Ireland's War of Independence 1919-21 by Lorcan Collins

Author:Lorcan Collins [Collins, Lorcan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Europe, Ireland, Modern, 20th Century, Great Britain, General
ISBN: 9781788491464
Google: P7CSDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: The O'Brien Press Ltd
Published: 2019-05-27T22:34:25+00:00

Two days after the burning of Mallow, several houses and two creameries in Tubbercurry, County Sligo, were burned by the Black and Tans in revenge for an IRA ambush which had seen the death of an RIC district inspector, James Brady. It was clear that reprisals against civilians were part of British policy in Ireland.

British Army officers inspect damage to a bridge on the Ballinspittle road in County Cork, following an IRA attack. Local labourers can be seen carrying out repairs.

THE CAFÉ CAIRO

The Café Cairo on 59 Grafton Street was often used for meetings by Dublin Castle spies and informants. There are many references in modern Irish history books to the ‘Cairo Gang’, and indeed there are some images referenced as being the ‘Cairo Gang’. However, the term was rarely used by the IRA or the British during the war. The exception is Dan Breen who made reference to it in his recollections, My Fight for Irish Freedom, published in 1924: ‘Major Smyth had been on service in Egypt. He applied for intelligence work in Ireland, was accepted, and brought over eleven picked men with him to avenge the death of his brother. They became known as the Cairo Gang.’8

George Osbert Stirling Smyth, decorated by the British and the French for gallantry during the war, was the brother of Lieutenant Colonel Gerald Brice Smyth who had been shot in Cork on 17 July 1920 (see Chapter Five). George Smyth, a serving British Army Brigade Major in Egypt, was determined to avenge his brother’s death, and arrived in Ireland in August 1920, but there is no evidence to suggest that he brought men with him from Egypt. There is no mention of a ‘Cairo Gang’ in the Bureau of Military History witness statements or in pension records. It seems more likely that the term ‘Cairo Gang’ used by Dan Breen derived from the café as opposed to the capital of Egypt.

Another place the British secret service agents, British Army intelligence officers and Auxiliary intelligence officers frequented was Kidd’s Back (or Kidd’s Buffet), which could be accessed from Nassau Street or from Grafton Street, via Adam Court. IRA Assistant Director of Intelligence Tom Cullen, and Frank Thornton, Deputy Assistant Director of Intelligence, together with their comrade Frank Saurin, an IRA intelligence officer, regularly ate and drank in Kidd’s Back. David Nelligan introduced the three IRA intelligence men to all the British spies in Kidd’s, referring to them as his touts and giving them false names. As discussed in Chapter Three, Nelligan worked in Dublin Castle but was actually an IRA operative. Discussions in Kidd’s Back were all about Michael Collins and the Dublin IRA, and the British often dropped the names of touts that they were using, which was very useful information for the IRA to have.

Frank Thornton recalled in his witness statement a particular day in Kidd’s when one of the British turned to him, Tom Cullen and Frank Saurin and said in an exasperated tone, ‘Surely you fellows know these

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