#OnThisDay 1789 Dublin man James F.X. Whyte, Count of Malleville was 1 of the 7 prisoners freed from the Bastille. An officer in the Irish Brigade, Whyte was imprisoned in 1781 due to ‘insanity’. He was paraded through Paris & put in an insane asylum the 15th.
#OnThisDay 1789 Parisians attacked the Bastille. Joseph Cavanagh from Carlow, commandeered 6 gun-laden wagons en route to the French Army’s camp at Metz & rode them through the streets of Paris crying “Men, seize the Bastille, seize the Bastille.”
“Ireland was divided up into divisional areas by the IRA. Whether the division declared for or against the Treaty depended heavily upon the loyalties of the divisional &brigade commanders and their relationship with Michael Collins.”
The War for Ireland 1913-23
Dark Green: Pro-Treaty
Light Green: Anti-Treaty
#OnThisDay 1922 Michael Collins becomes the Commander-in-Chief of the National Army, setting aside his position as Chairperson of the Provisional Government. Richard Mulcahy as Minister of Defence & Chief-of-Staff.Just over a month later, Collins was shot dead.
#OnThisDay 1922 AT-IRA ambushed a Free State patrol at Rockwood, Sligo killing five & capturing the ‘Ballinalee’ armoured car. They renamed it ‘The Wild Rose of Lough Gill’ (below with driver C. McLynn) & used it to fire upon Free State positions in Sligo town.
The Irish at War 