Leitrim Street - November 10 1922

It was a cold dark Friday evening when a skirmish broke out on Leitrim Street between Free Staters and Anti-Treaty IRA Volunteers. 

25 year old James Murphy from Walshes Avenue fought with the British Army in World War One and lost one arm in action. He was walking down Leitrim Street when he got caught in the crossfire between the two sides. He kept close to the wall of Murphy's Brewery and managed to duck in between the entrance gates.

Bullets whizzed around the street as James Murphy stood in by the gateway of the brewery but, a bullet pierced his abdomen and Mr Murphy fell dead at the gates of Murphy's brewery.

Then & now: the gates of Murphy's Lady's Well Brewery.

Barrack Street/South Gate Bridge - March 25 1922

Sergeant William Gloster was a Kerryman who served with the RIC in Cork city for many years. He was stationed at the College Road RIC Barracks and lived with his wife Eleanor and four children on St Brigid's Street, just off Barrack Street. 

The former RIC Barracks on College Road

St. Brigid's Street

Just before he retired in 1920 Sergeant Gloster had been stationed in the Elizabeth Fort Barracks on Barrack Street and he moved his family from St Brigid's Street to the living quarters in the fort.

The former RIC, and later Garda, Barracks inside Elizabeth Fort.

Police inside the Elizabeth Fort Barracks. 

Just after 1 o'clock on the afternoon of the 25th of March 1922 the retired RIC Sergeant was walking down the Grand Parade. He turned down Old Post Office Lane heading towards South Main Street.

Old Post Office Lane (no longer in use) connected Grand Parade with South Main Street.

 Sgt Gloster then made it over South Gate Bridge and just as he stepped off the footpath to walk up towards Barrack Street a number of young men who were sitting on the wall near the bridge drew guns and fired at him.

The scene of Sgt Glosters shooting. As he stepped off the path, gunmen sitting on the wall behind drew their guns and shot him. 

One bullet hit Glosters head, three more entered his body. The gunmen fled the scene as firemen from the nearby Sullivan's Quay Fire Station came to the aid of Sergeant Gloster and brought him to the Mercy Hospital but the 54 year old Kerryman was already dead.

South Gate Bridge

The funeral of Sgt Gloster took place at St Finbarres Cathedral Cork before his remains were brought back to his native Kerry and he was buried at the old Molahiffe Graveyard near Farranfore.

Molahiffe Graveyard

Then & now: The bottom of Barrack Street, at the South Gate Bridge - the scene of Sergeant Gloster's shooting.

The shooting caused shock in the area as he was considered well liked and apparently even aided local Republicans by warning them of impending raids. The shooting of Sergeant Gloster was condemned by the Cork IRA. 

This was a volatile time as the Civil War was brewing. The transition from British rule to Free State rule was occuring  and in between these cracks  a breakdown in discipline seeped in. Locally it was suggested the killing of Sergent Gloster was carried out by reckless youths who shot him in the wrong.

Lee Road - February 17 1922

On the 16th of February Lieutenant Henry Genochio left his billet at Alexandra Place, St Lukes, shortly after 5pm and headed in the direction of Patrick Street. This British military officer was in his civvies and carrying a revolver and identity card. Just after 9pm he was approached by two members of the Irish Republican Police on Patrick Street and he was arrested. 

Alexandra Place, St Luke's, on the north side of the city.

24 year old Genochio was born in Wandsworth and a graduate of Sandhurst military academy. In 1918 he was sent to serve in France at the tail end of the Great War. In 1920 he was sent to Limerick as an intelligence officer where he was involved in the Cahirguillamore raid which resulted in the deaths of five IRA Volunteers.

Cork District Lunatic Asylum

Genochio was taken to the Lunatic Asylum on the Lee Road (Our Lady's Hospital)  which was being used as a prison by the Republican Police. This was a precarious time as the War of Independence had just ended and the Civil War was brewing. It was a period of transition between the British and the Provisional Free State Government and in between there were old scores to be settled. 

Irish Independent February 18 1922

The British military did not report Genochio missing until the following day but, by then he had already died. At 11am February 17th, Genochio was shot some 200 yards from the entrance gates to the asylum. According to the IRP he was shot in the back by sentries as he tried to escape. 

Genochio was shot dead 200 yards to the right of the main gates. Presumably he was making a dash back towards his billet at St Lukes.

The Provisional Government declared that Genochio was arrested because he had stolen jewellery but those accusations were retracted in 1924 and the reason behind his arrest and subsequent death may lie with his previous activities in Limerick. He was buried in Streatham Cemetery London where his grave marker tells of his demise on the Lee Road. 

House of Commons debate.

Lavitts Quay - January 25 1921

It was a wet and cold January day when 73 year old Francis Barnane was walking along Lavitts Quay. As he came to the junction of Lavitts Quay and Patrick's Street  he stepped off the footpath to cross the city's main thoroughfare when a British military lorry came around the corner and knocked him down.

               The corner of Lavitts Quay and Patrick's Street where Mr Barnane was killed, an early 20th century photo and the area today.



Francis Barnane was known better to his family and friends as Florrie and was a coal porter who came from 21 Cathedral Walk. The driver of the military lorry which knocked him down was Constable Murphy. He was coming from Bandon and heading for Union Quay RIC Barracks.

                       Cathedral Walk on the north side of the city where Mr Barnane lived.




Constable Murphy would later claim he was unable to stop as the wheels of his vehicle skidded on the muddy street, on what was a wet and dreary Winters day in Cork city. Mr Barnane was struck by the mud guard of the lorry and was taken to the north infirmary where he died at 3am the following morning. 

A fleet of British military vehicles which were a common and most dreaded sight on the roads of Ireland. Mr Barnane was struck by a vehicle similar to the ones seen in this photo.

Great William O'Brien Street - October 16 1922

It was 10 o'clock at night when John Patrick Walsh and his wife were making their way back home from the pictures in Blackpool. The pawnbroker's assistant and his wife were heading down Great William O'Brien Street in the direction of their home on Gerald Griffin Street when masked men emerged from a laneway and fired their guns at Mr Walsh. 

The scene of the shooting on Great William O'Brien Street, once known as Great Britain Street.

A number of bullets hit Walsh and he died from his wounds while those who fired the fatal shots disappeared back into the laneways of Blackpool. 

Following his death a sweep of the northside was made by Free State troops and ten arrests were made but, no one was charged. 

Apart from working in a pawnshop, John Patrick Walsh also worked as a driver for Free State troops and this may be the reason for his killing on a dark October night in 1922.

John Patrick Walsh of Gerald Griffin Street.

Cove Street - April 17 1921

At 9:45pm Kathleen Murphy was walking with 28 year old Constable John Cyril MacDonald along Cove Street. MacDonald had been in Ireland for four months and was stationed at Union Quay Barracks. He was from Fulham, London, and was a target of the Cork No.1 Brigade. 

                       On the left, where the car is, are the gates to St Nicholas Church.




As MacDonald and his female companion walked by the gates of the now deconsecrated St Nicholas Church two men who were standing by the church gates tackled MacDonald. One of them pinned the hands of the plain clothes constable behind his back while the other one reached for his pistol. MacDonald tried to knock the gun from his attackers hand but it went off and a bullet pierced through MacDonald's face.

                                              The gates of St Nicholas Church.


As MacDonald fell to the ground the two men, who turned out to be members of the Cork No.1 Brigade Active Service Unit, fired more bullets into the Constable, hitting his head and neck. As they ran off in the direction of Sullivans Quay Kathleen Murphy dragged MacDonald into a nearby house before rushing off to the nearby Sullivan's Quay Fire Station for help. 

The scene of the shooting.

When Kathleen Murphy arrived back on Cove Street with firemen they were stunned to see the shot constable stumbling out of the house with his face shot and bloodied. He was intent on making his way back to Union Quay Barracks to report the incident. He was instead taken by ambulance to the Military Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries five days later. 

9 Langford Row - May 15 1921

Just shortly after 2am on the Sunday morning of May 15 1921 the landlady of No. 9 Langford Row, Miss Crowley, was woken by loud knocking on the front door. She hesitated a while before opening the door, these were tense times to be living in. She opened the door slightly and asked who was there but she never got an answer. 

    Langford Row today. This stretch of Cork City, near the South Infirmary Hospital, is named after the Langford Family who were granted land in 1666 by King Charles II. 




Four masked men pushed in the door and roughly brushed past the terrified Miss Crowley. They ran upstairs to a room occupied by Patrick Sheehan and his wife Catherine. The door was locked and as the men started kicking it Mr Sheehan called out from the other side of the door - "Who's there?" 

Patrick Sheehan and his wife Catherine.

One of the masked men asked "are you Sheehan?" To which he replied he was. Then a hail of bullets ripped through the door and into the unfortunate Mr Sheehan. 
The men left quickly as Patrick Sheehan succumbed to a number of bullets which hit his chest and neck. 

 Mr Sheehan was a newly wedded cattle dealer from Newcestown who had no affiliation to either side of the conflict. The IRA denied responsibility and the general theory was that the RIC carried out the killing as a reprisal for the shooting of constables in the area on that same weekend. 

Patrick Sheehan was brought back to his native  Newcestown where he was buried in Templemartin cemetery, leaving behind his widow Catherine. They were married just two weeks before his death on Langford row. 

Kyrls Quay - November 8 1920

Just shortly after 10 pm on a bitter cold November night William John Mulcahy was making his way home from work. 

As he walked along Kyrls Quay a group of Auxilaries shot at him. He fell with a bullet that entered his right shoulder and into his stomach.

                                                                Kyrls Quay today.



Mulcahy was a 39 year old Blacksmith from Evergreen Street on the southside of Cork city. 

On the night he was shot by the auxillaries he was on his way home from his workplace at McBrides Agricultural Engineers on Merchants Quay. 

                                                                   Evergreen Street



Mulcahy died in the back of a military lorry as the auxilaries were bringing him to the military hospital on the northside of the city. 

The authorities stated that he failed to stop when asked to do so and he ran. This was deemed a decent excuse by the authorities to shoot an unarmed civilian, it was an excuse used with many other instances of civilians killed by the British forces on the streets of Cork during 1920.

                                                    Mr Mulcahy's place of employment.

Kyle Street - June 26 1921

Shortly after 8pm on a warm June night, Captain Sean Twomey, B Company 1st Battalion Cork No.1 Brigade IRA, was being transferred from the Bridewell on Cornmarket Street to a military lorry, his destination Victoria Barracks (today's Collins Barracks.) The 23 year old IRA captain took a chance as he was being led from the door of the Bridewell to the lorry and he made a dash for freedom. 

Looking at Kyle St from Cornmarket St (Coal Quay) 1930s

Twomey had been arrested on the Grand Parade a few nights previously and when he made his escape he ran, still handcuffed, up Kyle Street in the direction of North Main Street where he lived.

Kyle Street was a busy thoroughfare, even at 8 o'clock at night, people were coming and going. When Twomey ran towards Kyle Street a hail of bullets followed him. 

                                              Kyle Street, in the 1960s and now.




Twomey was hit and stumbled into the first open door he saw - Anne Bradleys pub. With a busy street and a hail of bullets there was of course a civilian casualty - Mary Parnell, a war widow in her early 30s with two children. She was standing in the doorway of Bradleys pub when she was hit by a number of bullets.

 Today the site of Anne Bradley's pub where Mrs Parnell was shot to death in the doorway.



Twomey was recaptured as he lay wounded behind the bar in Bradleys pub. He was taken to the military hospital where he recovered just in time to be released for the truce. 

Mary Parnell lived at 11 Kyrls Quay and was known as a supporter of the crown. Her husband Victor was a corporal in the Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry Regiment. He fell in action in France in 1914. 

The inquest into her death found that 12 shots had been fired on that summers night on Kyle Street and Mrs Parnell stood in by the doorway of Bradley's pub when she heard the commotion. Unfortunately for her, she stood in the direct line of fire. A soldier testified: "most of her face and the top of her head were shot away."