ASSASSINATION & EXECUTION

Echoing the tactics of the War of Independence, pro and anti-treaty political and military leaders became valuable targets in the pursuit of military goals

One of the first and most significant assassinations during the Irish Civil War was that of Sir Henry Wilson on 22 June 1922. Wilson was an Anglo-Irish MP for North Down who had previously been a field marshal in the British Army during the First World War. He was a big supporter of Irish inclusion in the United Kingdom, which made him a bitter opponent to Lloyd George’s Dominion status idea in the Anglo-Irish Treaty. Wilson had been fanatically against the IRA and their campaigns during the Irish War of Independence and wanted Britain to reconquer Ireland.

On the morning of 22 June Wilson was at Liverpool Street station in London, unveiling the Great Eastern Railway War Memorial, all while dressed in his full military uniform. After this, he made the journey back to his home to get changed before attending Parliament. Near his home, two IRA members from the organisation’s London branch, Reginald Dunne and Joseph O’Sullivan, who were aware of Wilson’s schedule for the day, waited for his arrival. As Wilson walked up the steps of his home – 36 Eaton Place – O’Sullivan came up toward him and fired two shots – both missed. As Wilson was preoccupied with O’Sullivan, Dunne quickly rushed toward Wilson and shot him three times, fatally wounding him.

Wilson’s death, although quickly overshadowed by other events, was particularly significant. Almost immediately it prompted the British Government to put pressure on Arthur Griffith, Michael Collins and the Irish Provisional Government to deal with the IRA, pushing Ireland toward civil war. Wilson’s death was compared to that of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and called ‘Ireland’s Sarajevo’. It also caused tensions within the Pro-Treaty side, with some believing that Collins had a part in organising the assassination with the IRA.

Collins sought to unite Pro- and Anti-Treaty forces to coordinate peace for Ireland that respected the people’s will. He had previously been the director of intelligence for the IRA, and he was also a member of the team that had negotiated the Anglo-Irish Treaty for the Irish Provisional Government. Because of his past, Collins had a unique position of being a figure that both Pro- and Anti-Treaty sides respected, and with whom they felt comfortable negotiating. However, Collins also became an increasingly controversial and violent figure as he was planning attacks on Northern Ireland and had ordered several violent hits on Anti-Treaty forces and strongholds.

In August 1922, Collins travelled to Cork to meet na