Part 1 Second Day: Thursday, June 29^th

June 29^th started with the delay of the 300 HE shells from Carrickfergus. Both O’Duffy and Collins complained about the delay and the British assured them the shells were on their way. The early hours of the morning were spent in exchanges between snipers and the arrival of two additional 18-pounders. One of these 18-pounders was placed at the intersection of Greek Street and Chancery Street, facing the northern side of the Four Courts and easily able to target the eastern end of the Headquarters Block. The snipers drove the gunners away and the commanding officer, Phil Hyde, refused to jeopardize his men’s lives furthers without proper protection.

National Army General Padraig O’Connor went to Portobello barracks to retrieve sandbags and arrived in time to hear a debate about accepting the 60-poundert guns Churchill kept offering to the Provisional Government. It was agreed that if the 60-pounder couldn’t hit the Four Courts correctly, they could get “bloody near it” to which O’Connor replied that his men were “bloody near” with only a narrow street between them and the Four Courts. O’Connor brought the sandbags to Hyde and the Provisional Government, once again, refused Churchill’s offer to use the 60-pounder howitzers. However, they asked for gas grenades to help clear the building. The British, cognizant of the discussions occurring around the usage of gas weapons taking place at the Washington Disarmament Conference, declined this request. They offered tear gas instead, but the Provisional Government didn’t take advantage of that offer.

The Provisional government hadn’t planned to feed the soldiers attacking the Four Courts and so it was up to individual commanders and dedicated civilians to feed the troops. Cumann na Saoirse opened food kitchens and Padraig O’Connor reached an agreement with P. J. Vaughan’s restaurant to provide breakfast, dinner, and tea for his men. Vaughan would invoice the Provisional government 87 pounds and 15 shillings for feeding 234 troops, day and night for eight days.

 At some point in the day, Phil Hyde transferred command of the Greek Street 18-pounder to Ignatius O’Neill. He elevated the gun’s aim to drive a sniper out of the Four Courts dome. He overshot and the shells landed in the grounds of the royal hospital in Kilmainham – General MacCready’s HQs. MacCready immediately called Dalton and asked why he was being fired upon by his own guns. Dalton moved the Greek Street gun in reserve.

 During all of Wednesday and most of Thursday morning, the people and businesses of Dublin went about their day as if nothing abnormal was happening. As Thursday morning wore on, anti-treaty members took more buildings in Dublin and commandeered supplies including food, medical supplies, and bedding. Civilians coming home from mass or just going about their day became unexpected targets for snipers trying to prevent National Army reinforcements and supplies from reaching the Four Courts. By Thursday afternoon every shop in Dublin closed and many people who could left Dublin. One person trying to get into Dublin and the Four Courts was Tom Barry, supposedly dressed as a woman since the National Army wasn’t accosting women and Cumann na mBan members. Barry, however, was stopped by a National Army officer and was arrested, supposedly the first prisoner of war during the Irish Civil War.

Part 1A – A Change of Tactics

General MacCready paid Collins a visit that afternoon and told him that artillery alone would not drive the anti-treaty IRA out of the courts. He was speaking to the choir as the Provisional Government decided the night before that they needed to mount an infantry assault. During the afternoon of June 29^th, the National Army officers gathered in the Four Courts Hotel and decided that there would be two simultaneous infantry assaults, targeting the west side of the Four Courts. First, two 18-pounders would make a breach for the infantry. The 18-pounder on the Bridge St and Merchant Quay focused its bombardment west facing wall of the west wing. The National Army placed the fourth gun at the intersection of Hammond Lane and Lincoln Lane on the west side, this time focusing its bombardment on the western wall of the Public Record Office.

Once the breaches were made, one battalion, under the command of Commandant Joe Leonard would secure the west wing of the Four Courts and another battalion, under the command of Commandant Padraig O’Connor would take the Public Record Office. Padraig was aware that the Records Office was next to the Treasury which was full of munitions and supposedly mined. He knew his men would have to neutralize both parts of the building quickly in order to prevent a massacre.

 The 300 HE shells finally arrived from Carrickfergus and were distributed to the Bridge Street and Hammond lane guns. One correspondent from The Times wrote of the Bridge street bombardment:

 “to the street from which the Free State artillery is being served…the steady firing of the guns is gradually producing its effect. Fire has been principally concentrated upon the western wing of the Four Courts, and when I left towards 2 o’clock the top floor of this wing had been largely shot away for about 50 feet [15.2 m], and considerable damage had been done to the floor next below. One could see bits of furniture lying strewn about in the wreckage through the gaping walls, and in the room there seemed to be shattered masses of deed-boxes scattered pell-mell about the ruins. One shot particularly which was fired about 1.30 had a devastating effect. A dense cloud of dust followed the shot and drifted like a heavy curtain of smoke across the building. While it was still hanging thick in the air we heard the heavy crash of falling masonry and when the dust had at least cleared away one saw that a large gap had been torn.” – Michael Fewer, The Battle of the Four Courts, pg 200

           

Irish Life, another newspaper, would later give credit to Commandant-General Lawlor and his men, who, the correspondent claimed, had not sleep for four nights, were exhausted, and had red eyes and deafened ears because of the repeated explosions. The Irish Independent wrote:

“it is a marvel, perhaps without precedent, that an artillery action went on, beginning on Wednesday morning, about 4 o’clock, and continuing all through Wednesday, Thursday, and up to noon on Friday in the heart of the city, and from five distinctive positions, without doing any random damage to the persons or property of the citizens…when a large part of the Four Courts had been captured the artillery continued to work with precision and co-operation with the forces that had entered the positions – a feat, the difficulty of which can be realized by those who know the plan of the Four Courts” – Michael Fewer, the Battle of the Four Courts, pg. 201

 The gun on Hammond lane took only forty-eight shells to create a large enough breach for the infantry assault. Padraig O’Connor’s men would also be supported by the National Army soldiers station in the Four Courts Hotel, trapping anti-treaty members in the Records Building and the Headquarters Block. The anti-treaty forces in the Public Records Office were driven to the first floor room and the basement on the east side of the building. They sent a runner to Paddy O’Brien asking for reinforcements or they’d have to surrender.

Part 1B – Assault on the Public Records Office

 Simultaneously, Padraig O’Connor’s men ran down Hammond Lane, climbed over a debris filled “well”/remains of a basement, and into the Record’s Building. The first thing they encountered was a door. After throwing a grenade to clear the next room, they entered the Public Reading Room. To the left was an ante-room and then an iron door that led into the Record Treasury. The Record Treasury was large and had a glass roof and was filled with munitions and unfinished explosives. Blankets hung down from the floor above and Padraig assumed the anti-treaty forces meant to set the building on fire. They moved onto the Public Record Office stairwell. Padraig must have been nervous since they hadn’t run into any anti-treaty members and he knew the place was supposed to be mined. Any wrong move could set the mines off. When they finally found the anti-treaty IRA defenders huddled together on the first floor. Padraig described the discovery as:

“very shaken, a few in a state of complete nervous breakdown, a boys’ unit I was given to understand…my men looked grim as they stood around with rifles and bayonets at the ready, a little uncertain what to do next.” – Michael Fewer, the Battle of the Four Courts, pg. 211

Padraig sent the prisoners to the log yard of Maguire & Patterson’s match factory, one of the National Army’s temporary holding pens for the anti-treaty IRA prisoners. They also used Jacobson’s Factory to temporarily hold the prisoners.

Padraig’s assistant commandant McGuiness took a handful of men to hold the first and second floor windows of the Record Building, commanding the yard between the Four Courts main block and the Headquarters Block. The yard was filled with cars the anti-treaty forces had stolen over the previous weeks. Meanwhile, Padraig entered the basement, unwittingly driving the five anti-treaty members hiding down there out a side door and made a dash for the main Four Courts buildings. McGuinness yelled at them to surrender and when they continued to run, his men opened fire. His men shot two young members, one of who was only eighteen years old.

After ensuring the entire body was cleared of anti-treaty forces, Padraig asked brigade HQ for engineers to deal with the munitions they found. By the time the engineering team was done, they cleared away fifty to sixty rifles, some small arms, a large cask of explosives and another cask of filament of mercury, fifteen shells, some finished land mines, fifteen unfished landmines, thousands of detonators, and a large number of grenades. These weapons were stored in pits at Smithfield Garage, about a quarter of a mile away.

Knowing that the Record Build was vulnerable, but not that it had already been taken. Ernie O’Malley sent Lt. Ned Keller to help the defenders set the building on fire and then retreat. Instead, he ran straight into the National Army’s hands and was arrested.

Part 1C – Assault on the West Wing

At 4pm, a signal was given and the bombardment, machine gun fire, and rifle fire stopped. 100 of Leonard’s men, led by Leonard himself, charged the 40 foot (12.1 m) wide breach. Paddy O’Brien, with his Lewis gun, fired from the Headquarter’s Block upon the National Soldiers. Leonard was shot in the knee and his command was taken over by Lt. Downey. They entered the west wing of the building, into the first floor and the Lord Chancellor’s office. Their plan had been to drive the anti-treaty forces into the Central Hall, however, access to the Central Hall was very limited. The corridors were built in a labyrinthian manner and should have been easy for the anti-treaty IRA to defend.

The best way to reach the Central Hall was by descending a stair in the north-west corner from the first floor to the ground floor and then through a straight corridor to the Chancery Court and from there to the Central Hall. The only other route was to negotiate through labyrinthian offices, a small court-room, a twisting corridor that led to a stairway that led to the Central Hall. No matter what path Lt. Downey chose, his men would have to travel under gunfire.

 Lt. Downey’s men through a combination of superior firepower and numbers (and hadn grenades), fought their way through the labyrinth, with only 3 dead and 14 wounded. They were able to capture thirty-three prisoners. Despite their success, the attack on the west wing slowed to a pause as the inexperienced soldiers dealt with their prisoners.

 The anti-treaty IRA forces in the Central Hall lost communication with the west wing, so Paddy O’Brien went forward into the darkness to re-establish contact. He quickly realized that the west wing was lost to the National Army and so he returned to the Central Hall.

After Padraig O’Connor’s successful assault on the Public Records Office, Commandant General MacManus left the Records building and joined the assault on the west wing of the Four Courts. He rekindled the men’s confidence and they cleared the four floors under his command. While clearing the floors, they found a roomful of explosives and mines. McManus called for the National Army’s director of engineering, Patrick Kelly, to help with the explosives. Kelly was shot on the way to the west wing but made it to the Central Hall. The shot gave him a flesh wound in arm and broke the other. MacManus made a splint for Kelly using leaves from law books and pieces of the timber ceiling. Kelly was taken away in an ambulance and McManus’ men went down to sleep, far from the mine.

O’Malley, O’Connor, and Mellows built a barricade using laid rolls of barbed wire, furniture, and loose stones at the doors that opened onto the Chancery Court. After they built the barricade and O’Malley led a small expedition to see how close the National Army forces were to the Central Hall, the commanders gathered and discussed laying mines, but there is no evidence if they followed through on this suggestion. Paddy O’Brien noticing how exhausted and hungry the anti-treaty forces were, told Rory they should use the Mutineer to make a surprise breakthrough and head towards Oscar’s entrenched position. Rory, McKelvey, and Mellows overruled him. They believed they would be able to escape through the sewers during the early hours of the morning. Instead, the anti-treaty forces settled down for the night, eating only tea and biscuits, knowing full well there would be another assault tomorrow morning.

Part 2 Third Day: Friday, June 30^th

Friday began with heavy rain and a renewed bombardment. Rory’s plan to escape from the sewers was dashed by the rain and the National Army focused their bombardment on the eastern part of the Four Courts, even moving the 18-pounder from bridge street to Winetavern street. Now there were two 18-pounders working together to break through the eastern wing. McGuinness had his men place a Thompson sub-machine gun and a Lewis gun in the top-floor window of the Record Building. From there, they fired upon the Mutineer as it drove around the courtyard. Eventually, the crew abandoned the Mutineer and retreated into the Headquarters Block. The National Army now controlled the Four Courts’ courtyard.

Paddy O’Brien was wounded that morning and passed command to Ernie O’Malley. O’Malley ordered the evacuation of all the wounded and medical officials. When Dr. Ryan resisted, O’Malley told him there was a good chance the munitions in the Record building would explode at any minute.

 The National Army spent the morning driving the anti-treaty forces from the Central Hall into the east wing. By 11 a.m. most of the remaining defenders hid in the housekeeper’s quarters in the cellars under the wing.

Part 2A – Fire and an Explosion

Between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. the Headquarters Block caught fire. The source of the fire is unclear. Commandant Simon Donnelly of the anti-treaty forces wrote that the fire was caused by

 “Incendiary bombs thrown into G. H. Q. Block in which was the chemical shop took fire owing to the inflammable substances in the building [and] the fire made great headaway”

           

Another anti-treaty member blamed the heavy shelling from Bridewell, but there weren’t any 18-pounders on that side of the courts and the active 18-pounders weren’t in a position to fire upon the Records Building or Treasury building. Additionally, the National Army was focused on moving eastward through the courts, so it wouldn’t make sense to risk firing shells over the heads of their own soldiers.

By 11:30 a.m. the fire in the Headquarters Block was visible from the south side of the Liffy and by 12 o’clock a large part of the Four Courts was enveloped by smoke. The fire quickly ate through the Headquarters Block, forcing any remaining anti-treaty forces to retreat.

The Dublin Fire Brigade received a call at 11:15am, letting them know that firing had stop at the Four Courts. When they arrived, they couldn’t access the Headquarters Block because explosives were going off, most likely the barrels of petrol and paraffin placed by O’Malley and O’Brien on the 27^th. The Fire Brigade asked O’Daly to call for a ceasefire so they could fight the fire but O’Daly refuse, saying, “Ireland is more important than a fire in the Four Courts” (Michael Fewer, the Battle of the Four Courts, pg. 226)

The fire brigade focused on containing the fire to the Four Courts.

National Army Commandant Padraig O’Connor was ordered to take the Headquarters Block, however, seeing that the building was very on fire, he ordered his men to fix bayonets and follow him eastwards, past the block. Just as his men prepared to leave, “an immense explosion rocked the building…everything seemed to come asunder…the men were lifted off their feet and sent spinning around.” (Michael Fewer, The Battle of the Four Courts, pg. 237). Padraig and his sergeant were thrown in the air, the sergeant landing on the ground, softening Padraig’s impact, and Padraig protected him from the shards of glass. Fortunately for Padraig, the glass landed on the flat side and didn’t cause much damage. O’Connor scrambled to his feet and ordered his men to evacuate the building. Padraig’s men ran through the original breach and collapsed onto Church Street.

  An Irish Times correspondent talking to Lawlor all the wall on the other side of the Four Courts wrote this about the explosion:

 “There was a thunderous roar, deeper in sound than any gun, which brought down in splinters any glass remaining in the neighbourhood, and part of the roof of the Four Courts seemed to lift itself into the air.

Black as ink, shot up, 400 feet [122 m] into the sky, a giant column of writhing smoke and dust; black as ink, and not more than 50 feet [15.2 m] in diameter at the base, it spread into a mushroom form some 200 feet [61 m] up, and glared in the sun with lurid reds and browns, through which could be seen thousands of great white snowflakes, dipping, sidling, curtaying, circling, floating as snowflakes do. But the shower was not falling. It was rising.

 Higher it rose and higher again. All round us as we stood 300 yards [274 m] away the bricks and mortar of the great explosion were dropping like hail, but the great snowstorm eddied ever upwards till, at a height of 500 feet [152 m], the west wind ever bore the upward blast of the explosion and the drift of snow swept, high up in the air, down the quays in a slow slant towards Sackville Street…What was the great explosion? Almost certainly it was a mine or a magazine underneath the Probate Court and the Land Judges’ Court which blew the whole of the upper storey and all the thousands of documents and forms contained therein into the air…Like most explosions its effect was freskihg. Standing only 300 yards [274 m] away I hardly felt the impact in the air, while people fully 600 yards [549 m] distant from the focus on the other side were carried off their feet” – Michael Fewer, The Battle of the Four Courts, pg 228-230

           

The anti-treaty forces knew an explosion was almost inevitable. Maire Comerford wrote that the anti-treaty IRA members in the east wing were pressed against a wall and

“orders, sterner than I had heard before, or since, held us in position…There was no announcement, that I recall, that the big explosion was coming; but nobody can have been in much doubt…The shock blew me back, the full length of my arms, then forward again, while dust and fragments scattered everywhere.” – Michael Fewer, The Battle of the Four Courts, pg. 232

 The explosion completely destroyed the western end of the Headquarters Block and the southern wing of the Land Registry Office. The explosion and ensuing fires destroyed hundreds upon hundreds of historical documents, land documents, and familial documents. Large chunks of Irish history is missing or understood as well as it could have been because of the papers destroyed during the explosion and fires that followed. Even a half hour after the explosion, papers from the Four Courts continued to fall all over O’Connell Street.

The National Army paused their assault for a half hour after the explosion to tend to their wounded, reassess, and apparently to wait for a surrender. When no such surrender was received, they resumed their artillery, machine gun, and rifle bombardment. The leaders of the anti-treaty IRA were in a heated discussion about what to do. Rory wanted to surrender, but Liam replied:

“The republic is being attacked here. We must stand or fall by it. If we surrender we have deserted it.” – Michael Fewer, the Battle of the Four Courts, pg. 234

O’Malley thought about breaking out himself and occupy the Medical Mission across the road, but it was already occupied by the National Army.

Poor Padraig O’Connor has jumbled memories following the explosion. Initially after the explosion, he returned to the Records Building to ensure all his men escaped, he was dragged out, and then he was having tea with women in Benburb Street, about half a mile away. He returned to the Four Courts but McManus told him the anti-treaty garrison finally surrendered. He went into the Four Courts complex and wandered through the smoking and burning buildings. He grabbed a bag of 1,000 bullets from the destroyed Mutineer, grabbed random papers and stuffed them in his pocket, and ran into a looter trying to take an engine off a motorcycle. O’Connor left him to his work.

Part 2B – The Four Courts Garrison Surrenders

The National Army withdrew its forces from the Four Courts Complex at 2pm. Medical personnel were allowed to enter to treat the wounded and one of the ambulance drivers slipped Rory a message form Oscar Traynor. Traynor told him, he couldn’t help the forces within the Four Courts and that Rory should surrender. Two more explosions occurred at 2:15 p.m. potentially in the Treasury Building again. The leaders of the Four Courts garrison argued about what to do next until Ernie O’Malley finally rose a white flag of surrender at 3:30 p.m. O’Daly replied that he could only accept an unconditional surrender. The anti-treaty forces agreed. They stacked up their weapons and ammunition, doused them with paraffin, and threw incendiary grenades. The men formed two ranks and marched out on Chancery Street and were surrounded by National soldiers. It was 4:30 pm, almost sixty hours after the first shot was fired.

“Ginger” O’Connell survived the bombardment, the fire, and the explosion and when asked about his experience he replied”

O’Daly, believing the explosion was a purposeful attempt to kill as many of the National Army soldiers as possible, was furious and talked about shooting all the prisoners. He got into a row with Lawlor until Lawlor told him he should accept the formal surrender. O’Daly received the surrender from Ernie O’Malley.

The unstoppable Maire Comerford, slipped away by grabbing her bike:

“mounted it and rode away. Nobody stopped me. I cycled the short length of the street, through the North Lotts, crossed Sackville Street well down from the fighting that was still      going on there, and entered by a rear door of the Hammam Hotel.” (Michael Fewer, The Battle of the Four Courts, pg. 246)

Cathal Brugha was stationed at Hammam Hotel.

With the ceasefire, the Dublin Fire Brigade could finally deal with the Four Courts fire. However, explosions kept going off, with Rory O’Connor claiming that there were about 7 tons of explosives in the complex. Explosives occasionally went off and the brigade’s captain decided the Four Courts wasn’t worth his men’s lives. Instead, the fires would have to burn themselves out. Whatever records hadn’t been destroyed by the initial explosion, were eaten by the fire as it ravaged the Record Treasury. Another explosion occurred at 5 p.m. and the dome collapsed by 7 p.m. The fires were still burning strong at 3 a.m. on July 1^st.

The prisoners were split into two groups. Group one contained Ernie O’Malley, Liam Mellows, Rory O’Connor, and Sean MacBride. They were marched into Jameson’s Distillery until more permanent quarters could be found. The other group, of about 100 men, soon followed O’Malley and the others into Jameson Distillery. The men were loosely guarded and the members of Cumann na mBan smuggled in food, supplies, and letters to and fro from the distillery to Traynor’s position in Sacksville Street.

Padraig O’Connor was put in charge of the prisoners in Jameson Distillery. Many of the prisoners were old friends, some he served time with. One of his friends, Paddy Rigney, sat down with Padraig and convinced him to leave one door in the distillery open. Rigney, Joe Griffin, Sean Lemass, and Ernie O’Malley used that door to escape and travel southwards. The rest of the prisoners, including Rory O’Connor and Liam Mellows, were sent to Mountjoy Prison.

Part 3 The Battle for O’Connell Street June 29^th-July 5^th

With the Four Courts cleared, the National Army could focus on clearing Traynor’s men from the Gresham, Crown, Granville, and Hammam hotels, which would become known as “the Block”. These hotels were on the east side of O’Connell Street, but the anti-treaty IRA also held Barry’s Hotel in north Dublin and several buildings on the South Circular Road, York Street, Kildare Street Club, and Dolphin’s Barn. The positions seemed to have been picked at random and none of these positions were close enough to effectively coordinate attacks or supplies. DeValera joined his old unit, the 3^rd Battalion, as a regular volunteer and issued the following statement:

“at the bidding of the English Irishmen today are shooting down, on the streets of our capital, brother Irishmen. In Rory O’Connor and his comrades lives the unbought indomitable soul of Ireland.” – Peter Cottrell, The Irish Civil War 1922-23, pg. 40

Cathal Brugha, Austin Stacks, and Sean T. O’Kelly joined the anti-treaty members in the Block.

The Provisional Government focused on clearing the positions outside the Block, effectively isolating the anti-treaty forces in the hotels. They achieved their objective by July 3^rd and focused all of their energy on the Block. The Provisional Government used their armored cars to peppered the hotels with gunfire and used their artillery to fire upon the Gresham and Hammon hotels. Both buildings caught fire and DeValera, Traynor, and Stack left, assuming others would follow their example. Traynor shortly issued an order to retreat. One man refused: Cathal Brugha.

Brugha told the members of Cumann na mBan fighting with him to escape with the others, but they refused. Brugha used his personal influence to get all but three women to leave. With the hotels on fire, Emmet Dalton sent a letter, demanding Brugha’s surrender. Brugha wrote back: “Not damned likely.”

However, by July 5^th, even Brugha had to admit their situation was hopeless. He told his small force to surrender and as they marched out, Brugha, revolver in hand, emerged from a side door. The soldier shot at him and he was taken to Mater Hospital where he died two days later from his wounds. Brugha was many things, but no one could call him a coward. During Easter Rising, he was so severely wounded, he carried pieces of shrapnel in his body up to the day he died. It was no surprise at all that he would show the same reckless bravery during the battle for Dublin.

DeValera, not realizing Brugha was indeed dead, wrote to him:

“I had no idea in view of the plan agreed on that you would attempt to hold the Hotels as long as you did…You were scarcely justified…in taking the risk you ran…we were all more than vexed with you – but all’s well that ends well.” – Charles Townshend, the Republic, pg. 410

And Collins, whose relationship with Brugha had completely deteriorated during the Dail Treaty debates, said:

“Because of his sincerity, I would forgive him anything. At worst, he was a fanatic. At best, I number him among those who had given their all.”

 

The Battle for Dublin as a whole, ended with Brugha’s death. The anti-treaty forces who weren’t prisoners, fled southwards to join Lynch’s forces in Munster while the National Army and Provisional Government could be proud they won the battle, but had also started a civil war.

References

The Republic by Charles Townshend

Richard Mulcahy: From the Politics of War to the Politics of Peace, 1913-1924 by Padraig O Caoimh

The Battle of the Four Courts: the First Three Days of the Irish Civil War by Michael Fewer

The Irish Civil War 1922-23 by Peter Cottrell

Cathal Brugha by Fergus O’Farrell