Emmet Place/Lavitts Quay -June 28 1921

William Horgan was a 29 year old from Dillons Cross who worked as a fireman with the Great Southern and Western Railway. Just shortly after 2am on June 28th 1921, soldiers from the South Staffordshire Regiment arrived at the Horgan home and lifted William from his bed.  It was the last time his parents saw him alive. 

William was put into a lorry along with another local man by the name of Lenihan who was also taken from his bed in handcuffs. The lorry sped through the streets of Cork but then came to a stop outside the Opera House, at Emmet Place/Lavitts Quay.

                                                 Lavitts Quay and the old Opera House


According to the British military the lorry broke down and both Horgan and Lenihan grappled with soldiers. Lenihan managed to flee the scene while William Horgan was shot dead. In the inquest which followed, his father claimed that he was not involved with the Republican movement and that it was not in his nature to grapple with armed British soldiers. 

                                    The Opera House Emmet Place & Lavitts Quay


The officer in charge on the night of William Horgans murder was Lieutenant Adelin Eugene Paul Firmin Marie Ghislaine van Outryve d'Ydewalle. This Beliguim born Sandhurst commissioned British officer was well known on the streets of Cork as a dubious character who had no qualms in shooting prisoners "trying to escape." 

The South Staffordshire Regiment 2nd Battalion moved to Victoria Barracks ( Collins Barracks) on the northside of Cork city in 1919 and had a  reputation for brutality.

Emmet Place, Crawford Art Gallery and Opera House.

On the 27th of June the IRA ambushed three Staffordshires walking back to barracks after a night in a local pub. As they walked by Mayfield Road a volley of shots were fired in their direction wounding two and killing one - Private Frederick Crowther. It was this ambush which saw Lieutenant d'Ydewalle set off looking for revenge and the route took him to the home of the innocent Horgan family in Dillons Cross.

  Report from Freeman's Journal on the Mayfield Road ambush.

Despite the father of William Horgan claiming at his son's inquest that he was an innocent civilian, the military verdict decided differently and believed the statement of Lieutenant d'Ydewalle and his soldiers in the South Staffordshire Regiment.

The Staffordshires would remain in Cork until 1923 when they returned to England and from there they took their bad reputation to Palestine. Lieutenant d'Ydewalle survived the War of Independence despite attempts by the First Cork Brigade to rub him out.

William Horgan

Emmet Place - November 16 1920

On the afternoon of November 15th 1920 two plain clothes Auxiliaries arrived in a motorcar at the Johnson & Perrott garage on Emmet Place ( formally Nelsons Place.)

 They left their vehicle there for a service and then headed across town to the South Mall where they checked into The Imperial Hotel for the night.

              19th century postcard of Johnson's garage on Nelson (Emmet) Place.



Auxiliary cadets Bertram Agnew and Lionel Mitchell were on 24 hour leave from their barracks in Macroom Castle. They arrived in the city wearing their civvies and they were carrying cameras. They also carried service revolvers. 

Following breakfast in The Imperial Hotel on the morning of November 16th Agnew and Mitchell went to collect their car. When they arrived at Johnson & Perrott they were met by volunteers from the First Cork Brigade who were laying in wait for them. 

        Johnson & Perrott garage on Emmet Place before it was demolished in 2008


The Auxies did not put up much resistance. Agnew and Mitchell, along with their vehicle, were taken to Rusheen on the northern outskirts of the city and handed over to IRA E Company. 

Mitchell was a 23 year old from Somerset who served as a Lieutenant with the Royal Berkshire Regiment in Flanders during WWI where he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. In August 1920 he joined the Auxileries and became a section leader. Agnew was a 24 year old from Lancashire and a former Navy Reserve sailor. He had joined the Auxiliary Division just two months before he was captured on Emmet Place.

 
          Sing Sing Prison at Knockraha cemetery in North Cork.


The IRA had information that the two Auxies were in the city on intelligence work. It did not help their case that they were both based in Macroom Castle which hosted the worst of the worst in enemy uniform. The fates of Agnew and Mitchell were sealed and after some time spent in Sing Sing, the two men were taken to the Rea Bog where they were shot and buried.

                                            Inside Knockraha's Sing Sing Prison


The authorities in Macroom sent search parties to the city on the 20th of November but their search proved fruitless as neither car nor men were ever recovered.

Both Agnew and Mitchell remain buried in the Cork bog to this day. In the mid 1920s the bodies of several enemy soldiers who were shot and buried by the IRA were returned to their families. Agnew and Mitchell were the exception for some unknown reason. 

The man in charge of 'disappearing' people in the Rea Bog was Martin Corry. Known as the Cork IRA's 'chief executioner' it is thought he oversaw the burial of up to 30 bodies in the north Cork bog near his home. Corry later enjoyed a long career as a Fianna Fail councillor and TD.

As for the auxie's motorcar, it was taken to a mechanic in a mountainy area of Muscrai where the chassis was used in the making of the IRA's armoured car called The River Lee which would serve against Free State troops during the Civil War.

        Emmet Place today. TopShop sits where Johnson & Perrott once stood.

Lower Glanmire Road - May 11 1920

At 10:30pm RIC sergeant Denis Garvey and Constables Daniel Harrington and Patrick Doyle left their barracks on the Lower Glanmire Road to board a tram for Popes Quay. The tram was coming from Tivoli and onboard were gunmen from E Company of the IRA First Cork Brigade.

                      Circled on the left is the RIC Barracks on the Lower Glanmire Road. 




The tram came to its stop on the Lower Glanmire Road and as the Sergeant and constables boarded it  a hail of bullets greeted them. Passengers ran from the tram as the gunmen finished their job before fleeing the scene. 

Tram on the Lower Glanmire Road.

Sergeant Garvey was shot dead with four bullets while Constable Harrington was killed with eight. Constable Doyle somehow managed to run away with three gunshot wounds and survived to tell the tale but, not the identity of the gunmen who had worked with great efficiency.

                                                 Modern day Lower Glanmire Road 




This wasn't just a random killing, it was a well planned attack and the primary aim was Sergeant Garvey. The Active Service Unit of the First Cork Brigade had Sergeant Garvey in their sights since the murder of Lord Mayor Tomas MacCurtain in March 1920. It was strongly suspected Srgt Garvey had a role in it. His movements were closely watched in the weeks leadng up his shooting and it was agreed to  "get Garvey" as he left for the 10:30 tram on a nightly basis from the barracks on the Lower Glanmire Road.

Military Witness Statement of Cpt Sean Healy Cork No.1 Brigade 

Under the leadership of Pa Murray nine volunteers of E Company carried out the shooting.  In the immediate aftermath it was feared Terence MacSwiney, who succeeded MacCurtain as Lord Mayor, would be a target of a revenge attack by the RIC. 

MacCurtain's gun in Cork Public Museum. 

17 volunteers were posted at MacSwiney's house armed to the teeth with rifles and bombs brought in on pony and cart by the Bowles family from Clogheen but, the anticipated revenge attack did not happen.

Witness Statement of Daniel Healy o/c Active Service Unit C Company 1st Batt IRA

Constable Harrington was a 44 year old with 20 years service in the RIC and was from Bantry where he was buried.

Sergeant Denis Garvey 

Sergeant Garvey was a 47 year old Kerry native with 25 years service in the RIC. His funeral procession went through the streets of Cork accompanied by bands and marching soldiers from the Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Regiments. He was buried in Aghadoe, Killarney, leaving a widow and eight children.

From the Bureau of Military History - Those Involved in the Lower Road Action

Lee Road - May 20 1919

In the Spring of 1919 a brazen escape occurred from the asylum on the Lee Road. The escapee was Sean Moylan, North Cork IRA leader and future Fianna Fail Government minister.

Sean Moylan

Moylan was arrested after delivering a seditious speech in the village of Cullen, just outside Millstreet and for this 'crime' he was sent to Cork City Gaol to serve 12 months hard labour.

In Cork City Gaol Moylan went on hunger strike which affected his health and the prison doctor recommended that the IRA leader should be moved to the prison hospital. As warders were busy prepaing his bed in the hospital a fellow prisoner called Martin Beckett from Kilgarvan approached Moylan who was sitting near the fire. The two men got quietly chatting and a plan for Moylan's escape was cooked up between them.

Moylan (on the left) standing on a roadblock in North Cork. 

Beckett turned to the warders and warned them to hide the pokers and tongs as Moylan was a madman. He exclaimed that Moylan was as mad as Jack the ripper and the startled warders called in the doctor and governor to determine if Beckett's claims were true. Of course they were false but, this was all part of the plan for Moylans escape

"The mad house by the Lee"

Moylan played the madman well. He snarled at the warders and it was decided to move him to the Cork lunatic asylum on the Lee Road, a place which was less guarded than Cork City Gaol! The day after Moylan was moved to "the mad house by the Lee"  Thomas McCurtain paid a visit to "insane" inmate Moylan to initiate an escape.

Main gates to asylum

McCurtain informed Moylan that volunteers were ready to assist in his escape and on the evening of May 20th the escape played out. Volunteers from the Cork No.1 Brigade positioned themselves around the vicinity of the aslyum, out along the road and at the main gates. That evening Moylan calmly strolled out of the aslyum and across the yard. He climbed over a hedge and into a field from where he made his way onto the Lee Road. Moylan cooly strolled up the long Lee Road until he spotted his getaway car waiting for him.

The Lee Road today.

Moylan was whisked off in the direction of Blarney where he stayed in a safe house to recover from gastric flu he had contracted during his short stint as an insane inmate!

Cork Examiner report on the escape

The brazen escape was an embarrassment for the authorities who would later rue the day they let Sean Moylan slip from their clutches so easily!

Grave of Moylan at Kiskeam cemetery

Moylan's Escape - words by Pauline Murphy.

Gerald Griffin Street - August 18 1923

On a warm August evening 33 year old Abina Murphy was walking down Gerald Griffin Street( formally Clarence Street) with her friend Kathleen Deasy. Abina came from St Marys Road in Blackpool, while Kathleen was a Spangle Hill girl. The two ladies were shirtmakers and were making their way home. 

St Marys Rd, Blackpool.

Suddenly a burst of gunfire erupted on the street. A group of lads fired at Free State soldiers standing by a wall. The Free Staters returned fire on what were presumed Republicans and Kathleen and Abina were caught in the cross fire. 

Today's Gerald Griffin Street on the city's north side

A bullet pierced through Kathleen's neck while a bullet lodged in Abinas abdomen. Even though she had suffered a horrific wound Abina was able to stumble to the door of a woman she knew, Mrs Coughlan, at No.25 Gerald Griffin Street. When Mrs Coughlan answered the frantic knocking on the door she opened it and Abina exclaimed ''Oh Mrs Coughlan I have been shot!'' She then collapsed in the doorway.

No.25 Gerald Griffin St, on the left, where Abina collapsed.

Kathleen survived her awful injury but her friend Abina would succumb to death a day later at the north infirmary hospital. She was buried in St Joesphs Cemetery where the large funeral procession included a contingent from the Cork branch of the Irish Union of Distributive Workers & Clerks, which Abina was a member of. 

Lower Glanmire Road - RIC Barracks

The Royal Irish Constabulary Barracks at 127 Lower Glanmire Road fell victim to an arson attack on the night of July 12th 1920. Along with King Street (MacCurtain Street) and St. Luke's, it was attacked by members of the First Cork Brigade and rendered useless thereafter. 

The RIC barracks today.

Although it sat in a convenient location across the road from the train station it did not deter Volunteers who raided the railway yard for supplies! But, this was an area of the city which proved dangerous for those who pledged to fight for a Republic, because it was an area populated with many unionists. 

When the Lower Glanmire Road Barracks was fire bombed on the night of the 12th of July in 1920 it sent a message to those in the area that the streets of Cork were no longer royal, they were Republican streets in a Rebel city. 

Auxies from the dreaded K Company standing outside the train station on the Lower Glanmire Road.

General Post Office - December 21 1920

It was 7:30pm on a dark December evening when three men held up the general post office on Oliver Plunkett Street in the name of the Republic. What followed resembled something from a wild west shootout.

The GPO on Oliver Plunkett Street

Three IRA Volunteers entered the post office and instructed everyone to put up their hands as a cash withdrawl for the Republican Army was about to take place.

Inside the GPO today.

 Unbeknownst to the three Volunteers there were two plain clothes detectives in the building who, instead of putting up their hands, drew their guns.

                                             The side door facing onto Pembroke Street.



A gun fight broke out in the post office between the three IRA Volunteers and the two detectives. With bullets flying everywhere, there were of course casualties. 

Cork's GPO

19 year old IRA Volunteer Patrick Tarrant from Ballintemple was at the doorway of the Pembroke Street entrance to the post office when he was struck by two bullets, one in his face and one in his chest, he was killed instantly. The other two Volunteers managed to flee the scene unhurt. 

GPO Pembroke St side

A civilian by the name of Timothy Donovan was in the post office at the time posting parcels when a bullet pierced his abdomen. The 31 labourer who had fought in WWI with the Munster Fusiliers was taken to the Mercy Hospital where he died the next day.  

Vol. Tarrant was a member of D Company 2nd Battalion Cork No.1 Brigade