THE GOVERNMENT’S EXECUTIONS POLICY DURING THE IRISH CIVIL WAR 1922 – 1923 by Breen Timothy Murphy, B.A. THESIS FOR THE DEGREE OF PH.D. DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND MAYNOOTH HEAD OF DEPARTMENT: Professor Marian Lyons Supervisor of Research: Dr. Ian Speller October 2010 i DEDICATION To my Grandparents, John and Teresa Blake. ii CONTENTS Page No. Title page i Dedication ii Contents iii Acknowledgements iv List of Abbreviations vi Introduction 1 Chapter 1: The ‗greatest calamity that could befall a country‘ 23 Chapter 2: Emergency Powers: The 1922 Public Safety Resolution 62 Chapter 3: A ‗Damned Englishman‘: The execution of Erskine Childers 95 Chapter 4: ‗Terror Meets Terror‘: Assassination and Executions 126 Chapter 5: ‗executions in every County‘: The decentralisation of public safety 163 Chapter 6: ‗The serious situation which the Executions have created‘ 202 Chapter 7: ‗Extraordinary Graveyard Scenes‘: The 1924 reinterments 244 Conclusion 278 Appendices 299 Bibliography 323 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to extend my most sincere thanks to many people who provided much needed encouragement during the writing of this thesis, and to those who helped me in my research and in the preparation of this study. In particular, I am indebted to my supervisor Dr. Ian Speller who guided me and made many welcome suggestions which led to a better presentation and a more disciplined approach. I would also like to offer my appreciation to Professor R. V. Comerford, former Head of the History Department at NUI Maynooth, for providing essential advice and direction. Furthermore, I would like to thank Professor Colm Lennon, Professor Jacqueline Hill and Professor Marian Lyons, Head of the History Department at NUI Maynooth, for offering their time and help. I would like to thank the staff in the following institutions as they deserve special mention for their courteous assistance: the History Department at NUI Maynooth; the Manuscripts Department in the National Library of Ireland; the Manuscripts Department in Trinity College, Dublin; the Archives Department in University College, Dublin; the National Archives, Dublin and the Military Archives located in Cathal Brugha barracks, Dublin. To all my friends, both past and present, I would like to offer my heartfelt gratitude. Without their camaraderie this study would not exist. In particular, I would like to mention Nicholas Hetherington. His continuous encouragement and sound advice has been much appreciated. Special thanks are also due to Niamh Lynch for her endless supply of support and friendship iv over the years. I would also like to offer my appreciation to both Tony Boland and Mario Corrigan for their kindness and generous assistance during the preparation of this work. Finally, my deepest gratitude is reserved for my family. This thesis would not have been possible without their loving support, both emotionally and financially, and encouragement over the years. v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Adjt. Gen. Adjutant General A.S.U. Active Service Unit A.T. Anti-treaty Capt. Captain C-in-C. Commander-in-Chief C.I.D. Criminal Investigation Department Cmdt. Commandant C na nG Cumann na nGaedheal Col. Colonel C.O.S. Chief of Staff D.M.P. Dublin Metropolitan Police E.J.E. Extrajudicial execution F.S. Free State Government G.H.Q. General Headquarters G.O.C. General Officer Commanding Inst. Instant I.P.P. Irish Parliamentary Party I.R.A. Irish Republican Army I.R.B. Irish Republican Brotherhood M.A. Military Archives, Ireland M.O. Medical Officer M.R. Master of the Rolls vi N.A.I. National Archives, Ireland N.I.R.A. Neutral Irish Republican Army N.L.I. National Library of Ireland N.U.I.M. National University of Ireland, Maynooth O.I.R.A. Old Irish Republican Army O.C. Officer Commanding P.G. Provisional Government P.R. Proportional Representation P.T. Pro-treaty R.I.C. Royal Irish Constabulary ROIA Restoration of Order in Ireland Act Supt. Superintendant T.C.D. Trinity College, Dublin T.D. Teachta Dáila T.N.A. The U.K. National Archives, Kew U.C.D. University College, Dublin vii INTRODUCTION This thesis examines the executions policy undertaken by the pro-treatyite Provisional/Free State Government during the Irish Civil War (1922–23). Following the Irish War of Independence (1919–21) and subsequent Anglo-Irish Treaty Ireland‘s previously united nationalist movement fractured into opposing factions. The ensuing Civil War, fought between the Government and the anti-treatyite militants, known as the Irregulars, played an integral role in the development of the modern Irish State. Remarkably, this conflict has been marginalised in Irish revolutionary historiography. Similarly, the significance of the Government‘s official executions policy during the conflict has been further neglected and consigned to a footnote in existing works on the Civil War. Yet the execution of eighty-one fellow Irishmen and former comrades by the first independent Irish Government became one of the defining characteristics of the War. The proposition which underpins this study is that this executions policy had a significant impact on the dynamic of the Civil War, making it a far more ruthless and divisive affair. Moreover, it left an enduring legacy of bitterness in post-war Ireland, one which is still to be completely surmounted. In essence, this thesis presents an in-depth analysis of the effect of the executions policy on the character, course and outcome of the Irish Civil War. In evaluating the policy several questions need to be considered. For instance, what compelled the pro-treatyites to employ official executions during the Civil War? How did the Government implement the policy during the conflict? Conversely, how did the Irregulars respond to the executions? Finally did the policy, which was devised to hasten the end of the Civil War, achieve its primary objective? 1 An understanding of the tactics employed by Irregulars, in their attempt to thwart the Government and National Army, is crucial when ascertaining why the executions policy was adopted. The Irish Civil War, caused primarily by differences over the Anglo-Irish Treaty, began on 28 June 1922. The pro-treatyite political and military leadership included Arthur Griffith, Michael Collins, Richard Mulcahy, Kevin O‘Higgins and W. T. Cosgrave. Conversely, the anti- treatyite political and military hierarchy consisted of Eamon de Valera, Cathal Brugha, Liam Lynch, Liam Deasy, and Rory O‘Connor. Following the collapse of the Irregulars‘ conventional resistance in both Dublin and Munster, by late July/early August, guerrilla warfare became their modus operandi. They subsequently dissolved into the countryside and broke up into smaller, more mobile, groups known as active service units or A.S.U.s and engaged in ambushes, sniping and armed raids. Moreover, the Irregulars focused on the country‘s infrastructure in an attempt to devastate commerce and cripple the Government financially. The Commander-in-Chief of the National Army, Michael Collins, had refused to adopt emergency measures to restore order. As will be demonstrated, his death, in a guerrilla ambush on 22 August, ushered in the Public Safety Resolution. This decree, which facilitated the Government‘s executions policy, will be examined in detail. Sanctioned on 28 September 1922, it was hoped that the resolution would halt the Irregulars‘ guerrilla campaign and end the Civil War. Following the ratification of the emergency resolution the Government, as will be established, altered the implementation of this decree as circumstances dictated. Initially it restricted the application of the executions policy to Dublin, executing a total of twelve men in ten weeks. The inaugural executions, which involved putting to death four low-ranked Irregulars on 17 November 1922, were surrounded by controversy. Critics maintained that this event was a test case to facilitate the execution of a more prominent anti-treatyite, Erskine Childers, one 2 week later. It was also claimed that both the Provisional Government and the British Government had a vendetta against Childers which ensured his capture, conviction and death regardless of crimes committed. These conspiratorial allegations, in addition to the initial executions themselves, will be studied and assessed. The Irregulars, in response to the executions policy, assassinated Seán Hales T.D. and seriously injured Deputy Pádraic Ó Maille on 7 December 1922. This event shocked the pro- treatyites. As will be demonstrated, the Government subsequently decided to alter radically the implementation of the executions policy. This affair, like the death of Collins before it, proved a turning point for the pro-treatyites. Firstly, four untried Irregular prisoners were put to death, on 8 December, in Mountjoy Jail in an event which was clearly outside the remit of the September resolution. In the long-term, however, the Government decentralised and accelerated its application of the emergency measures. Following the executions in early December the Government executed another seven men at once in Kildare on 19 December. These were the first to occur outside of the capital and it was the largest individual set of executions during the Civil War. Moreover, another sixty-nine men were executed by the end of the conflict. Sixty- three of these occurred outside Dublin; four were civilians executed for armed robbery. Thirty- four men were put to death in January alone. The Government also adopted an official hostage policy whereby several convicted prisoners, sentenced to death, received a stay of execution pending the improvement of order in their respective localities. This scheme proved successful and contributed to the pro-treatyites victory in May 1923. The official executions formed a central part of the Government‘s prosecution of the Civil War. Evidence suggests that this policy achieved its primary objective and expedited the end of the conflict. Moreover, it altered irrevocably the landscape of the Civil War turning what 3 was an already fractious affair into an extremely acrimonious conflict and it imbued an enduring legacy of hostility in post-war Ireland.