August
1922
|
cAug-01-22/1 |
Pro-Treaty army stood at 12,970 men –
including ‘reservists’ it was over 14,000.
Well supplied with armaments by the British. |
Dorney (2017), pg
123 |
|
cAug-01-22/2 |
Three small anti-Treaty columns are located in
Co. Donegal by pro-Treaty forces (one in the Drumkeen
area; a second in the Meeniroy area and a third in
the Glenfinn area).
Most of the members of the anti-Treaty columns
are captured. In addition, there a
number of arrests of anti-Treaty sympathisers around this time in the county. |
Ó Duibhir (2011), pgs 186-187; Ozseker (2019), pg 189 |
|
Aug-01-22/3 |
Father John Hassan writes the foreword to his
pamphlet Facts & Figures of the
Belfast Pogrom 1920-1922. He has written it under the pseudonym G. B.
Kenna. Funding had been provided by
Collins for the writing of the pamphlet. Hassan details 455 people who were killed in
Belfast between July 1920 and June 1922 – 267 Catholics, 185 Protestants and
3 ‘unascertained’. In other words,
according to Hassan, Catholics were 59% of those killed (while being 25% of
the population). More detailed and more up to date figures are
given by the Parkinson and Glennon for a slightly longer period (see
Oct-1922/3) but the percentages do not change greatly. See Aug-19-22/1 for the fate of Hassan’s
pamphlet. |
Glennon (2020), pgs 28-31 |
|
Aug-01-22/4 |
Cabinet of Provisional Government sets up
committee to consider its northern policy consisting of James Hogan, JJ Walsh,
Desmond Fitzgerald, Ernst Blythe and Michael Hayes. See Aug-09-22/2. |
Phoenix (1994), pg 247;
McDermott (2001), pg 265; Kissane
(2005), pg 83 |
|
Aug-01-22/5 |
Anti-Treaty Volunteer (and ex-BA soldier),
Thomas McLoughlin, kills himself in a house near Kilmallock,
Co. Limerick. |
O’Shea (2021), pg
159 |
|
Aug-01-22/6 |
Peadar
O’Loughlin, Adjutant of the 1st Western Division of the
anti-Treaty army, dies of tuberculosis. |
Ó Ruairc (2009), pg 309 |
|
Aug-02-22/1 |
Fenit
Landing 450 Dublin Guards (pro-Treaty), on board the Lady Wicklow, land by sea in Fenit, Co Kerry. (Horgan says August 4th.)
They are led by General Paddy O’Daly. They land under some fire but they bring the
Vickers machine gun on the turret of an armoured car (which was strapped to
the deck) into action and this brings the fire from land to a stop
quickly. Anti-Treaty Volunteer Tom
Flynn is killed in the exchange of fire.
As they proceed towards Tralee, they meet
anti-Treaty fire at Spa which results in the death of pro-Treaty Private
Paddy Quinn of Meath St in Dublin. Also killed is anti-Treaty Volunteer John
O’Sullivan from Aughacashla, Castlegregory. As they enter Tralee, six pro-Treaty soldiers
and one medical orderly are killed.
The anti-Treaty forces withdraw from Tralee after attempting, but only
partially succeeding, to burn down Ballymullen Barracks which the pro-Treaty
forces set up as their HQ. Niall Harrington, who took part in the landing at Fenit, gives a first hand
account of the landing (and subsequent operations by the pro-Treaty forces in
Kerry), in his book Kerry Landing August 1922. |
O'Farrell P (1997), pg
xxii; Hopkinson (1988), pg 166; Dorney (2017), pg 124; Horgan (2018), pg 131;
Doyle (2008), pgs 117-125; O’Shea (2021), pg 159 |
|
Aug-02 to 03-22/1 |
Fighting begins between South Tipperary
anti-Treaty forces (some 200 men led by Dinny Lacey and Dan Breen) and some
500 pro-Treaty forces (led by John Prout) coming
from Waterford and approximately pro-Treaty 200 men coming from Kilkenny (led
by Colonel-Commandant Thornton). After sustained fighting, the pro-Treaty men
coming from Kilkenny take the village of Killamery. The anti-Treaty men (under Dan Breen)
escape towards Carrick-on-Suir. The pro-Treaty forces coming from Waterford
attack the anti-Treaty forces (under Dinny Lacey) outside Carrick-on-Suir
who, after sustained fighting, retreat back into the town but with one
pro-Treaty fatality (Private Patrick Murphy from Enniscorthy, Co
Wexford). The following morning (August 3rd),
Prout’s men cautiously enter Carrick-on-Suir to
find that the anti-Treaty forces had evacuated the town. The pro-Treaty troops coming from Kilkenny
arrive in Carrick-on-Suir in the afternoon. Anti-Treaty forces evacuate Cashel on August 4th. See Aug-09-22/1. |
Hopkinson (1988), pgs
168-169; Curran J M (1980), pg 242; McCarthy
(2015), pg 110; Walsh (2018), pgs
188-192 |
|
Aug-02-22/2 |
Anti-Treaty forces counter-attack Bruree in Co. Limerick but the pro-Treaty defenders hold
out until re-enforcements arrive from Limerick. See Aug-05-22/2. |
Curran J M (1980), pg
242; Horgan (2018), pg 305 |
|
Aug-02-22/3 |
At a meeting between the GHQ of the pro-Treaty
army and officers from the Northern IRA (including Seamus Woods O/C of the 3rd
Northern Division), Collins outlines a policy of continued non-recognition of
the NI government but a non-aggressive military policy – the IRA in the North
would have a purely protective role. It was agreed that GHQ would
continue to finance northern divisional staff and intelligence. It was also announced that Northern
volunteers, who could not remain in the North, would be sent to train at
the Curragh but that they would not be forced to join the pro-Treaty
army. (By the end of August, 379 men had arrived in
the Curragh and this eventually rose to 524. Of the 524 Northern IRA
men who went to the Curragh, 243 joined the pro-Treaty army.) |
Hopkinson (1988), pgs
248-249; Phoenix
(1994), pgs 246-247; McDermott (2001), pgs 265 and 257-258; Ó Duibhir
(2011), pgs 184-185 |
|
Aug-03-22/1 |
In the first direct engagement between pro-
and anti-Treaty forces in Co. Mayo, at Bracklagh
near Newport, two pro-Treaty soldiers (Sergeant Lally and Private Deasy) are killed as well as one anti-Treaty soldier
(Volunteer Edward Hegarty). |
Price (2012), pg 221 |
|
Aug-03-22/2 |
Tarbert
Landing About 240 men of the 1st Western
Division of the pro-Treaty army, under Colonel Michael Hogan, land at
Tarbert, Co. Kerry from Kilrush in Co. Clare.
(Horgan says 5th.) They garrison Tarbert, Listowel and Ballylongford, which the anti-Treaty men had evacuated,
and then move on to meet up with the Tralee force. In these Kerry operations (after the landings
at Fenit and Tarbert), 10 or 11 pro-Treaty soldiers
are killed and 114 wounded. After they capture the towns in Kerry, some
enmity develops between the pro-Treaty army (who are mostly from Dublin,
Clare and Galway) and the local population. |
O'Farrell P (1997), pg
xxii; Hopkinson (1988), pg 166; Dorney (2017), pgs 124-125; Horgan (2018), pg
131; Doyle (2008), pgs 125-127; Power
(2020), pg 109 |
|
Aug-03-22/3 |
Churchill reports to the British cabinet that
“In the area of the Northern Government the position has sensibly improved:
murders and incendiarism had almost entirely ceased, … This might be due to
the fact that the gunmen were engaged in the South … With their return there
might be a recrudescence of outrage, but for the moment life in Belfast had
almost become normal.” |
Hopkinson (1988), pg
248 |
|
Aug-04-22/1 |
Anti-Treaty men, under Mick Mansfield, blow up
the road bridge at Ballyvoile, near Dungarvan, Co
Waterford. They also blow up one of
the arches on the railway viaduct. The
viaduct later collapses (and was to become the site of the oft-used
photograph of the train tottering over the demolished viaduct – See
Feb-02-23/1). |
McCarthy (2015), pg 110 |
|
Aug-04-22/2 |
Jim Dunne, leader of the anti-Treaty Kildare
Brigade column, is captured with over a dozen of his men when trying to blow
up a railway bridge near Sallins, Co. Kildare. |
Durney (2011), pg 86 |
|
Aug-04-22/3 |
Anti-Treaty volunteer, Patrick Moran, is
killed in action at Kilkieran in North Galway.
Also, pro-Treaty Private P.J. Walsh is killed during fighting in Galway city. |
Price (2012), pg
220; Power
(2020), pg 109 |
|
Aug-04-22/4 |
Newcastle West, Co. Limerick falls to
pro-Treaty troops. As does Ardare and
Rathkeale. Pro-Treaty troops move
onwards and link up with the pro-Treaty troops who had landed at Fenit and Tarbert. |
Harnett (2002), pg 134; Hopkinson (1988), pg 152-153;
O’Callaghan (2018), pg 111 |
|
Aug-04-22/5 |
Replying to a letter sent to him by a group in
Cork (People’s Rights Association) which was attempting to mediate between
the two conflicting sides, Collins says that peace would come when the anti-Treatyites “see fit to obey the wishes of the people, as
expressed through their public representatives; when they give up their arms
and cease their depredations on the persons and property of Irish citizens”. |
Kissane (2005), pg
132 |
|
Aug-05-22/1 |
Ulster Special Constable Samuel Hayes was in
the Britannic public bar on the Newtonards Road in
Belfast when a man being pursued by gunmen took refuge in the bar - the
gunmen shot two customers one being S/Con Hayes. He later died from his
wounds. |
Abbott (2000), pg
297; Parkinson (2004), pg 301 |
|
Aug-05-22/2 |
Kilmallock
Taken After considerable fighting, Kilmallock is taken by pro-Treaty Forces. (Bruree had been taken earlier after a two-pronged
attack.) Hopkinson and O’Callaghan put the capture of Kilmallock down to the Kerry anti-Treaty forces leaving
to defend their home areas from the sea landings by pro-Treaty forces at Fenit (see Aug-02-22/1) and Tarbert (see
Aug-03-22/2). Also, Cork forces left
as they anticipated a sea borne invasion of Cork. However, by this stage, the pro-Treaty side
had 2,000 men in the area backed by artillery. |
Hopkinson (1988), pg
152; Curran J M (1980), pg 242; O’Callaghan (2018),
pg 111 |
|
Aug-05-22/3 |
‘Night
of the Bridges’ A plan by the anti-Treaty Dublin Brigade to
destroy a large number of bridges around Dublin (and thus cut Dublin of from
the rest of the country) goes badly wrong when their plans are discovered by
the pro-Treaty side and a large number of anti-Treaty volunteers are
captured. About 250 anti-Treaty men had been mobilised
and, of these, approximately 160 were captured. Dorney comments that “It was
an even greater disaster for the [anti-Treaty] Dublin Brigade than the attack
on the Customs House had been in 1921”.
The anti-Treaty side claims that the
pro-Treaty troops got assistance from the British Army still stationed in
Dublin. |
Hopkinson (1988), pg
145; Dorney (2017), pgs 114-120 |
|
Aug-05-22/4 |
Pro-Treaty troops, stationed in Tralee, take
Castleisland and Farrenfore in Co. Kerry. They set up in Hartnett’s Hotel in Castleisland
as their local HQ. One this day, a young Kerryman
called Michael Purcell, who had joined the pro-Treaty army, was shot dead in
Tralee. Also, a 17-year old member of Fianna Eireann from Ballymacelligott
was shot dead by a pro-Treaty soldier.
Additionally, a pro-Treaty supply lorry on its way to Castleisland was
ambushed at Knockeen Cross resulting in the death
of Captain Brian Houlihan and two other pro-Treaty soldiers. |
Doyle (2008), pgs
129-133 |
|
Aug-05-22/4 |
The Clare
Champion carries a statement from Cardinal Logue, RC Primate of Ireland,
threatening anti-Treatyites with excommunication.
In particular, he said “Outrages have been committed against retired
policemen, I deplore this conduct”. |
Power (2020), pg 103 |
|
Aug-05-22/5 |
Collins sends optimistic memo to Cosgrave
saying that no ‘definite military problem’ existed outside the Southern
Division (Cork – Kerry- Limerick – Waterford) area. He continued that “if Parliament did not meet
until the 24th [of August] our military position would be very
favourable”. [Hopkinson notes that
such optimism was to be disappointed.] Collins go on to propose that they should
“postpone parliament until we can clean up this matter [i.e. Civil War] up
definitely”. The Third Dáil was due to meet on July 29th
(see Jul-12-22/7) but had obviously been postponed again. See Aug-21-22/3. |
Hopkinson (1988), pg
172; Dorney (2017), pg 105; Kissane (2005), pg 158 |
|
Aug-05-22/6 |
The long running farm labourer strike on the
Keane, Devonshire, Villers-Stuart, Musgrave and Ussher estates in the
Blackwater Valley, Co. Waterford comes to an end with a partial defeat for
the strikers – See May-22-22/7 and Jun-07-22/4 above. (McCarthy indicates that critical was the
attitude of the local IRA where, due to many members - particularly those who
joined during the truce - being the sons of farmers, they were hostile to the
labourers.) The strike was to resume the following year leading to a much
more prolonged and bitter dispute – See May-14-23/1.) |
McCarthy (2015), pg
104 |
|
Aug-06-22/1 |
Anti-Treaty forces attack pro-Treaty men
stationed in the old RIC barracks in Kildysart in
Co. Clare. However, a mine with which
they hoped to plant against the wall of the barracks exploded prematurely
seriously injuring anti-Treaty Volunteer John O’Gorman and Lieutenant John
McSweeney. Both were later to die of
their wounds. |
Ó Ruairc (2009), pg 309; Power (2020), pgs 107 |
|
cAug-06-22/2 |
When veteran nationalist, William O’Brien,
complains to de Valera about the destruction of the railway bridge over the
Blackwater at Mallow by anti-Treaty forces, de Valera admitted that if such
tactics continue “the people will begin to treat us as bandits”. |
Curran J M (1980), pg
245 |
|
Aug-07-22/1 |
Collins makes a visit to the Curragh Command
and states that “The entire organisation and command is defective” – he
orders Commandant-General Price to take charge. |
Hopkinson (1988), pg
157; |
|
Aug-08-22/1 |
Cork
Landings Pro-Treaty forces land at Passage West (500
men), Youghal (200 men) and Union Hall (180 men),
Co Cork. Emmet Dalton is in charge the Passage West landing and leads
his men towards the Cork city. They
meet stiff resistance at Rochestown but take the
city within a few days. See Aug-10-22/2. |
O'Farrell P (1997), pg
xxii; Hopkinson (1988), pg 163; Curran J M (1980), pg 244; Dorney (2017), pg 124 |
|
Aug-08-22/1 |
When the Cork anti-Treaty volunteers serving
with the Waterford volunteers in Dungarvan hear of the pro-Treaty landings in
Cork, they decide to return home. Pax Whelan, anti-Treaty O/C in Dungarvan,
decides to evacuate the town burning the barracks and coastguard station in
his wake. He breaks his men into three
ASUs and they resort to guerrilla warfare. |
McCarthy (2015), pgs
110-111 |
|
Aug-08-22/2 |
During raids by anti-Treaty forces on a number
of banks in Monaghan town, pro-Treaty army Lieutenant Thomas Gillanders is killed and £1,200 is taken from the three
banks. It subsequently transpires, in an inquiry
under Frank Aiken, that the anti-Treaty forces were not sanctioned to rob the
banks. £130 is returned and the leaders of the raid leave the country. |
Dooley (2017a), pgs
106-107 |
|
Aug-08-22/3 |
A Catholic labourer, Patrick McGuigan, is shot
at his workplace in Belfast and dies a few days later. |
Parkinson (2004), pg
302; Parkinson (2020), pg 244 |
|
Aug-08-22/4 |
RIC Constable Thomas Ikin commits suicide. |
Abbott (2019), pg
407 |
|
Aug-09-22/1 |
Fighting takes place between South Tipperary
anti-Treaty forces (led by Dinny Lacey and Dan Breen) and pro-Treaty forces
led by John Prout at Redmondstown.
The use of 18-pounders by the pro-Treaty forces is decisive and Prout takes Clonmel.
The anti-Treaty forces retire towards the Nire
valley but with their forces largely intact. |
Hopkinson (1988), pg
169; McCarthy (2015), pg 110 |
|
Aug-09-22/2 |
Ernest Blythe, acting Minister of Home
Affairs, submits a memo to the cabinet of the Provisional Government saying
that there was no likelihood of a united Ireland within a reasonable period
of time and calls for a ‘peaceful policy’ towards the NI government including
nationalists taking their seats in the NI parliament. He argues that even though this policy may
fail, there was some hope and the aggressive policy had failed totally to
protect Catholics. He says “all
military operations on the part of our supporters in or against the North
East should be brought to an end” and that all future pressure on Northern
Ireland should be “absolutely normal and constitutional”. According to Glennon, on this date Blythe also
wrote to the members of the Cabinet sub-committee set up to consider northern
policy (see Aug-01-22/4) saying that “The ‘Outrage’ propaganda should be
dropped in the Twenty-Six Counties. It
can have no effect but to make certain of our people see red which will never
do us any good.” Presumably ‘our
people’ are the nationalists in the 26 counties and ‘us’ are the members of
the Provisional Government? With
regard to the ‘Outrage’ propaganda – see Aug-01-22/3 and Aug-19-22/1. |
Phoenix (1994), pg 247; Litton (1995) pg s 107-108;
Dooley (2017a), pg 108; Glennon (2020), pg 29 |
|
Aug-09-22/3 |
Replying to Churchill’s letter of the 31st
July (see Jul-31-22/2), Collins expressed serious disappointment at
Churchill’s attitude to Proportional Representation and accuses the NI government
of wanting to take over the local government bodies in the border areas
before the Boundary Commission starts working. He says that the abolition of PR was meant to
“paint the Counties of Tyrone and Fermanagh with a deep Orange tint in
anticipation of … Boundary Commission” and it was nothing less than “an
attempt to defeat the obligations of His Majesty’s Government contained in
the Treaty”. See Aug-30-22/2. |
Phoenix (1994), pgs 247-248 |
|
Aug-09-22/4 |
A large number of raids for arms are carried
out by the RUC and USC in Northern Ireland. |
Parkinson (2020), pg 245 |
|
Aug-09-22/5 |
Edward McAvoy, an anti-Treaty volunteer from
Belfast, is killed during an attack by pro-Treaty troops on Ferrycarrig in County Wexford. |
McDermott (2001), pg 271 |
|
Aug-09-22/6 |
Charles Wickham is given full control of the
USC and Solly-Flood is demoted to his original position as police adviser
(but he still has control of the Criminal Investigation Department which was
separate from the RUC’s Special Crimes Branch). Solly-Flood, after overseeing the crushing of
the IRA in NI in May and June, had continued to produce alarmist predictions
of an imminent attack on NI by the South which according to McMahon “became
even more divorced from reality”.
Eventually, he resigned on December 5th. See Nov-24-22/5. |
McMahon (2008), pg 153 |
|
Aug-10-22/1 |
An anti-Treaty volunteer, Joe ‘Sonny’ Hudson
(18), is shot dead during a raid on his home in Glasthule,
Co. Dublin |
Dorney (2017), pg
180 |
|
Aug-10-22/2 |
Cork
Captured by pro-Treaty Forces. Anti-Treaty forces give stiff resistance to
the advancing pro-Treaty forces at Rochestown and
Douglas in Cork during which (it is claimed) eight pro-Treaty soldiers are
killed. The anti-Treaty forces withdraw to Ballincollig and then (in
some confusion) towards Macroom. The major towns in west Cork are soon taken by
pro-Treaty forces. See Aug-16-22/1. |
O'Farrell P (1997), pg
xxii; Hopkinson (1988), pg 164; Curran J M (1980), pg 242 |
|
Aug-10-22/3 |
The assassins of Sir Henry Wilson, Reggie
Dunne and Joseph O’Sullivan, are hung in London. In retaliation, anti-Treaty volunteers burn Currygrane, the residence of James Mackay Wilson (Sir
Henry Wilson’s cousin). |
Coleman (2003), pg
145 |
|
Aug-11-22/1 |
Fermoy, the last major town in anti-Treaty
hands, is captured by pro-Treaty forces. The
first phase of the civil war is nearly over and more and more the anti-Treaty
army reverts to guerrilla tactics. See Aug-19-22/2 |
O’Donoghue (1986), pg
266 |
|
Aug-11-22/2 |
Kenmare
Landings A 200-strong pro-Treaty force, under
Commandant Tom ‘Scarteen’ O’Connor, lands at
Kenmare and takes the town. (O’Connor is one of the few South Kerry
officers who had gone pro-Treaty.) Afterwards, Rathmore and Valencia are
taken. Pro-Treaty troops from Tralee, under James
Dempsey and Jim McGuinness, take Killarney, on August 13th. Rathmore is taken on August15th
and Killorglin on the same day.
Millstreet is taken on August 19th. Cahirciveen is taken on August 24th after pro-Treaty
troops, under Tom ‘Scarteen’ O’Connor, land at Reenard Point. In
capturing all these towns, the pro-Treaty troops meet little resistance.
(There were some casualties at the landing at Reenard
Point.) |
Hopkinson (1988), pg
166; Horgan (2018), pg 100 & 169; Doyle (2008), pgs 138-141, |
|
Aug-11-22/3 |
Special Constable Hamilton Alexander is shot
dead by a fellow constable in Greencastle, Kilkeel, Co. Down when he defies
an order to put down his rifle. |
Lawlor (2011), pg 318, Abbott (2000), pg
316 |
|
Aug-12-22/1 |
Arthur
Griffith dies of a brain haemorrhage. He is replaced
by Cosgrave. |
O'Farrell P (1997), pg
xxii; Hopkinson (1988), pg 140; Macardle
(1999), pg 777; Curran J M (1980), pg 247; Doyle (2008), pg 136; Ferriter (2021), pg 56 |
|
Aug-12-22/2 |
A pro-Treaty patrol is ambushed at Bedford
near Listowel, Co. Kerry resulting in the death of John Quayne
and the wounding of two others. |
Doyle (2008), pg 137 |
|
Aug-12-22/3 |
Writing in the Voice of Labour, Cathal O’Shannon said
that he found, on both sides of the Civil War conflict, people whose minds were
so “warped and twisted with party passion” that they could not imagine any
organisation not taking one side or the other. |
Kissane (2005), pgs 99-100 |
|
Aug-13-22/1 |
Six pro-Treaty soldiers are on a search
mission in the Crosspark area on the Kilkenny/Tipperary
border. While getting out of their
car, a gun is accidently discharged hitting Lieutenant Edward Maher from Gortnahoe, Co. Tipperary.
He dies early the following morning. |
Walsh (2018), pgs
191-192 |
|
Aug-14-22/1 |
Frank Aiken, Commandant 4th Northern Division,
throws in his lot with the anti-Treaty side and his forces capture Dundalk
barracks and prison. See Aug-16-22/2 |
O’Donoghue (1986), pg
269; Hopkinson (1988), pg 171; Gavin and O’Donnell
(1999), pg 36; Macardle
(1999), pgs 763-764; Dooley (2017a), pg 108; Durney (2011), pgs 91-94; Hall (2019), pgs 109-110 |
|
Aug-14-22/2 |
A Special Constable, Albert Ross, was shot
dead by a fellow constable in Ballymena Barracks, Co. Antrim when he was
mistaken for an intruder. |
Lawlor (2011), pg 318 |
|
Aug-14-22/3 |
Liam Lynch abandons his HQ in Buttevant, Co. Cork after burning the barracks and, along
with his staff, retreat to the mountainous area near Ballyvourney. |
Horgan (2018), pg
270 |
|
Aug-14-22/4 |
During a search of the Arigna
mountains for the anti-Treaty column (which was led by Ned Bolfin), pro-Treaty troops find a 14-bed field hospital
staffed by four nurses. |
McGarty
(2020), pg 119 |
|
Aug-14-22/4 |
The Lakeside Hotel in Killaloe is burnt by
anti-Treaty forces. |
Power (2020), pg 89 |
|
cAug-14-22/5 |
At its annual conference, Labour criticises
the anti-Treatyites for acting without popular
support but also criticises pro-Treaty government for waging war without Dáil
support. |
Curran J M (1980), pg
245 |
|
Aug-15-22/1 |
Pro-Treaty Lieutenant Commandant Edward
O’Brien is shot dead when he goes with his troops to investigate a fire at
the unoccupied Shorecourse barracks in Waterford
city. It is believed that it was an
ambush targeted at O’Brien (a Waterford native). See Aug-19-22/4. |
|
|
Aug-15-22/2 |
A Waterford native, John O’Keeffe, is killed
in crossfire during an ambush in Mullinavat in Co.
Kilkenny. |
Walsh (2018), pg 194
& 246 |
|
Aug-15-22/3 |
Special Constable Thomas Greenfield is
patrolling the railway lines near Randalstown, Co.
Antrim when he is struck by a train and killed. |
Abbott (2019), pg
406 |
|
Aug-15-22/4 |
Pro-Treaty Private Thomas Hartigan (from Ennistymon, Co. Clare) is shot and seriously wounded
during an ambush near Ballinasloe, Co. Galway. He later dies of his wounds. |
Power (2020), pg 109 |
|
Aug-15-22/5 |
In a report for the British cabinet, Macready
says that Griffith’s death would have “serious consequences” as he was widely
trusted and respected. |
McMahon (2008), pg
88 |
|
Aug-16-22/1 |
Reporting on the situation in Cork, the Irish
Times states “The advance is becoming swift but the retreat, or, as I
should prefer to call it, the disappearance is swifter". |
Hopkinson (1988), pg
164 |
|
Aug-16-22/2 |
On the evening of August 16th,
pro-Treaty troops, led by Dan Hogan, re-enter Dundalk. They take the jail and
release some 320 pro-Treaty prisoners.
After the intervention of a local priest, Fr James McKeone,
Aiken agrees to withdraw from Dundalk.
One civilian (James McEvoy) was killed during
the re-capture of Dundalk. |
Hall (2019), pg 110 |
|
Aug-16-22/3 |
A pro-Treaty convoy of three lorries is
passing through the Kilmurry area on its way to
Cahir, Co. Tipperary when machine gun fire is opened on it by an anti-Treaty
column led by Jack Kileen. Three pro-Treaty soldiers are killed –
Cornelius Roche, Daniel Fogarty and Joseph Bergin. (It was Bergin’s 21st birthday.) |
Walsh (2018), pg 193 |
|
Aug-17-22/1 |
Two pro-Treaty medical orderlies from Co.
Galway (Cecil Fitzgerald and John O’Mara), who are based in Killarney, Co.
Kerry, decide to take a boat trip to Innisfallen
island in Lough Leanne. As the
approach the jetty on the island, they are shot at and both killed. Pro-Treaty Private John Quane
(from Meelick, Co. Clare) is also killed at
Listowel, Co. Kerry. |
Doyle (2008), pg
145; Power
(2020), pg 109 |
|
Aug-17-22/2 |
A propaganda war is ongoing with a major issue
being the legitimacy of the Provisional Government. The pro-Treaty side claim legitimacy for
the Provisional Government from the June election while, on this day in Poblacht na hÉireann, the anti-Treaty side claim that the
Provisional Government derived its powers from Llyod George and Churchill. |
Kissane (2005), pg 100 |
|
Aug-18-22/1 |
An anti-Treaty Column of Kerry No. 2 led by
Jerry Kennedy (with men mostly from around Headford
and Glenflesk) attack a large column of pro-Treaty
troops led by Paddy O’Daly and Jim McGuinness
making its way from Killarney to Rathmore at Droum
bridge. McGuiness and three others are
wounded. |
Horgan
(2018), pg 111; Doyle (2008), pgs 146-148 |
|
Aug-18-22/2 |
A four-man pro-Treaty patrol is going from Fenit to Tralee in Co. Kerry when it is attacked at Spa
resulting in the death of Sergeant Jack Lydon, a native of Tralee. |
Doyle (2008), pg 148 |
|
Aug-18-22/3 |
Michael O’Driscoll from Bannow,
Camp, Co. Kerry is shot dead by two men.
This may have been due to a land dispute but his brother later made a
claim on the basis that his death was due to the political conflict. |
Doyle (2008), pg 149 |
|
Aug-18-22/4 |
The Civic Guard is disbanded by Provisional
Government. See Ferriter (2021), pg 33
for details on the Commission of Inquiry into the Mutiny. |
Hopkinson (1988), pg
92 |
|
Aug-19-22/1 |
Provisional Government considers report from
the committee it had set up to consider NI policy (see Aug-01-22/4) and
formally adopts a ‘peace policy with North East Ulster’. (Collins was not at this meeting.) Publication of Fr. Hassan’s book the Facts and Figures of the Belfast Pogrom (see Aug-01-22/3) was
cancelled. It is believed that only 18
copies survived. |
Phoenix (1994), pg 249; Glennon
(2020), pgs 29-30; Kissane
(2005), pg 83 |
|
Aug-19-22/2 |
Con Moloney, Adjutant-General of the anti-Treaty
forces, issues a General Order saying that “our troops will be formed into
Active Service Units” not exceeding 35 men. He also authorises that Unionist property
should be commandeered to accommodate the men and ordered the systematic
destruction of road and rail infrastructure. (Dorney says that it was Lynch
who issued the order.) |
Hopkinson (1988), pgs
172-173 & 195; Dorney (2017), pg 127; McCarthy
(2015), pg 111 |
|
Aug-19-22/3 |
An anti-Treaty volunteer, Daniel Kane, is
killed after an attack on a pro-Treaty post in Glenmalure,
Co. Wicklow. |
Dorney (2017), pg 163 |
|
Aug-19-22/4 |
In Kilkenny Jail, an anti-Treaty prisoner,
Jack (John) Edwards, who had been captured in Waterford, was shot dead by a
sentry. His brother believed that it was a reprisal
killing for the killing of Edward O’Brien in Waterford. See Aug-15-22/1
above. |
McCarthy (2015), pg
111; Walsh (2018), pgs 194-195 |
|
Aug-19-22/5 |
Anti-Treaty men from the Mid-Clare Brigade
attack pro-Treaty men stationed in the old barracks in Clarecastle. The attack lasts for over two hours but the
anti-Treaty men withdraw when pro-Treaty men arrive from Ennis and attempt to
surround them. |
Ó Ruairc (2009), pg 310 |
|
Aug-20-22/1 |
An anti-Treaty column fire on a Red Cross
ambulance which was carrying a patient from Kildysart
to Ennis in Co. Clare. They mortally
wound the driver who was pro-Treaty Private Comer. |
Power (2020), pg 108 |
|
Aug-21-22/2 |
A car carrying five pro-Treaty soldiers
(including Frank Thornton) is ambushed at Redmindstown
about 4km outside Clonmel, Co. Tipperary.
Two pro-Treaty soldiers (including the driver, Private Richard
Cantwell) are killed and Thornton is badly injured. |
Walsh (2018), pgs
195-196 |
|
Aug-21-22/3 |
Collins writes to Cosgrave vetoing the
decision by the civilian ministers to call a meeting of the Third
Dáil/Provisional Parliament. |
Regan (2013), pgs 18 & 91 |
|
Aug-21-22/4 |
Pat Stapleton, an IRA spy, who had worked as a
filing clerk for the Royal Army Service Corps in Victoria Barracks in Belfast
before being transferred to the office of the Military Advisor to the NI
Government (Solly Flood) in his Waring Street HQ, decides to leave NI.
He took with him a number of files. According to McDermott, Stapleton was
the “jewel in the crown of IRA intelligence in Belfast”. |
McDermott (2001), pgs 24, 204
& 267 |
|
Aug-21-22/5 |
Pro-Treaty soldier, Patrick Kelly, is killed
in Kilrush, Co. Clare. Anti-Treaty forces carry out a number of
attacks on pro-Treaty positions and patrols in Clare over this period. |
Ó Ruairc (2009), pg 310 |
|
Aug-21-22/6 |
Anti-Treaty volunteer, Frank Byrne, is
accidently shot dead by a comrade when the small column they belong to are
resting in a field at Crutt, Clogh
near Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny. |
Walsh (2018), pg 196 |
|
Aug-22-22/1 |
Michael Collins is killed in an ambush at Béal na mBláth, Co Cork. Collins
was 31 years old at the time of his death. |
O'Farrell P (1997), pg
xxii; Hopkinson (1988), pg 176-179; Macardle (1999), pgs 777-778;
Curran J M (1980), pgs 248-250; Phoenix
(1994), pgs150 |
|
Aug-22-22/2 |
A general report by O’Duffy
of the pro-Treaty army states “The Irregulars in Cork and Kerry are still
more or less intact. Our forces have captured towns, but they have not
captured Irregulars and arms on anything like a large scale, and, until that
is done, the Irregulars will be capable of guerrilla warfare … Our present
position leaves us particularly disposed to guerrilla warfare.” |
Hopkinson (1988), pgs
164-165 & 172 |
|
Aug-22-22/3 |
Harry Brazier is shot dead by pro-Treaty
troops in Limerick City “while resisting arrest”. |
O’Callaghan (2018), pg
111 |
|
Aug-22-22/4 |
Pro-Treaty forces, under Paddy Paul, enter
Dungarvan to a warm welcome from local people. |
McCarthy (2015), pg
111 |
|
Aug-22-22/4 |
A small number of pro-Treaty soldiers
escorting a large number of prisoners leaving Ballymullen Barracks in Tralee,
Co. Kerry are attacked with grenades, rifle and revolver fire. Five prisoners and three soldiers are
wounded. Two of the soldiers (Private John Galworthy
from Inisbofin, Co. Galway and Thomas Drummond from
Tralee) later die of their wounds. |
Doyle (2008), pgs
151-152 |
|
Aug-22-22/5 |
Three staff officers of anti-Treaty 1st
Southern Division (Tom Daly, Dan Mulvihill and Con O’Leary) are captured by
pro-Treaty troops under Paddy O’Daly at Milleen, Co Kerry.
Also captured is Will Patrick Fleming, husband
of Marguerite Fleming. As the prisoners are being brought to Killarney, the
lorry that they are travelling in is fired on and a pro-Treaty soldier,
Thomas Kavanagh from Dublin, is killed. The following day, the O/C of the anti-Treaty
4th Battalion, Kerry No. 2 Brigade, Pat Allman, is captured. |
Horgan
(2018), pgs 50-52 & 193; Doyle
(2008), pgs152-153 |
|
Aug-23-22/1 |
The London Times reports that “The
temporary injunction of the Supreme Court of the United States which
restrains the Irregular leaders from drawing upon funds collected in that
country for the republican cause has struck directly at the most sensitive
part of their organisation.” Hopkinson notes that “Looting and
commandeering became a necessary means for the Republican forces to survive,
but served also to increase their unpopularity.” |
Hopkinson (1988), pg
131 |
|
Aug-23-22/2 |
Anti-Treaty Volunteer, Eamon O’Neill from Sallins Road, Naas, Co. Kildare dies of his wounds. (It is unclear as to how he received his
wounds.) |
Durney
(2011), pg 72 |
|
Aug-23-22/3 |
Two pro-Treaty soldiers (John Beatty from Lettermore, Co Galway and Denny Woods from Mountshannon, Co. Clare) receive severe wounds after a
prank goes wrong. They were guarding
the harbour at the canal basin in Tralee, Co. Kerry. Both men were to later die of their wounds.
|
Doyle (2008), pgs 154-155 |
|
Aug-24-22/1 |
The Northern
Whig says that Collins’s death “brings home to us with renewed force the
truth of the Scripture saying that he who taketh the sword shall perish by
the sword”. |
Parkinson (2020), pg 246 |
|
Aug-24-22/2 |
An anti-Treaty Column of Kerry No. 2 led by
Jerry Kennedy ambushes a pro-Treaty column, led by Fionán
Lynch, at Glenflesk. The pro-Treaty column was trying to get to
Kenmare from Tralee but, after intense fighting, they are forced to turn
back. |
Horgan (2018), pg
111 |
|
Aug-24-22/3 |
The seven-man pro-Treaty garrison in Drumsna, Co. Leitrim is overpowered by an anti-Treaty
attacking force. The anti-Treatyites capture a considerable amount of guns and
ammunition. |
McGarty
(2020), pg 118 |
|
Aug-25-22/1 |
William Cosgrave is appointed Chairman of the
Provisional Government, in place of Collins. Cosgrave was also the Minister of
Finance. Kevin O’Higgins left his army
post and became Minister of Home Affairs; Richard Mulcahy became Minister of
Defence and Chief of Staff (later Sean McMahon takes over as Chief of Staff);
Desmond Fitzgerald becomes Minister of Foreign Affairs; Joe McGrath becomes
Minister of Industry and Commerce; Ernst Blythe becomes Minister of Local
Government; Eoin MacNeill becomes Minister of Education; Patrick Hogan
becomes Minister of Agriculture with Eamon Duggan and Fionan
Lynch becoming ministers without portfolio.
J J Walsh continues as Postmaster General. All those appointed to the new cabinet signed
acceptance of the Treaty as was required by its terms. Kissane notes that many of these ministers
“had a ‘literal’ attitude to the Treaty, in contrast to Collins, who had
tried to manipulate its terms in order to accommodate the republican
perspective”. See also Aug -25-22/4. |
O'Farrell P (1997), pg
xxii; Kissane (2005), pg 86 |
|
Aug-25-22/2 |
Winifred Carney is arrested in Belfast and
through the documents found on her the Northern authorities got “information
on virtually every volunteer in the 3rd Northern Division who has
ever received help from the White Cross Fund”. |
McDermott (2001), pgs 266-267 |
|
Aug-25-22/3 |
Two pro-Treaty soldiers, Lieutenant Timothy
McMahon and Sergeant Michael Roche (both from Co. Clare) die in Tralee, Co.
Kerry. Doyle says that they were killed when a
grenade being carried by a member of a four-man pro-Treaty patrol accidently
explodes killing McMahon and Roche and injuring the two others. Power says McMahon and Roche were killed by a
landmine. |
Doyle (2008), pg
155; Power
(2020), pgs 97 & 110 |
|
Aug -25-22/4 |
Writing to Churchill, Lionel Curtis says about
the death of Collins “I don’t believe that the P.G. [Provision Government]
would ever have shaken off the habits of conspiracy in which they were tied,
so long as he [Collins] remained at their head”. Curtis was later to say that “Collins’s early
death alone saved the treaty”. |
McMahon (2008), pg
87 |
|
Aug-26-22/1 |
After receiving a letter from Churchill to the
new Provisional Government seeking an assurance that there would be no change
in their attitude towards the Treaty, the new Provisional Government cabinet
decides that the clauses of the new constitution which dealt with external
affairs, the senate and justice could not be changed by the new Dáil. See Oct-26-22/1. |
Kissane (2005), pg
86 |
|
Aug-26-22/2 |
Anti-Treaty forces led by Frank Carty ambush
45 pro-Treaty troops outside Tubercurry, Co. Sligo
– one pro-Treaty soldier is killed. Carty’s volunteers capture 30 to 40
rifles and one Lewis machine gun. |
Hopkinson (1988), pg
215; Farry (2012), pg 101 |
|
Aug-26-22/3 |
Two young members of the anti-Treaty Fianna
scouts, Seán Cole (19) and Alf Colley (21) are picked up on Newcomen Bridge
in Dublin’s north inner city. They are
taken to Yellow Lane in Whitehall
where both are killed. (Dorney gives
their names as Seán Cole and Alf Colley. Dolan and Murphy say Alfred Cole and
Sean Colley.) On same day, an anti-Treaty volunteer, Bernard
Daly, is taken from his workplace on Suffolk Street. His body is found in Malahide – he had been
shot five times. |
Dorney (2017), pg
177; Dolan and Murphy (2018), pg 279 |
|
Aug-26-22/4 |
General Boyd, O/C of the Dublin District of
the BA, says in an intelligence report to the British Government, that
Cosgrave “though a capable and sincere man, would not be able to carry
through by himself the task of establishment of order”. [Boyd was to be proven wrong.] |
Kissane (2005), pg
84 |
|
Aug-26-22/5 |
An anti-Treaty ASU, under Thomas Keating,
attack pro-Treaty troops stationed in Whitefield Court, Co. Waterford. Despite a lengthy engagement, there are no
casualties. See Sep-02-22/5. |
McCarthy (2015), pg
112 |
|
Aug-26-22/6 |
Retired RIC man, John Cullen, is mortally
wounded during a raid on his home in Ballymote, Co.
Sligo. |
Abbott (2019), pg
279 |
|
Aug-26-22/7 |
The Clare
Champion and Saturday Record
report the killing of pro-Treaty Lieutenant Michael Considine at Lickeen near Ennistymon, Co.
Clare. It is reported that he was
killed after the anti-Treaty men raised the white flag. |
Power (2020), pg 108 |
|
Aug-26-22/8 |
An intelligence report by the 24th
Infantry Brigade of the BA, based in Dublin, speculates that the death of
Collins would result either in a loss of nerve by the Provisional Government
or that the army would lose its temper and take drastic action. Kissane
comments “the latter proved to be the case”. See Sep-02-22/3 |
Kissane (2005), pg 103 |
|
Aug-27-22/1 |
Provisional Government gives authority for a
pro-Treaty army strength of 35,000 (including Volunteer Reserves). |
Hopkinson (1988), pg
136 |
|
Aug-27-22/2 |
Two anti-Treaty army men (Sean Moriarty and
James Healy) are arrested in Tralee by pro-Treaty forces. Both are shot
while prisoners. Healy survives but Moriarty dies. |
Macardle
(1998), pg 9; Doyle (2008), pgs
157-158 |
|
Aug-28-22/1 |
Collins buried in Dublin. Crowds line the route of his funeral cortege.
|
Curran J M (1980), pg
250 |
|
Aug-28-22/2 |
Two men – Luke McGrane and Anthony Brady– are
shot during an armed robbery of a spirit grocer in the Oldpark
area of Belfast. |
Parkinson (2004), pg
303 |
|
Aug-28-22/3 |
Michael Danford, an anti-Treaty
volunteer, is arrested by pro-Treaty men in Limerick City – he is shot dead
and his body dumped. |
O’Callaghan (2018), pg
111 |
|
Aug-28-22/4 |
Pro-Treaty soldier, Private P. Connors (from Ennistymon, Co. Clare) is killed by a landmine at Ballyseedy Woods in Co. Kerry. |
Power (2020), pg 109 |
|
Aug-28-22/5 |
A convoy almost 100 men from the 1st Western
pro-Treaty army sets out from Killorglin going to Tralee, Co Kerry led by
Captain James Burke from Dunmanway, Co. Cork. They are ambushed by four anti-Treaty men at Steelroe near Killorglin.
The four men are captured along with their Lewis machine gun. They are ambushed again outside Castlemaine
and the gun battle lasted two and half hours.
This ambush results in the death of Captain Burke. The convoy is attacked three more times and
the final one at Ballyseedy resulted in the death
of pro-Treaty Private Connors from Ennistymon, Co.
Clare. |
Doyle (2008), pgs
158-159 |
|
Aug-29-22/1 |
A Catholic, Peter Mullan (65), is shot in the
head by loyalists at his place of work, the Crumlin Road Picture House in
Belfast. A postman, George Higgins (30), is shot and
his body was found near the isolated Musgrave Channel Road. |
Parkinson (2004), pg
303 & 304; Parkinson (2020), pg 159; Parkinson
(2020), 244 |
|
Aug-29-22/2 |
50 members of the Civic Guard move into the
No. 1 Barracks on Lower Main Street, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal. |
Ó Duibhir (2011), pg 200 |
|
Aug-30-22/1 |
Anti-Treaty forces attack Bantry. They
had captured several posts when the killings of Gibbs Ross and three other
officers led to a retreat. (Hopkinson says Ross was O/C of the
anti-Treaty 3rd Cork Brigade but possibly he was O/C of the 5th
Cork Brigade.) |
Hart (1998) pg 119;
Hopkinson (1988), pg 203 |
|
Aug-30-22/2 |
Cosgrave renews Collins’ protest to Churchill
about the NI government’s Local Government Bill which aimed to remove
Proportional Representation. Churchill replied that he hoped to procure
some further delay. See Sep-07-22/2. |
Phoenix (1994), pg 250 |
|
Aug-30-22/3 |
British army soldier Lieutenant R.J. Story is
shot dead when sitting in a taxi in Merrion Sq,
Dublin. (McMahon refers to a BA Intelligence Officer
shot in Dublin. Possibly the same
officer.) |
Dorney (2017), pg
302; McMahon (2008), pgs 89-90 |
|
Aug-30-22/4 |
The Provisional Government issues an order
that any TD involved in the anti-Treaty campaign should be arrested and that
any TD currently in prison would not be released for the purpose of attending
the Dáil. (This action was to make
peace efforts more difficult.) |
Kissane (2005), pg 104 |
|
Aug-30-22/5 |
Writing to de Valera, Lynch refuses de
Valera’s request for a meeting of the Executive of the anti-Treaty army and
says that it will be some time before a meeting could take place. According to Liam Deasy,
de Valera had tried to persuade anti-Treaty army leaders that, having made
their protest in arms, they should withdraw from a war that they could not
win. |
Kissane (2005), pgs 104 & 108 |
|
Aug-31-22/1 |
Anti-Treaty men enter the print works of the Kerry People and remove the main
printing press – the paper has to cease publication. |
Doyle (2008), pg 160 |
|
Aug-31-22/2 |
This date marks the end of disbandment process
of RIC. A total of 13,502 men had been disbanded
including 1,158 in the Auxiliary Division of the RIC. Very generous
terms given (e.g. irrespective of length of service, 12 years were added and
used when calculating remuneration). Abbott go on to say that “As well as the
13,502 shown as having been disbanded, the General Personnel Register of the
RIC … has a total of 2,952 which do not state the specific manner in which
the men left the force.” He puts this
down to mostly clerical errors – “a problem which undoubtedly worsened,
especially as disenchantment and despondency began to spread within the
RIC”. However, he also says that “a number left
(without giving a reason) to assist the IRA” and continues that “This fact is
borne out as 1,136 former-RIC members” applied for pensions to the committee
set up under the Free State Superannuation and Pensions Act of 1923 and “By
1927, 631 of these applications had been approved by this committee, with a
number of the successful awards being made to men whose RIC general records
were incomplete”. |
Abbott (2000), pg
295-296; Abbott (2019), pg 380 |
|
Aug-31-22/3 |
Ó Murthuile, as
secretary of Supreme Council of the IRB (and also governor of Kilmainham
jail), calls a meeting of senior colleagues “to meet me to discuss the
situation, to take over [Michael
Collins’s] I.R.B. papers, etc.” |
Valiulis (1985), pg 97 |
|
Aug-1920/1 |
Mary Hartney is shot
by pro-Treaty troops in Adare, Co. Limerick.
(She was only one of three members of Cumman
na mBan to be killed in
the War of Independence or Civil War.) |
McCoole
(2003), pg 98; McCarthy (2014), pg
214; Corbett (2008), pg 74, |