At 2 AM on 28 June 1922, the ultimatum to the IRA garrison that had taken over the Four Courts ran out, and Michael Collins ordered the bombardment of the building by artillery. All day long, an average of four shells every hour fell on the Four Courts, which was thoroughly aflame by late morning. A large crowd of Dubliners gathered at the Quay to watch the spectacle, many of them unaware that they were watching the beginning of the civil war.
Rory O’Connor, leading the IRA rebels, was issued a note asking him to surrender his men and position, or else shelling would continue and he would be “held responsible” for any damage caused to property or people. He refused to surrender, and the shelling continued.
The explosion you see here was the explosion of an IRA ammunition dump. It was taken between 11:30 AM and 2:15 PM. The blast destroyed Irish state records dating back 1,000 years. A towering mushroom cloud rose 200 feet over the Four Courts.
The fighting continued until 5 July, when Irish Free State troops finally regained control of Dublin. Between 50 and 100 people, mostly civilians caught in the crossfire, were killed in the fighting, and many more wounded.
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For more information on little-known history and other 1920s events, consult the 100YearsAgoLive Project, a Twitter program that reports events from exactly 100 years ago as if they’re happening in real time. It is meant to stoke an interest in history by making it accessible to the everyday reader:
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At 2 AM on 28 June 1922, the ultimatum to the IRA garrison that had taken over the Four Courts ran out, and Michael Collins ordered the bombardment of the building by artillery. All day long, an average of four shells every hour fell on the Four Courts, which was thoroughly aflame by late morning. A large crowd of Dubliners gathered at the Quay to watch the spectacle, many of them unaware that they were watching the beginning of the civil war.
Rory O’Connor, leading the IRA rebels, was issued a note asking him to surrender his men and position, or else shelling would continue and he would be “held responsible” for any damage caused to property or people. He refused to surrender, and the shelling continued.
The explosion you see here was the explosion of an IRA ammunition dump. It was taken between 11:30 AM and 2:15 PM. The blast destroyed Irish state records dating back 1,000 years. A towering mushroom cloud rose 200 feet over the Four Courts.
The fighting continued until 5 July, when Irish Free State troops finally regained control of Dublin. Between 50 and 100 people, mostly civilians caught in the crossfire, were killed in the fighting, and many more wounded.
/////////////////////
For more information on little-known history and other 1920s events, consult the 100YearsAgoLive Project, a Twitter program that reports events from exactly 100 years ago as if they’re happening in real time. It is meant to stoke an interest in history by making it accessible to the everyday reader:
https://twitter.com/100YearsAgoLive