Following Éamon de Valera’s departure to the United States Michael Collins was finally in a position where he could begin his war against British Intelligence. It was clear that the Irish Volunteers could not hope to win in a fight against the British military but Collins believed that wiping out their spy network in Ireland would give the Volunteers a chance. In July he orders Dick McKee and Mick McDonnell of the Dublin Brigade to assemble a group of men for “special duties”, the first of which is the killing of a DMP Detective Sergeant. This group will later go on to form the Squad.
References:
T. Ryle Dwyer - “The Squad”
Peter Hart - “Mick; The Real Michael Collins”
Tim Pat Coogan - “Michael Collins”
Richard Abbott - “Police Casualties in Ireland 1919 - 1922”
BMH Statements:
Eamon Broy WS1280
James Slattery WS445
Social Media:
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iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-irish-nation-lives
Main Sources:
Military Archives - http://www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie
Century Ireland - https://www.rte.ie/centuryireland
Atlas of the Irish Revolution
Maurice Walsh - “Bitter Freedom”
Charles Townshend - "The Republic"
Michael Hopkinson - ”The Irish War of Independence”
Diarmuid Ferriter - “A Nation and not a Rabble”
Photos:
Military Archives
NLI Flickr account
Wiki Commons
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