Drumboe executions
The executions of prisoners held in state jails, as an
offical policy of reprisal against continued republican
opposition, was a heinous response by the fledgling
Free State. Over 80 official executions (77 is the
usual figure given) were carried out in the short
period of the Civil War, while the British executed 24
during the Tan War.
The policy of execution as reprisal was carried out
often against those imprisoned in the areas where the
IRA was enjoying a degree of success. By February 1923
there were nearly 12,000 republican prisoners of war
incarcerated by the state in various jails and
concentration camps around the country. The first of
the `offical' executions occurred on 17 November 1922
with the shooting dead in Kilmainham Jail, Dublin, of
James Fisher, Peter Cassidy, Richard Twohig and John
Gaffney.
A unanimous cabinet decision authorised the execution
policy and Kevin O Higgins, the then Justice Minister,
stated: ``It was done deliberately and in the belief
that only by that method could representative
government and democratic institutions be preserved
here.'' President William Cosgrave said: ``They are
dealing with the dregs of society, people who had no
regard for life or property or all that people held
dear''.
The only difference between the offical and the
unoffical execution is that the state went through the
pretence of a court martial before passing sentence.
Most of those executed had been in jail months before
being `tried' and then executed at dawn, often in
groups of three or four. But in one case six weeks
before the end of hostilities, with victory for the
State in sight, four men who had been sentenced two
months previously were taken out and executed.
November 1922 saw a general sweep by Free Staters
through Donegal in an effort to end republican
opposition in the county. This sweep was successful in
that it captured the vast bulk of Volunteers operating
in the county or forced them to go on the run in other
counties. Amongst those captured were the remnants of
Charlie Daly's column (2nd Northern Division) which had
been engaging both the Staters and the Crown Forces
since May 1922.
Daly, a native of Knockanescoulter, Firies, County
Kerry, joined the Irish Volunteers in 1914 abd as
Adjutant of the Firies Battalion, IRA, he took part in
many successful attacks on RIC barracks in County Kerry
in the early years of the Tan War, and was also a
member of Kerry County Council.
In September1920 he travelled north on Cathal Brugha's
order to organise the IRA in counties Tyrone and Derry.
From the time of his arrival the local units became
more daring and active in the struggle. He organised
the first daylight attack on an RIC barracks during the
Tan War. Drumquin barracks was taken and a large haul
of arms captured. The local RIC sergeant was also
killed in the attack.
Before being arrested and interned in Collinstown Camp,
County Dublin, in January 1921 he appointed a County
Kerry man, Sean Larkin, as Brigade Adjutant. Larkin had
joined the Volunteers in 1914 and was arrested in 1920.
In Mountjoy jail he went on hunger-strike and was
released, and reported back for active service.
(Continued next week)
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