FROM THE ARCHIVES:The Civil War began at the end of June 1922 with the assault on the Four Courts, the headquarters of the anti-Treaty IRA, by the new Free State's forces. This eye-witness account (now marred by flaws in the archive copy) by an unnamed reporter describes the huge explosion detonated by anti-Treaty forces as they surrendered. – JOE JOYCE
THE GUNS in Winetavern street had a different sound as I walked up the quays at a quarter to 11 yesterday forenoon, and it soon became plain that they had shifted their position, having advanced almost into the quays in order to shell the central block of the Four Courts.
They were playing on the wall just to the right of the portico, and already a large breach had been made, through which the fresh shells passed, bursting in the Court of the Master of the Rolls.
In charge of the weary crews was Commandant General Lawlor, who had not left there since the action began, and who had had no sleep for four nights. With him were a weary and almost exhausted crew, eyes red from want of sleep, and ears temporarily deaf from the continuous explosions.
A pile of some 200 empty 18-pounder cartridge cases gave evidence of their past activity. The guns themselves - field guns of the 1915 pattern had sustained little damage owing to their shields. But the shields were dented by bullets in numerous places, and one or two small holes showed where shots had come right through the metal. They had come under very heavy and accurate fire from machine-gun and rifles when blowing the breach in the western wing at Morgan place, through which the National troops had stormed the building, and several men had been lost.
I was talking to the General when the great explosion occurred. There was a thunderous roar, deeper in sound than any, which brought down in splinters any glass remaining in the neighbourhood, and the roof of the Four Courts seemed to itself into the air.
? shot up, 400ft. into the sky, a ? column of writhing smoke and dust; black as ink, and not more than 50ft. in diameter at the base, it spread into mushroom form some 200ft. up, and glared in the sun with reds and browns, through which could be seen thousands of great white snowflakes, dipping, sidling, curtsying, 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 away the bricks and mortar of the great explosion were dropping , but the great white snowstorm [went] ever upwards till, at a height of 500ft
National soldier, when the explosion came, was reading a document. It bore the date 1460. “Patrick Prendergast bought from John Redmond, of Rathmullen, one pair of boots for eightpence.” Of such human stuff is history made.
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