15 Fr Mathew Quay (Charlotte Quay) - November 30 1920

Before it was Fr Mathew Quay it was known as Charlotte Quay and the Thomas Ashe Hall was at No.15. It was one of the principal bases in the city for the Republican movement and of course, it suffered from surveillance and raids.

In September 1919 up to 20 British soldiers from Victoria Barracks raided Ashe Hall. Only the caretaker was present at the time but the soldiers turned the place upside down. Doors were broken, windows smashed, furniture destroyed and the floorboards ripped up. They did not find any arms but did leave the premises with membership cards and mock wooden guns. 

Red marker-the site of the Thomas Ashe Hall

In September 1920 a clerk who worked at Victoria Barracks called John O'Callaghan was suspected of spying on the IRA. He was put under surveillance by the First Cork Brigade and his card was marked when he was found in a city pub giving information over the phone to Victoria Barracks about IRA men drinking in the same pub.

Holy Trinity Church on Fr Matthew Quay

O'Callaghan was caught and taken to Ashe Hall where members of the Active Service Unit questioned him for hours before making the decision to take him away to meet his maker. 

As O'Callaghan was led to a waiting car outside Ashe Hall he slipped from  his captors grip and ran towards the Holy Trinity Church but, an IRA Volunteer just happened to be coming out of the church at the same time and when he saw his comrades in pursuit of O'Callaghan he calmly stuck his foot out and tripped the condemned man. O'Callaghan was then taken by car to Farmers Cross where he was executed and buried. 

Today - site of the Ashe Hall, grey building on right.

In late 1920 many Sinn Fein clubs were attacked and burned across Cork. Anticipating an attack, the IRA set a booby trap mine inside the door of the Ashe  Hall. Clearing out all the essentials, the mine was placed and volunteers waited in safe houses across the river for the impending raid. 

Looking across the river at Ashe Hall.

The wait ended on the night of the 30th of November when at midnight some 20 Black and Tans arrived at the Ashe Hall and burst in the door. Commandant Michael Murphy of the Active Service Unit Cork No.1 Brigade was watching proceedings in a house across the river. He witnessed the explosion when the tans entered the building and a number of them were blown into the River Lee.  

The Witness Statement of Michael Murphy