On 10 April 1923 IRA Chief of Staff Liam Lynch died in hospital in Clonmel having been wounded while trying to evade National Army forces on the Knockmealdown Mountains. On 30 April 1923, his replacement as IRA Chief of Staff Frank Aiken, ordered an end to offensive operations by the IRA. On the following 24 May Aiken issued a ceasefire and dump arms order.
In retrospect this might be seen as the end of the Irish Civil War. However, at the time, without a negotiated end to the fighting or a surrender of arms, the Government of the Irish Free State still faced an uncertain situation. Instead of coming to a definitive end the conflict petered out. There would continue to be violent incidents and deaths in the coming months, although at a much-reduced level. A mass hunger strike of Republican prisoners resulting in deaths took place in October 1923. Those already imprisoned or interned by the Government would remain in custody while more, including Eamonn de Valera, would be captured or arrested over the following months. On the other hand, a general election, won by the pro-Treaty side, was able to go ahead in August 1923. Gradually, particularly from December 1923 onwards, the Government would begin the process of releasing the large numbers imprisoned or interned. By June 1924 it would feel sufficient confidence to release the last of the Civil War prisoners.
In the meantime, the last of the eighty-one executions linked to the Civil War took place in May 1923. Four men were executed that month – two in Ennis, County Clare and two at Tuam in County Galway. The MSPC has files relating to the two individuals executed in Ennis.
2 May 1923
Home Barracks, Ennis, County Clare
On 2 May 1923 Christopher Quinn and William O’Shaughnessy were executed at Home Barracks, Ennis, County Clare. According to the statement from National Army headquarters as reported in the press at the time, both Quinn and O’Shaughnessy had been charged and found guilty of taking part in an attack on National Army soldiers in Ennis on the night of 21 April 1923, killing National Army Private Stephen Canty and of being in possession of a loaded revolver.
The report stated that following some shooting taking place in Carmody Street, Ennis, Private Canty was part of a National Army unit conducting searches and was shot by both Christopher Quinn and William O’Shaughnessy while in the process of attempting to stop and search them. The report also stated that William O’Shaughnessy had previously been arrested on 15 July 1922 but had been released on the following 2 September after signing an undertaking not to take up arms against the Government.
Christopher Quinn and William O’Shaughnessy were not the only ones executed for their involvement in the events that took place in Ennis on 21 April. Patrick Mahony had also been executed in Ennis on 26 April 1923 for his involvement in those events. Click here to read the previous blog post dealing with this and other executions carried out in April 1923.
Christopher Quinn’s file relates to the receipt of a partial dependents’ gratuity of £112.10.00 (one hundred and twelve pounds and ten shillings sterling) in 1934 under the Army Pensions Act, 1932, by his father John Quinn.
A tailor who had worked as an employee of Richard Guiton, 35 Market Street, Ennis, County Clare, the Military Service Registration Board (MSRB) certified Christopher Quinn as having served with the IRA from some time in 1920 onwards during the War of Independence, Truce period and Civil War.
William O’Shaughnessy’s file relates to: the receipt by his mother, Annie O’Shaughnessy, of a partial dependents’ gratuity of £112.10.00 (one hundred and twelve pounds and ten shillings sterling) in 1934 under the Army Pensions Acts; and the receipt by his sister, Ellen O’Shaughnessy, of a dependents’ allowance under the Army Pensions Acts in respect of her brother William O’Shaughnessy between 1954 and her death in 1955.
An employee of the post office in Ennis, William O’Shaughnessy was certified by the MSRB as having served with the IRA in Ennis from 1919 onwards during the War of Independence, Truce period and Civil War.
30 May 1923
Military Barracks, Tuam County Galway
On 30 May 1923 Michael Murphy and Joseph O’Rourke, both reported as being from Ardrahan, County Galway, were executed in Tuam, County Galway. Contemporary newspaper reports stated that both men had been tried and convicted for their part in an armed robbery of the Munster and Leinster Bank at Athenry, County Galway on the previous 22 May. Neither Michael Murphy nor Joseph O’Rourke have ever been seen as belonging to the “77” – the group executed during the Civil War for their membership of or activities with the anti-Treaty forces. To date files have not been found for either man in the MSPC however entries in the nominal rolls for the Ardrahan IRA Company which quite possibly refer to the two men have been found.
These executions, which brought the total of executions linked to the Civil War to eighty-one (81), were the last to be associated with the violence and turmoil of that conflict. There is however more than an echo of that conflict in the execution of National Army Lieutenant Jeremiah Gaffney on 13 Match 1924 for the murder of Thomas Brosnan in Scartaglin, County Kerry in December 1923. For a previous blog post which deals with the killing of Thomas Brosnan click here.
Over the years it has been argued that the executions policy of the Provisional and Irish Free State governments played an important role in defeating the anti-Treaty forces and helping to end the Civil War more quickly than might otherwise have been the case. Whether this is true or not remains a topic of often contentious debate. However, there can be no doubt that the inevitable divisions and bitterness arising from such an internecine conflict – in which it should not be forgotten that the actions of the anti-Treaty side also played no small part – were worsened considerably by the legacy of these deaths.
In any case, the files in the MSPC relating to these, and all the deaths of the 1916-1923 period, reflect both the tangible economic and material loss to families and dependents, but also, at least to some extent, the ongoing and incalculable emotional and psychological impact on those left behind.
Further reading:
Previous blog articles on the Civil War executions:
Other MSPC Resources:
List of all Civil War executions with related MSPC files – click here
List of all Civil War casualties with related MSPC files – click here
Overview of online MSPC Civil War resources – click here
Military Service Pensions Collection 