1922 AD - 4 / June
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 and unify the whole Country. Winston
Churchill immediately
stopped the
British
Imperial Army from leaving
Ireland,
and
Michael Collins
and
Arthur Griffith
were
summoned
to
London, to explain the
reasons for the agreement.
June: The British Imperial Government forces in the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 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 in the River Termon there in Co. Donegal, was also invaded by the Ascendancy Unionists.
June 6th:
The draft of the
Irish
Free State
Constitution
was put forward by the
Irish
Provisional Government,
to the British Imperial
Government, but it was rejected,
which then brought an end
to
Michael Collin's 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 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,
and to this end he was to address
15
separate meetings giving
his reasons.
June 13th:
Michael Collins
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 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 General Elections
to be held in Ireland.
June 16th: The
Irish Free State
General Election polling began in the hope
that it would finally bring about civil peace within the Country.
June 18th:
Rory O Connor and the
anti - Treaty
Irregular IRA held a meeting at the
Four Courts
in
Dublin to organize a plan to attack the
remaining
British Imperial Government
forces, giving
them
72
hours to get out of
Ireland
altogether, as they now also intended to attack the barracks of the
Irish National Army
/ I.N.A.
to try and get them to also fight the
British Imperial Government 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
"Official" Ascendancy Unionist
M.P. for North
Co. Down,
who had
been
the British
Imperial Military Chief
administrator and Military adviser to the "Official"
Ascendancy Unionists was
killed at
Eaton Place in
England by
two previous
Irish Volunteers,
Dunne and
O Sullivan who had
also served in the
British
Imperial Army during the 1st World War. They 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. 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 considered that in
reality, it was
really the work of the anti - Treaty
group.)
June 23rd:
Arthur Griffith
the President of the 2nd Dail Eireann / 2nd Irish Assembly
was
called
to 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 IRA Irregulars. 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,
to which
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 personally with
British Imperial Government forces,
which
were still remaining 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. 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
Farmers Organization, and
7 to the
Independents. This was mainly due to the
ongoing intimidation by the anti - Treaty
group, who only won
35
- 36
seats
against their previous
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 previous 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
their Chairman
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 British Military action in
Ireland.
In the meantime
Michael Collins
had 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 control in Ireland."
He 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 in the
Ulster Province,
still under their control.
Diarmuid O Hegarty, the
secretary of the Irish Provisional Government, replied,
requiring David Lloyd - George to advise the details of his information,
so that they could be put before the
3rd Dail Eireann / Irish Assembly to be acted on, but
none were ever forthcoming.
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.
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.
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
with him.
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, gave
Rory O Connor until
4 a.m.
to release "Ginger"
O Connell.
After this time had elapsed
and the formal request was not
complied with, he and his men began to lay siege to the
anti - Treaty
IRA Irregulars
in the
Four
Courts, and the overall
conflict was to last
for
8
days.
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 them their support and for
Irish troops to bring them aid. (The
Irish
National Army / I.N.A. was to continue to shell the
Four Courts until the
30th, during
which time many Irish personal and historical records were
unfortunately to be 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. 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 none of the men 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.