymaccool House and Rockhill House outside Letterkenny were captured. In taking Finner Camp, IRA Captain James Connolly from Kinlough was killed. Lieutenant Daniel Harkin, FSA, was wounded in the assault on Rockhill House. Harkin died on 26th July.

Frank Aiken called a meeting of all the 4th Northern divisional officers. At the meeting it was agreed that the division as a whole would adopt a policy of strict neutrality in the conflict and that there would be no further offensive operations in Northern Ireland.

London

The military subcommittee of the British cabinet committee on Irish affairs agreed to the large-scale transfer of arms and ammunition to the Provisional Government.

 

[Gary Cooper]

30 June 1922​

The Four Courts

The bombardment of the Four Courts continued. Inside, the leadership was trying to decide what to do. Mines (IEDs) had been laid about the buildings ready to be detonated when the FSA attack began. There was some discussion about the best way to defend the building or whether to attempt a breakout towards the men of the Dublin Brigade. The more romantic members of the Executive felt that abandoning the Four Courts would be seen as abandoning the Republic. The sane and sensible members wanted to try breaking out through the sewers, but since these were found to be flooded that plan was abandoned. In any case ammunition was running low at this stage.

Shortly after daybreak there was a temporary ceasefire so that the IRA wounded could be evacuated. Soon after fighting resumed and by 11 am the HQ Block was ablaze and had to be abandoned. The fire quickly spread to the Records Office, which you’ll recall was an ammunition store and a factory for making grenades and IEDs. There was about two tons of explosive material in the building. The Fire Brigade was called from the Four Courts at 11.45 but refused to attend the fire unless there was a ceasefire. They did actually go to the Four Courts but there was nothing to be done. At 12.30 a shell struck the Records Office and the contents blew up in an explosion that threw flames and smoke 500 feet into the air. Oddly nobody died in the explosion though about 50 FSA men and five IRA were wounded. The disparity in the numbers of wounded was because Paddy O’Connor had led his men into the Office and was organising his men for a push to the Headquarters Block when the explosion occurred.

The explosion brought about another ceasefire, probably more through shock than planning. The wounded were evacuated and the surviving garrison withdrew to the last tenable part of the complex- the cellars under the Library on the east side of the building near Chancery Street.

The shelling resumed at 1 pm and an hour later two more explosions had ripped through the main building- probably the mines that had been laid by the defenders, detonating. The IRA commanders conferred to decide what to do. A message from Oscar Traynor had been received telling them that he could not break through to the Four Courts and advising surrender. One of the priests in the Four Courts was sent to negotiate surrender terms with the FSA and was sent back with a demand for unconditional surrender. At 4 pm, the 140 remaining defenders destroyed their arms and surrendered.

Amongst the prisoners were Joe McKelvey, Rory O’Connor, Liam Mellows, Sean McBride, Dick Barrett, Tom Barry and Ernie O’Malley. O’Malley escaped shortly after on his way to Mountjoy along with five others, including Sean Lemass, Paddy Rigney and Joe Griffith. Tom Barry escaped in August. McKelvey, O’Connor, Mellows and Dick Barrett were executed in December 1922.

 

[bohs_man]

30 June 1922​

The Four Courts

The bombardment of the Four Courts continued. Inside, the leadership was trying to decide what to do. Mines (IEDs) had been laid about the buildings ready to be detonated when the FSA attack began. There was some discussion about the best way to defend the building or whether to attempt a breakout towards the men of the Dublin Brigade. The more romantic members of the Executive felt that abandoning the Four Courts would be seen as abandoning the Republic. The sane and sensible members wanted to try breaking out through the sewers, but since these were found to be flooded that plan was abandoned. In any case ammunition was running low at this stage.

Shortly after daybreak there was a temporary ceasefire so that the IRA wounded could be evacuated. Soon after fighting resumed and by 11 am the HQ Block was ablaze and had to be abandoned. The fire quickly spread to the Records Office, which you’ll recall was an ammunition store and a factory for making grenades and IEDs. There was about two tons of explosive material in the building. The Fire Brigade was called from the Four Courts at 11.45 but refused to attend the fire unless there was a ceasefire. They did actually go to the Four Courts but there was nothing to be done. At 12.30 a shell struck the Records Office and the contents blew up in an explosion that threw flames and smoke 500 feet into the air. Oddly nobody died in the explosion though about 50 FSA men and five IRA were wounded. The disparity in the numbers of wounded was because Paddy O’Connor had led his men into the Office and was organising his men for a push to the Headquarters Block when the explosion occurred.

The explosion brought about another ceasefire, probably more through shock than planning. The wounded were evacuated and the surviving garrison withdrew to the last tenable part of the complex- the cellars under the Library on the east side of the building near Chancery Street.

The shelling resumed at 1 pm and an hour later two more explosions had ripped through the main building- probably the mines that had been laid by the defenders, detonating. The IRA commanders conferred to decide what to do. A message from Oscar Traynor had been received telling them that he could not break through to the Four Courts and advising surrender. One of the priests in the Four Courts was sent to negotiate surrender terms with the FSA and was sent back with a demand for unconditional surrender. At 4 pm, the 140 remaining defenders destroyed their arms and surrendered.

Amongst the prisoners were Joe McKelvey, Rory O’Connor, Liam Mellows, Sean McBride, Dick Barrett, Tom Barry and Ernie O’Malley. O’Malley escaped shortly after on his way to Mountjoy along with five others, including Sean Lemass, Paddy Rigney and Joe Griffith. Tom Barry escaped in August. McKelvey, O’Connor, Mellows and Dick Barrettwere executed in December 1922.

Excellent stuff Gary, again, much of what you wrote has been detailed by O'Malley in his book. RTE are doing quite a bit about the start of the Civil War, well worth a look:

Under Siege: the Battle of the Four Courts

In summer 1922, anti-Treaty forces took control of the Four Courts. The National Army responded - and the Civil War began.

www.rte.ie

Some excellent photos are included in the link.

Pathe again, this time a bit longer and includes the end of the fighting. Footage of captured weapons and the Rolls Royce armoured car 'The Big Fella' are shown:



According to O'Malley he forbade any photos of his men surrendering as a body, his escape from captivity was a bit of a farce, he and his mates simply walked out of Jameson's Distellery where the garrison were first held before onward transfer to Mountjoy.
It seems a sympathetic FSA soldier turned the other cheek allowing them to pass out of a side entrance and freedom.

 

[bohs_man]

We have already established that there may have been British involvement with personnel acting as gunners but what of the field guns used in the Four Courts bombardment? Apparently sold overseas to Canada and the States, one of which has been found and restored by Irish Army workshop fitters.Those interested in Artillery/REME background may be interested in the following:

Restoration report

https://m365-emarketing-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/images/rcaa/April%202022/Pres%20to%20DCOS%20_Sp_%20Restoration%20of%2018pdr%20QF%20Field%20Gun%20_V%2010%20Jun%2019_.pdf

Recovery

https://m365-emarketing-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/images/rcaa/April%202022/Recovery%20of%2018pdr%20from%20United%20States%20of%20America.pdf

Field gun initial condition report

https://m365-emarketing-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/images/rcaa/April%202022/18%20PR%20CWB-%20Gun-PDF.pdf

Some photos of how the gun looks now:

The gun itself is on a tour around the country i am told and is normally held at McKee (formerly Marlborough) barracks in Dublin, ironically where it was one of several handed over to Emmet Dalton prior to the bombardment of the Four Courts.

Well done all who found and helped restore this piece of history.

 

[Gary Cooper]

30 June 1922​

Dublin Brigade IRA

Traynor was still planning on relieving the Four Courts garrison on the morning of June 30th. It was an impossible task given that his men were hemmed in, outnumbered and outgunned by the FSA. Still Traynor ordered men to try to break through the FSA cordon around the Four Courts.

About 11 am, Paddy Holohan led 20 men from Parnell Square towards the Four Courts. As they advanced along Mary Street they encountered opposition and lost a man killed. Holohan withdrew to Parnell Square and then tried to advance again by a different route. Advancing along Parnell Street they again came under fire but continued to advance and had reached Ryder’s Row when the explosion at the Four Courts happened. The men went to ground in a premises named Jenkin’s in Capel Street where they were surrounded by FSA troops and surrendered after the Four Courts fell.

Around the time that Holohan was advancing, John Hanratty, OC Irish Citizen Army was ordered to take a group forward and secure buildings in Capel Street. Most of this group were ICA, with a couple of IRA men and four women. Hanratty reached his objective just as the Four Courts exploded.

Traynor then abandoned the idea of relieving the Four Courts garrison, sending the message advising them of this and recommending they surrender.

From around midday with the Four Courts all but captured, FSA operations against the IRA in the O’Connell Street area intensified. FSA patrols were accompanied by armoured cars and IRA outposts were simply rushed with the occupants frequently surrendering.

IRA Casualties

Volunteer Tom Wall

Volunteer John Cusack. Wall and Cusack were killed in the FSA attack on the Public Records Office in the morning.

Volunteer Thomas Markey. Markey was fatally wounded in the advanve from Parnell Square towqrds the Four Courts. He died on 1st July 1922.

FSA Casualties

Private Thomas Hogan, age 25, from Golden, Co. Tipperary. A WW1 veteran of the MGC, Hogan joined the IRA in 1920. He was shot in the head while driving an ambulance in O’Connell Street.

Outside Dublin

​

Captain Terry Byrne was shot and killed in Castle Street, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary. The IRA had occupied several buildings in the town on 29th June. Expecting more IRA to move in to the twon, Byrne was organising his defences when he was shot dead. Age 22 and had served in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers in WW1. Around the same time Mrs Hannah O'Meara was hit and killed outside the hotel she owned with her husband.

 

[Deleted 59779]

A Red Cross medic named M J Curtin is named as being killed at the Four Courts. I’m not sure what side he was on.

Sorry for throwing the chronology back a bit but I meant to respond earlier: