Emmet Place/Lavitts Quay -June 28 1921

William Horgan was a 29 year old from Dillons Cross who worked as a fireman with the Great Southern and Western Railway. Just shortly after 2am on June 28th 1921, soldiers from the South Staffordshire Regiment arrived at the Horgan home and lifted William from his bed.  It was the last time his parents saw him alive. 

William was put into a lorry along with another local man by the name of Lenihan who was also taken from his bed in handcuffs. The lorry sped through the streets of Cork but then came to a stop outside the Opera House, at Emmet Place/Lavitts Quay.

                                                 Lavitts Quay and the old Opera House


According to the British military the lorry broke down and both Horgan and Lenihan grappled with soldiers. Lenihan managed to flee the scene while William Horgan was shot dead. In the inquest which followed, his father claimed that he was not involved with the Republican movement and that it was not in his nature to grapple with armed British soldiers. 

                                    The Opera House Emmet Place & Lavitts Quay


The officer in charge on the night of William Horgans murder was Lieutenant Adelin Eugene Paul Firmin Marie Ghislaine van Outryve d'Ydewalle. This Beliguim born Sandhurst commissioned British officer was well known on the streets of Cork as a dubious character who had no qualms in shooting prisoners "trying to escape." 

The South Staffordshire Regiment 2nd Battalion moved to Victoria Barracks ( Collins Barracks) on the northside of Cork city in 1919 and had a  reputation for brutality.

Emmet Place, Crawford Art Gallery and Opera House.

On the 27th of June the IRA ambushed three Staffordshires walking back to barracks after a night in a local pub. As they walked by Mayfield Road a volley of shots were fired in their direction wounding two and killing one - Private Frederick Crowther. It was this ambush which saw Lieutenant d'Ydewalle set off looking for revenge and the route took him to the home of the innocent Horgan family in Dillons Cross.

  Report from Freeman's Journal on the Mayfield Road ambush.

Despite the father of William Horgan claiming at his son's inquest that he was an innocent civilian, the military verdict decided differently and believed the statement of Lieutenant d'Ydewalle and his soldiers in the South Staffordshire Regiment.

The Staffordshires would remain in Cork until 1923 when they returned to England and from there they took their bad reputation to Palestine. Lieutenant d'Ydewalle survived the War of Independence despite attempts by the First Cork Brigade to rub him out.

William Horgan

Emmet Place - November 16 1920

On the afternoon of November 15th 1920 two plain clothes Auxiliaries arrived in a motorcar at the Johnson & Perrott garage on Emmet Place ( formally Nelsons Place.)

 They left their vehicle there for a service and then headed across town to the South Mall where they checked into The Imperial Hotel for the night.

              19th century postcard of Johnson's garage on Nelson (Emmet) Place.



Auxiliary cadets Bertram Agnew and Lionel Mitchell were on 24 hour leave from their barracks in Macroom Castle. They arrived in the city wearing their civvies and they were carrying cameras. They also carried service revolvers. 

Following breakfast in The Imperial Hotel on the morning of November 16th Agnew and Mitchell went to collect their car. When they arrived at Johnson & Perrott they were met by volunteers from the First Cork Brigade who were laying in wait for them. 

        Johnson & Perrott garage on Emmet Place before it was demolished in 2008


The Auxies did not put up much resistance. Agnew and Mitchell, along with their vehicle, were taken to Rusheen on the northern outskirts of the city and handed over to IRA E Company. 

Mitchell was a 23 year old from Somerset who served as a Lieutenant with the Royal Berkshire Regiment in Flanders during WWI where he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. In August 1920 he joined the Auxileries and became a section leader. Agnew was a 24 year old from Lancashire and a former Navy Reserve sailor. He had joined the Auxiliary Division just two months before he was captured on Emmet Place.

 
          Sing Sing Prison at Knockraha cemetery in North Cork.


The IRA had information that the two Auxies were in the city on intelligence work. It did not help their case that they were both based in Macroom Castle which hosted the worst of the worst in enemy uniform. The fates of Agnew and Mitchell were sealed and after some time spent in Sing Sing, the two men were taken to the Rea Bog where they were shot and buried.

                                            Inside Knockraha's Sing Sing Prison


The authorities in Macroom sent search parties to the city on the 20th of November but their search proved fruitless as neither car nor men were ever recovered.

Both Agnew and Mitchell remain buried in the Cork bog to this day. In the mid 1920s the bodies of several enemy soldiers who were shot and buried by the IRA were returned to their families. Agnew and Mitchell were the exception for some unknown reason. 

The man in charge of 'disappearing' people in the Rea Bog was Martin Corry. Known as the Cork IRA's 'chief executioner' it is thought he oversaw the burial of up to 30 bodies in the north Cork bog near his home. Corry later enjoyed a long career as a Fianna Fail councillor and TD.

As for the auxie's motorcar, it was taken to a mechanic in a mountainy area of Muscrai where the chassis was used in the making of the IRA's armoured car called The River Lee which would serve against Free State troops during the Civil War.

        Emmet Place today. TopShop sits where Johnson & Perrott once stood.

Lower Glanmire Road - May 11 1920

At 10:30pm RIC sergeant Denis Garvey and Constables Daniel Harrington and Patrick Doyle left their barracks on the Lower Glanmire Road to board a tram for Popes Quay. The tram was coming from Tivoli and onboard were gunmen from E Company of the IRA First Cork Brigade.

                      Circled on the left is the RIC Barracks on the Lower Glanmire Road. 




The tram came to its stop on the Lower Glanmire Road and as the Sergeant and constables boarded it  a hail of bullets greeted them. Passengers ran from the tram as the gunmen finished their job before fleeing the scene. 

Tram on the Lower Glanmire Road.

Sergeant Garvey was shot dead with four bullets while Constable Harrington was killed with eight. Constable Doyle somehow managed to run away with three gunshot wounds and survived to tell the tale but, not the identity of the gunmen who had worked with great efficiency.

                                                 Modern day Lower Glanmire Road 




This wasn't just a random killing, it was a well planned attack and the primary aim was Sergeant Garvey. The Active Service Unit of the First Cork Brigade had Sergeant Garvey in their sights since the murder of Lord Mayor Tomas MacCurtain in March 1920. It was strongly suspected Srgt Garvey had a role in it. His movements were closely watched in the weeks leadng up his shooting and it was agreed to  "get Garvey" as he left for the 10:30 tram on a nightly basis from the barracks on the Lower Glanmire Road.

Military Witness Statement of Cpt Sean Healy Cork No.1 Brigade 

Under the leadership of Pa Murray nine volunteers of E Company carried out the shooting.  In the immediate aftermath it was feared Terence MacSwiney, who succeeded MacCurtain as Lord Mayor, would be a target of a revenge attack by the RIC. 

MacCurtain's gun in Cork Public Museum. 

17 volunteers were posted at MacSwiney's house armed to the teeth with rifles and bombs brought in on pony and cart by the Bowles family from Clogheen but, the anticipated revenge attack did not happen.

Witness Statement of Daniel Healy o/c Active Service Unit C Company 1st Batt IRA

Constable Harrington was a 44 year old with 20 years service in the RIC and was from Bantry where he was buried.

Sergeant Denis Garvey 

Sergeant Garvey was a 47 year old Kerry native with 25 years service in the RIC. His funeral procession went through the streets of Cork accompanied by bands and marching soldiers from the Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Regiments. He was buried in Aghadoe, Killarney, leaving a widow and eight children.

From the Bureau of Military History - Those Involved in the Lower Road Action