Mick Clifford: Shaping dirty reality of new Free State

The Civil War killings were far more tragic than those of the Easter Rising’s leaders. The savagery was not confined to one side

Erskine Childers: In his case, there was huge resentment against him because of his English origins, his presence in London for the signing of the Treaty, and his role as propagandist for the anti-treatites.

Last Thursday marked the centenary of one of the lowest points in this country’s history. At the height of the Civil War, the Free State side began executing prisoners. The extra-judicial killings were an illegal act by a government ushering in self-determination and those to be shot often selected at random.

The first four executed were John Gaffney, James Fisher, Peter Cassidy, and Richard Twohig. They were taken out and shot in Kilmainham Jail, the same place where six and a half years earlier the leaders of the Rising were executed.