1922 AD - 4 / June
"Irish Free State"
1922 AD June 1st:
Winston Churchill,
the British Imperial
Government's Colonial Secretary
in England, was also informed of the "agreement" that
Michael Collins, the Chairman
of the Irish Provisional Government, had made with
Eamonn de Valera, the leader originally of the
"Anti -
Treaty" group, to try and "appease" him further and "unify" the whole
Country and thereby
avoid "civil conflict" over the "Anglo - Irish Treaty"
and Winston
Churchill then used this "excuse" for immediately
stopping the
"occupying" British
Imperial Armed Forces from leaving
Ireland,
and
Michael Collins
and
Arthur Griffith
were
summoned
to
London, to explain the
reasons for this "agreement."
June: The British Imperial Government Forces in the 6 Counties "artificially partitioned" from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province, shelled the town of Belleek / Beal Leice (The Ford - Mouth of the Flagstone,) on the River Erne in Co. Fermanagh along the "artificial partition" border, while Pettigo on the River Termon there in Co. Donegal, was also "besieged" by the Ascendancy Unionist forces.
June 6th:
The Draft of the
Irish
Free State
Constitution
was put forward by the
Irish Provisional Government,
to the British Imperial
Government, who "rejected"
it,
which then brought an end
to
Michael Collins the
Chairman of the Irish
Provisional Government 's previous "agreement" with
Eamonn de Valera,
the original leader of the "Anti - Treaty" group,
and Michael Collins now had no option
but to advise the general
Irish
population to "vote" for whoever they
desired, which was to "upset" the staid Eammon de Valera
no end.
June 8th:
The 2nd
Dail
Eireann / Irish Assembly was adjourned, and
Eamonn de Valera
who was not yet aware of
Winston Churchill's
threatening
regressive intention of
British
Military "intervention" in Ireland, busied himself pushing the
involved "agreement" that he had made with
Michael Collins the
Chairman of the
Irish Provisional Government
and to this end he was to address
15
more meetings putting forth
his reasons.
June 13th:
Michael Collins
the Chairman of the
Irish Provisional Government
met with
Winston Churchill, the British Imperial Government's Colonial Secretary,
in London
once
again, as he
had the feeling that he was always trying to "pull the rug" from under his
feet, with the intention of changing horses, by bringing in
Eammon de Valera, while
Sir
James Craig the
"Official" Ascendancy Unionist Stormont leader was
waiting to see who was the
"real
strongman" in
Ireland,
before he would meet with
Michael Collins
again.
June 15th: This time the newly revised Irish Free State Constitution for the 26 Counties, was not only "approved" by the 2nd Dail Eireann / Irish Assembly but also by the British Imperial Government, and it was published with the provisions for the setting up of the Irish Free State and for the future General Elections to be held in Ireland.
June 16th: The
Irish Free State
General Election polling began in the hope
that it would now finally bring about "civil peace" within
Ireland.
June 18th:
Rory O Connor and the
"Anti - Treaty
Irregular - IRA" members held a meeting at the
Four Courts
in
Dublin to organize a plan to "attack" the
remaining occupying
British Imperial Forces, giving
them
72
hours to get out of
Ireland
altogether, as they now also intended to
"besiege" the barracks of the
Irish National Army
/ I.N.A.
to try and get them to also fight the
British
Imperial Forces in the
areas that they still
"occupied," and the ports
along the seaboard,
which they also were still holding onto.
June 22nd:
Sir
Henry Wilson
the nAscendancies
"Official" Unionist
M.P. for North
Co. Down,
who had
been
the British
Imperial Military Chief
administrator and Military adviser to the Ascendancy "Official"
Unionists was
"killed" at
Eaton Place in
England by
two previous
Irish Volunteers,
Dunne and
O Sullivan who had
also previously served in the
British
Imperial Army during the 1st World War
who then issued a statement
that they had carried it out, basically on their "own"
initiative, although
Michael Collins had given them their original orders
prior to the
"Anglo - Irish
Truce."
O Sullivan
who had a wooden leg, due to losing one
in the
1st
World War
at Ypres in
Belgium, was not able to run away,
and
Dunne
stayed with him trying to save him from the mob
and in their reply
to the court in England they
stated, "The same principals that led
us to shed our blood on the battlefields of Europe,
led us to commit the act we are charged with, we fought for the
freedom of small nationalities."
(Michael Collins always considered that in
reality, this act was
really the work of the "Anti - Treaty"
group to incite the British Government, and
Eamonn de Valera
was to comment
to
Stephen O Mara the
Mayor of Limerick
that the
British Imperial Government would
now "definitely" ensure that there was to be no Irish
Coalition Government
formed in
Ireland.
June 23rd:
Arthur Griffith
the
President of the 2nd Dail
Eireann / 2nd Irish Assembly
was
called
to attend a meeting, by
Sir
Alfred Cope
the
appointed British Under - Secretary in
Ireland and two
British Imperial Government Army officers, regarding the situation at the
"Four Courts"
still under the control
of
Rory O Connor
the overall leader now of the "Anti - Treaty Irregular - IRA" and
David Lloyd - George the
British Coalition Prime Minister sent a
letter over from England
that
the "IRA
- Irregulars" must be "cleared out" of the
Four Courts.
Diarmuid O Hegarty the secretary to the
Irish Cabinet
replied, stating,
"That the Anti - Treaty forces in the
Irregular- IRA contained disruptive
elements in their ranks, and they would eventually
disintegrate themselves, therefore the Irish
Provisional Government
would not
have to suppress them as this would only create
sympathy for them." The
British Imperial Government's,
General
Mac Ready was then called to
London where he received orders
to "attack" the
Four Courts with
the remaining "occupying" British Imperial Government
Forces in Ireland,
to offset the previous publicity over the killing of
Sir
Henry Wilson.
June 24th: In
the
Irish General
Elections, the "Pro
- Treaty" members standing for the individual seats, swept the
Country
as the
will of the "majority"
of the
Irish people in a
"democratic vote" spoke up for the
3rd Irish Assembly who would
become the
1st
Irish Government
initially
of the
Irish
Free State, with the
majority of
58
seats going to the Pro - Treaty
"political"
Sinn Fein Party
members, who were returned without
opposition out of the
128
seats available,
while another
35 seats also went to the other
"Pro
-Treaty" candidates,
that included the 4
to Trinity
College, 17 to the
Irish Labour
Party,
7
to the Irish
Farmers Organization, and
7 to the
Irish
Independents. This was mainly due to the
ongoing "intimidation" by the "Anti - Treaty"
group, who only won
35
- 36
seats
against their previous number of
59, which this time were actually
contested, and
2 of the
Independents were to also join in with the
new
Irish Free State Government, and this
meant there was to be an overall
72% positive vote for
acceptance of the
"Anglo - Irish Treaty.
June 25th: Due to the positive results of the General Elections in Ireland towards accepting the "Anglo - Irish Treaty" the British Imperial Government's orders to attack Rory O Connor and the "Anti - Treaty I.R.A. - Irregulars" in the Four Courts, previously given to General Mac Ready, were "cancelled."
June 26th: The Westminster Parliament in England, denounced the "Anti - Treaty IRA - Irregulars," and called on the Irish Provisional Government under Michael Collins the Chairman of the Irish Provisional Government to bring the matter of the Four Courts to an end, or the "Anglo - Irish Treaty" would be violated and the British Imperial Government would "resume" full liberty of their occupying British Military Forces in Ireland.
Michael Collins
the Chairman of the
Irish Provisional Government had previously written to
David Lloyd
-
George the British Coalition Prime Minister to try and save the life of
Dunne and
O Sullivan, but he
was told once again instead, "To
clean out the Four
Courts along with
Rory O Connor
the anti - Treaty IRA
- Irregular leader, or the British
Imperial Government would resume their previous overall control in Ireland"
and denied that he was
actually
menacing the
Irish
Provisional
Government,
and
also stated that he had information that the
"Irregular - IRA"
were going to carry out raids in Britain
and the
6
Counties that had been "artificially partitioned" from the
9 Counties in the
Ulster Province,
still under their control.
Diarmuid O Hegarty, the
secretary of the Irish Provisional Government, replied,
asking David Lloyd - George to advise the details of this information,
so that they could be put before the
3rd Dail Eireann / Irish Assembly to be acted on, but
none were ever forthcoming.
Leo Henderson, who was the "Anti Treaty Irregular - IRA" Director of the Belfast boycott in Co. Antrim in the north - east of the Ulster Province, now decided to carry out a "raid" on a firm in Dublin who were still trading with a firm in Belfast in Co. Antrim one of the 6 Counties there who were under the"boycott" and he was captured by Frank Thornton and members of the Irish National Army / I.N.A. and placed in Mountjoy Jail in Dublin.
The 2nd Dail Eireann Cabinet had by now considered that it was imperative to do "something" immediately about Rory O Connor and the "Anti - Treaty Irregular - I.R.A." members there as they could no longer wait for the 3rd Dail Eireann / 3rd Irish Assembly to actually conduct their first meeting on the 1st July to make a decision on the mater.
June 27th: Irish Civil War: In the meantime Rory O Connor, was to force the issue anyway, by capturing Major General J.J. "Ginger" O Connell the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Irish National Army / I.N.A. who he then tried to trade as an exchange hostage for Leo Henderson the Ulster Irregular - I.R.A. leader, thinking it would be a swift trade but Michael Collins the Chairman of the Irish Provisional Government now saw this particular act as the last straw, and he was backed up by the 2nd Dail Eireann Cabinet, and other members of the Irish Provisional Government to do something about it. At Midnight, Michael Collins gave Rory O Connor an "ultimatum," to get out of the Four Courts in Dublin, which were situated along the Liffey River, and take his 150 Irregular -IRA members with him. The staid Eamonn de Valera, once again, although he was not involved in this dispute, seeking further personal political opportunity, once again, came out "against" this decision by the Irish Provisional Government.
.June 28th: Meanwhile, unification of the Irish National Army / I.N.A. was "going well" and by now it had grown to a force of 4,000 men, but there was still an ongoing dispute over Richard Mulcahy remaining in as the "Minister of Defence."
The "
first" shots of the Irish
"Civil War,"
which was to last a year, were fired as the
Irish
Provisional
Government forces under
Patrick Daly, who gave
Rory O Connor until
4 a.m.
to release
"Ginger"
O Connell
and after this time had elapsed
and the formal request had not been
complied with, he and his men began to lay siege to the
"Anti - Treaty
IRA - Irregulars"
in the
Four
Courts, and this
conflict was to last
for
8
days, and
on this very same day,
Eamonn de Valera,
called a conference of the "Anti
- Treaty"
Irish Republicans, where he issued a statement in
which he described, "Rory O Connor
and his
150 Irregular - IRA as the best and bravest of our
Nation, in whom lives the unbought indomitable soul of
Ireland."
He
then called on the
Irish people to give the
"Anti Treaty IRA - Irregulars" their support and for
Irish troops to bring them aid
but the
Irish
National Army / I.N.A. was to continue to "shell" the
Four Courts until the
30th of June, during
which time many Irish personal and historical records were
unfortunately "destroyed."
June 29th: The
Irish National Army / I.N.A.
entered
the Four Courts,
where they managed to take some of the "IRA - Irregulars"
prisoner, while
Eamonn de Valera
now
personally "joined " in with the
"Irregular
- IRA 3rd Battalion," along with
Cathal Brugha,
and
Harry Boland
who was sent off to
Mallow
in Co. Cork in
Southern Munster to obtain further "Irregular
- IRA"
reinforcements to be used in
Dublin and the Irish Labour
Party,
also, once again, tried hard to bring about "peace," but
Arthur Griffith and
Michael Collins said, "There would only
be peace when the "Anti - Treaty
IRA - Irregulars" laid down their arms.
June 30th:
The remainder of the "Anti Treaty IRA - Irregulars"
who were still in the
Four Courts
"surrendered," with no one being lost on either side, and the
Irish National Army
/ I.N.A.
then continued to pursue and clean out the remaining
"IRA - Irregulars," who had since
also
spread out to O Connell Street
in Dublin, and also in and among the surrounding buildings, and
they were all to be
"captured" over the next
5
days
and placed in
Mountjoy
Jail.