During the Civil War Free State forces took over the Imperial Hotel as their Headquarters. It was from here that Michael Collins set off to meet his death in Beal na mBlath on the morning of August 22nd 1922. Months later a wedding and a shooting took place in the historic hotel.
Michael Collins leaving the hotel (from it's side entrance, near the GPO) during his stay there in August '22.
On the 8th of October 1922 Free State Major General Emmet Dalton married his fiancée Alice Shannon in the Imperial Hotel. The wedding took place in the Clarence Hall in the hotel, not in a church due to security reasons.
Dalton's 21 year old bride was from Phibsboro Dublin. Alice had travelled to Cork by sea because it was safer and faster due to the roads and rails which suffered disruptions due to the ongoing war.
The bride and groom
24 year old Dalton was the Free State forces military operations director and in Cork the Imperial Hotel became his headquarters after he landed troops there by sea in August 1922.
24 year old Dalton was the Free State forces military operations director and in Cork the Imperial Hotel became his headquarters after he landed troops there by sea in August 1922.
A car waiting for General Dalton at the side door of the hotel.
When Michael Collins arrived in Cork in August 1922 he stayed in the Imperial Hotel and Dalton accompanied The Big Fella when he left the hotel on the morning of August 22nd. On the route back that night they met an ambush in Beal na mBlath and the rest as they say is history.
Emmet Dalton and Michael Collins
The Dalton wedding in October 1922 was attended by several Free State officials and clergy. The wedding was for many a break from the realities of conflict but, by evening an incident in the hotel would end the day on a sour note.
The wedding of Emmet Dalton and Alice Shannon in the Clarence Hall, Imperial Hotel.
With any wedding comes a good flow of booze and this wedding was no different. The Free State soldiers based in the Imperial Hotel toasted the wedding of their general with generous amounts of alcohol and by late evenng a whiskey soaked argument broke out between two soldiers.
Sergeant Charles Kearns and Private Andrew Rooney had been, with the rest of the soldiers in the Imperial Hotel, enjoying the wedding day but after one too many "toasts" the two men got into an argument with each other and had to be separated by their comrades.
The two fueding soldiers went their separate ways and no more was thought of their drunken squabble until a few hours later a gun shot was heard in the guard room in the hotel.
Civilians and Free Staters outside the entrance of the Imperial Hotel
Rooney and Kearns bumped into each other in the guard room where the argument re-ignited, this time with deadly consequences.
Rooney drew his pistol and shot Kearns dead. Rooney was arrested and later court martialed. He was sentenced to death but, General Richard Mulcahy commuted the sentence to five years hard labour.
Kearns who was originally from Crocus Street in West Belfast was buried in the Free State plot, near where Michael Collins was buried, in Glasnevin Cemetery. He was a single man and his mother was awarded a gratuity of £50 following his death in Cork's Imperial Hotel.
Grave of Emmet Dalton in Glasnevin Cemetery
General Dalton was reportedly incensed by the drink fuelled shooting on his wedding day but by then his concerns had been gathering regarding the state of affairs within the Free State Army.
Two months after his wedding Dalton resigned from the army, dissatisfied with the executions of Republicans and the route away from Michael Collins' ideals which the Provisional Government took. Dalton would go on to work in the film industry in the US and founded Ardmore Studios in 1958.
He died on his 80th birthday in 1978 and was buried with military honours near Michael Collins in Glasnevin Cemetery.
A silver serving tray which was gifted to Dalton and his bride by - " his brother officers IRA engaged with him on active service in Cork".
Today the tray is in the Lord Mayor's office in Cork City Hall.
Thanks for this interesting article - Charles Kearns is a paternal ancestor of my grand daughter.
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