Thursday, April 21, 2022

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.)












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