Irish Civil War: Free State takes over its second city after naval landings and the Battle for Cork 

Having fought through Passage West and Rochestown, Emmet Dalton's troops met little resistance in Cork as the 'Irregulars' sabotaged train lines and printing presses before retreating

August 1922: Free State troops make their way along Clontarf St towards Lower Oliver Plunkett St and the city centre. Clontarf St is now bounded by the Clayton Hotel and Deloitte, and the structure atop Clontarf Bridge is long gone. Picture: Irish Examiner Archive

At Passage West, a ferry port and fishing village on the estuary of the river Lee, early on the morning on August 8 1922, a steam ship the Arvonia nestled into the harbour. The anti-Treaty IRA garrison in Cobh, just across the bay, nervously followed the ship’s progress and fired warning shots with their three machine guns. There was no reply.

A sentry, a member of the IRA garrison at Passage West, fired a shot across the Arvonia’s bows as she docked but, getting no response, approached the vessel along the pier, holding a lamp.