FROM THE ARCHIVES:IRA volunteer Seán Treacy was shot dead in Talbot Street as described in this early report. Two passersby, tobacconist Joseph Corringham and messenger boy Patrick Carroll, also died. Policeman Cormac McDermott and Englishman Frank Christian, presumably a secret service agent, were wounded. – JOE JOYCE
A SHOOTING affair occurred in Talbot street, Dublin, yesterday afternoon, as a result of which three persons were shot dead and at least four others wounded. The shooting took place as a result of a military raid on the Republican Stores, number 94, a tailoring and outfitting establishment, of which Mr. Thomas Hunter, Sinn Fein M.P. for one of the divisions of Cork, is stated to be the proprietor. It is not known if Mr. Hunter was on the premises at the time, but it is believed that the military were in search of him or of some of those employed in the establishment. The incident occurred between 3.30 and 4.0 p.m., when two lorry-loads of soldiers, accompanied by an armoured car, came into Talbot street from the direction of the Nelson Pillar via Earl street.
The street was apparently in its normal condition at the time, being fairly crowded. A strike picket was gathered outside Varian’s brush-making establishment, where a strike has been in progress for some time. The arrival of the military attracted a crowd, which included a number of youngsters, and the crowd indulged in cheering and booing at the soldiers as they descended from the lorries. There were about twenty soldiers and they were accompanied by some men in civilian attire.
What followed is not quite clear, but it seems that the attention of the military was attracted by a group of men on the pavement. A plain clothes officer approached this group, whereupon one of the civilians made a move as though to draw a weapon. The officer immediately grappled with the civilian, and a number of shots were fired. The two men who were in handigrips fell to the ground, and it has since transpired the officer was shot dead and the civilian was also hit.
A gentleman who was passing at the time stated that the military lorries pulled up at the edge of the footpath, and he immediately noticed two respectable-looking men in handigrips. They did not appear to be drunk, but in the struggle they staggered from one side of the street to the other. Immediately afterwards the soldiers descended from the car, and a volley of shots ran out. He saw one of the two men who were struggling fall, and the other ran away. He did not think that either of the men who were struggling used any firearms. The man who fell remained lying on the ground until he was carried by the military to one of the lorries. Several other eye-witnesses agreed that they saw a struggle going on between two or three respectably dressed men, and that after the shooting one lay on the ground and the other ran away. A moment later they saw a little boy, who had a bicycle, and another civilian fall upon the street.
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