It was a dark November evening when Madge Daly was making her way down Mulgrave Road. She was on her way to St Marys Church on Popes Quay.
This was a normal routine for the 24 year old. When she finished work at the Edinboro Hotel she would visit the church where she was a member of the confraternity.
St Mary's Church, Popes Quay.
Madge came from Cathedral Walk where she lived with, and looked after, her three younger siblings. Madge was the head of the household as both parents were deceased.
37 Cathedral Walk, the green house on the right was home to the Dalys.
As Madge walked by a Free State checkpoint near the junction of Mulgrave Road and Devonshire Street a sentry challenged a man who was running down Devonshire Street. The running man produced a revolver and shot at the checkpoint. A gunfight erupted and bullets whizzed everywhere.
Looking at Mulgrave Road from across the quay.
The gunfight was over in a matter of minutes and it left Madge Daly lying lifeless on the road. A bullet had pierced her skull killing her outright. Along with the unfortunate Miss Daly, Private Daniel Desmond also lay dead on Mulgrave Road.
The bottom of Mulgrave Road, St Marys Church can be seen on the left.
20 year old Daniel Desmond worked as a shop porter with W. Lee on St Patrick Street before joining the Free State Army. He lived just around the corner from the scene of his death at No.2 Knapps Square. Private Desmond lived in poor circumstances with his mother and father and younger brother in a tenement dwelling.
Knapp's Square in modern times.
Private Desmond's mother lodged a compensation claim following her son's death and was awarded a gratuity of £60.
Madge Daly's younger siblings were also awarded compensation. They all went to America following their older sister's death, leaving behind dark memories of a city scarred by civil conflict.
Funeral of a Free State soldier making it's way down Mulgrave road August 1922. Months later Madge Daly and Daniel Desmond would die at the same spot.
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