39 policemen murdered in first six months of 1920
Dublin Castle publishes weekly list of 'outrages'
Cork, 3 July 1920 - The Attorney General for Ireland, Denis Henry, told the House of Commons yesterday that 39 members of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) and the Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP) were murdered in the first six months of 1920 with a further 70 injured. 34 of the policemen killed belonged to the RIC, and the remaining five were members of the DMP.
The Attorney General’s announcement in Westminster coincides with the Dublin Castle authorities’ publication of their weekly official report of what they term ‘outrages’.
The report makes reference to incidents across the island that include the burning of courthouses, the raiding of post offices and the seizure of postal correspondence, the stealing of petrol and attacks on police and police barracks, including the RIC King Street barracks in Cork City.
This attack took place on the evening of 30 June when a bomb exploded in the house of Dr Donovan, next door to the barracks, blowing a hole about 10 square feet in the shared wall. Dr Donovan's house was reduced to ruins by the explosion and the Grosvenor Hotel across the road was also badly damaged.
Considering the force of the blast and the fact that there were 30 people in the barracks at the time, surprise has been expressed that only minor injuries were reported – to a constable inside the barracks and a young woman and a soldier who were passing by.
The King Street barracks received a lot of attention during the inquest, in April of this year, into the killing of Tomás Mac Curtain. Cork Corporation recently voted to rename the street after the murdered Lord Mayor.
[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]
