Bomb blast destroys politician’s shop on Dawson Street
Dublin, 1 January 1923 – Dublin City was shaken by the force of a bomb which exploded in a shop on Dawson Street on 28 December. Several people were injured in the blast, but there were no fatalities.
The shop, a piano warehouse owned by Denis McCullough, situated at number 56 Dawson Street, was completely destroyed. The lower part of the building is now nothing but a mass of debris. Several neighbouring buildings were also damaged.
It is understood that men travelling in a Ford car pulled up outside Mr McCullough’s shop at 8pm and, after smashing the front windows, placed a mine inside and lit the fuse. It exploded as they made their getaway along Nassau Street.
Given the power of the explosion and the time of night, it is remarkable that there were not more serious injuries suffered especially since a tramcar had just passed McCullough’s shop when the bomb went off.
Mr McCullough is well known in political circles. He has been active in the national movement for a number of years and was imprisoned on numerous occasions. He is a former Sinn Féin member of Belfast Corporation, but was forced to leave the city during the recent unrest there. On arrival in Dublin, he opened a music shop at the junction of Exchange and Parliament Streets, but later moved to Dawson Street. Mr McCullough is a strong supporter of the current government; he is a brother-in-law of General Richard Mulcahy; Seán T.O’Kelly; and the ex-Wexford TD, James Ryan – his wife being a sister of Mrs Mulcahy, Mrs O’Kelly and Dr Ryan.
Another strong supporter of the Free State government is the TD for Cavan, Walter Cole, whose home, an old Georgian mansion at 3 Mountjoy Square, was also targeted last night. Raiders entered the house with tins of petrol and, while two gunmen kept Mr Cole and the other occupants of the house in the study, others set fire to two upstairs bedrooms before doing the same to the dining room. The fire brigade was quick to the scene and the fire was extinguished, but damage of about £250 was done.
In the pre-truce days, Mr Cole’s home was used as a venue for secret meetings of Dáil Éireann.
[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.]
