Washington Street - January 5 1923

 

32 year old Robert Finbarr Tobin was walking with his wife Josephine along Washington Street on the night of  January 5th 1923. They stopped by a fruit shop near the court house and purchased some fruit.

St Marys Villas, near the Erinville Hospital, Western Rd, home of Mr and Mrs Tobin. 

As Mr and Mrs Tobin left the shop and turned from Washington Street onto Courthouse Street, three men on the street with revolvers fired 8 bullets at Mr Tobin.

The route Mr & Mrs Tobin walked from Washington St, to Courthouse St, the scene of his shooting. 

A priest from the nearby St Francis Church heard the gun fire and screams from Mrs Tobin. He rushed out from the church and gave the last rites to the dying man.

Cork Courthouse Washington St. early 20th Century.

Mr Tobin had fought with the British Army in WWI. In 1919 he and his wife moved to Cork City where he worked in the City Pensions Office. In September 1922 he joined the transport corps of the Free State Army but it was only for five weeks before he went back to work at the pensions office.

No one claimed his murder even though many considered the Anti-Treaty IRA were responsible. 

Fair Hill - December 10 1922

 

It was 2 o'clock on the morning of December 10th 1922 when the Malones were woken from their sleep by loud knocking on the door of their home on Gerald Griffin Avenue. 

Two armed men wearing Free State overcoats told James Malone to get dressed and accompany them to nearby Fair Hill.

Today - Gerald Griffin Avenue.

34 year old Malone was an ex-soldier with the British Army. During the War of Independence he helped the IRA with military drilling and firearms practise. He lived at Gerald Griffin Avenue with his sisters and brother. One brother was interned in the Curragh as an IRA POW at the time. 

Today - the bottom of Fair Hill.

Just weeks before he was taken from his home, Mr Malone was arrested by Free State forces but later released. Following this he became very anxious and worried  and his siblings noticed the change in their brother. The night the two armed men called to the doorMalone turned to his sister and told her 'You will not see me again, they are going to shoot me.'

The two armed men took Malone to the bottom of Fair Hill where other men were waiting. There they shot James Malone five times.  His family claimed the Free State had killed their brother while a military statement claimed he was shot by the IRA as an informer.

Today - Fair Hill. (Photo by Frank Brady.)

Strawberry Hill - November 18 1922

 

Daniel O'Meara was a 30 year old milkman from Model Cottages in Bishopstown. He delivered milk on a pony and cart for Corcoran's of Leemount House. 

As he finished his rounds on the morning of November 18th 1922 Mr O'Meara was heading up Strawberry Hill when a Free State sentry at the nearby Cork City Gaol shot him. 

Strawberry Hill, the jail on the left. 

The sentry who fired the shot stated that he called on the milkman to halt and when he was ignored he fired his weapon. 

Looking down Strawberry Hill, Cork City Gaol off the road to the left.

 

Daniel O'Meara was still alive when he was taken to the Mercy Hospital and was able to make a statement where he claimed he did not hear the sentry due to the clatter of empty milk churns on his cart. 

Cork City Gaol seen from Strawberry Hill

A military court exonerated the sentry. The unfortunate milkman died ten days after he was shot.