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 would later state that he called on the milkman to halt. The sentry said that when he was ignored he fired his weapon. 

Looking down Strawberry Hill, Cork City Gaol is located on the road to the left.

 

Daniel O'Meara was still alive when he was taken to the Mercy Hospital and he 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. 

From 1920s: view of Cork City Gaol from Strawberry Hill.

Grand Parade/South Mall - September 5 1922

 

On the evening of September 5th 1922 a flat bed Free State military lorry was part of a convoy which was making it's way from Clonakilty to Cork City. The convoy was carrying stores and when they made their way into the city and trundled down the Grand Parade tragedy struck.

Free State forces in Cork city 1922.

As the convoy turned the corner from Grand Parade onto South Mall the occupants of one of the lorry's were thrown from the vehicle. One of them, 17 year old Private John Harford fractured his skull and died instantly. 

Today - the scene of the accident at the corner of Grand Parade/South Mall

Harford was sitting on a drum at the rear of the flat bed lorry. He was thrown from it as the vehicle rounded the corner. The others thrown onto the road from the lorry suffered injuries but survived. The incident was declared an accident and the driver was cleared of any wrong doing. 

The corner of Grand Parade South Mall, early 20th Century. 

John Harford came from 77 St Peters Terrace, Howth, Dublin. Before joining the Free State Army he was a merchant sailor. One of seven siblings, his widowed mother recieved a gratuity of £100 following his death in Cork City. 

Home to John Horgan in Howth, Dublin. 

Warrens Lane, Bandon Road - November 25 1922

 

Today Warrens Lane is a gated laneway connecting Bandon Road with Noonans Road but over 100 years ago this laneway was a cluster of little houses and at No.32 a tragic incident occured there on a Winters night in 1922. 

The now gated Warrens Lane, also known as Warrens Court, located near the top of Bandon Road opposite the Post Office. 

It was Saturday night in November 1922 and 28 year old Free State soldier John Delaney left his military patrol in the city without permission. He headed up Barrack Street, up to his home patch on Bandon Road. Delaney arrived at the door of his home where his widowed mother and brothers were living at No.32 Warrens Lane. 

Warrens Lane from Noonans Road

John flung his arms around his mother in an embrace and asked for a cup of tea. He was carrying a rifle and when he saw his brothers Thomas and James he began showing off with the deadly weapon. 

While messing about with his rifle John Delaney accidentally pulled the trigger and a bullet hit his older brother James in his head, killing him instantly. 

John was arrested and court martialed. His family would later claim that John was a rather excitable character and on the night of the tragic incident on Warrens Lane he was highly strung. His widowed mother had previously raised concerns when her son joined the Free State Army due to his volatile nature but, her worries were dismissed. 

Parnell Place - August 22 1923

 

It was just after 6 o'clock on an Autumn evening in the city when 65 year old Jane McCarthy left the Parnell Hotel on Parnell Place. She was a resident of the hotel but on that evening she would not return. 

Parnell Place, from Parnell Bridge. 

As Jane McCarthy exited the hotel and crossed the road a Free State lorry came at speed from the direction of Parnell Bridge. The driver saw the lady crossing Parnell Place and sounded the horn but, it proved too late. The army lorry ploughed into the unfortunate lady and she died later that night at the South Infirmary Hospital. 

Free State lorry on Patrick Street 1922.

74 North Main Street

 

Tylers Boot Shop on North Main Street played an important role in the Republican movement in Cork City. The unassuming shoe shop was a drop off point for dispatches while guns and ammo were also hidden there.

No.74 North Main Street, in recent years home to the Roman House, now vacant.

Tylers had shops all over Ireland. In Cork city alone there were stores located on Wintrop Street, Patrick Street and North Main Street. The Patrick Street store was torched duirng the Burning of Cork in December 1920. 

One of many Tyler stores in Ireland. This one in Waterford. 

The Tyler shoe shop at 74 North Main Street was situated in a place once home to James Mountain, known as Cork's first Fenian.  Today a plaque marks the spot.

During the War of Independence the manager of Tylers on North Main Street was Liam Murphy. He was adjutant, 1st Battalion, Cork No.1 Brigade IRA. 

Kathleen Murray worked in the North Main Street store as a shop assistant. She was a member of the Craobh Poblachta na hEireann branch of Cumann na mBan. 

Tylers North Main Street, seen here in picture from 1960s/70s.

Kathleen Murray came from a staunch Republican family on Blarney Street, northside of Cork city. Her brother Pa was a member of the Cork IRA Active Service Unit and her sisters Eily and Maighread were also Cumann na mBan members. 

Kathleen's pension application detailing some of her activities during the fight for freedom. 

North Main Street and its surrounding area was a hot bed of Republican activity. Across the street from the Tyler Boot Shop was a Sinn Fein office at no. 53. It was destroyed in an arson attack by a loyalist mob in late 1920. Further up the street, towards South Main Street near the back of St Augustine Church was the newsagent shop of the Wallace sisters. Like Tylers Shop, it also served as a place for dropping and picking up dispatches etc. 

In the heart of this area was St Francis Church, also known as Broad Lane Church. Tylers shop was located at the back entrance to the church and the sympathetic Franciscans would often help in the hiding of wanted men.

St Francis Church before it was redesigned and rebuilt in 1953.

Michael Collins attended mass there on March 12th 1922 when he was in the city trying to sell the treaty to the Cork public. 

Collins outside St Francis church with Diarmuid Fawsitt, Comdt Cooney, P. O'Keefe TD, Fr Leo, Fr Edmund, Comdt McKeown.