The siege of the Four Courts: The beginning of the Irish Civil War

In the early hours of June 28, 1922, the bombardment of Dublin’s Four Courts marked the explosive start of the Irish Civil War. What followed was a tragic battle that razed history, divided a nation, and altered the course of Ireland forever.

At 3:40 a.m. on June 28, 1922, the insurgents in the Four Courts were given an ultimatum to surrender by troops of the Free State under the command of Michael Collins. When they refused, firing commenced 20 minutes later and the Irish Civil War had begun.

Eighteen-pounder guns "borrowed" from the British Army were located at Bridgefort Street, at the corner of Usher’s Quay. The men operating these guns, under the command of Emmet Dalton, fired the shots to shell the Four Courts. Artillery was also located at Winetavern Street and Merchant’s Quay. The first shots fired on the Four Courts came from here at 4.29 am. Cpt. Johnny Doyle fired the first round.

Single rounds were fired at fifteen-minute intervals and a total of 375 shells were fired before the garrison surrendered. Free State troops also placed 18-pounder guns on Wood Quay to shell the Courts. The British did not trust the Irish with high explosive shells and issued only shrapnel rounds, which were mostly ineffective against the stone walls of the building.

Éamon de Valera quickly described the members of the Four Courts garrison as the "best and bravest of our nation" and joined the IRA/Republicans as an unranked soldier after the bombardment of the Four Courts.

Twelve members of the IRA/Republican Executive were in the Four Courts when it was attacked – Liam Lynch and Liam Deasy left the building shortly before the attack and were arrested but then released because Free State General Richard Mulcahy hoped they would be an influence for peace.

Lynch went across to the Clarence Hotel on Wellington Quay. He was sleeping there when the attack on the Four Courts commenced. Lynch left to go to the south and was captured with Liam Deasy. They were taken for questioning by Eoin O’Duffy, who again let them go. They subsequently went to Kingsbridge Station and caught a train south with Seámus Robinson. From southwest Ireland, Lynch and Deasy became the leaders of the anti-Treaty forces during the Civil War.

O'Malley takes command and the Four Courts falls

On 29 June, Ernie O’Malley took over command in the Four Courts. By that time, the shelling had caused the Courts to catch fire. In addition, orders arrived from Oscar Traynor, IRA commander in Dublin, for the Four Courts garrison to surrender as he could not reach their position to help them. At 3:30 pm on 30 June, O’Malley surrendered the Four Courts to Brigadier General Paddy Daly.

Several hours before the surrender, the Irish Public Record Office, located in the western block of the Four Courts, which had been used as an ammunition store by the garrison, was the centre of a huge explosion, blowing to pieces one thousand years of Irish state and religious archives. Forty advancing Free State troops were badly injured.

It was alleged by the National Army Headquarters that the Anti-Treaty forces deliberately booby-trapped the Public Record Office to kill advancing Free State troops. Tim Healy, a government supporter, later alleged that the explosion was the result of land mines laid before the surrender, which exploded after the surrender. However, a study of the battle concluded that the explosion was caused by fires ignited by the shelling of the Four Courts, which eventually reached two truckloads of gelignite in the IRA munitions factory.

Casualties and prisoners

Joe Considine, Seán Cusack and Thomas Wall were killed in the Four Courts bombardment.

One hundred prisoners were taken sent to Mountjoy Prison, among them Rory O’Connor, Liam Mellows, Joe McKelvey and Dick Barrett. These four were executed in Mountjoy Prison on 8 December 1922 in reprisal for the shooting death of TD Seán Hales on 7 December. Ernie O’Malley was among a group who escaped on the way to Mountjoy.

It should be noted that the gun carriage on which Michael Collins’s casket was transported to Glasnevin Cemetery was borrowed from the British and was one of the carriages used in the bombardment of the Four Courts in June. The Free State Government specially purchased four black artillery horses from the British to pull the caisson to Glasnevin.

For more on the Irish Rebellion period from 1916 to 1923, read "The Shadow War and The Terror War."

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