IRA wipe out 'G' Division

BY SEÁN MacAODH

Throughout the summer of 1919, amid cries of outrage and denunciation from the clergy, the IRA began executing detectives of the `G' division of the Dublin Metropolitian police (DMP).

The greatest threat to the safety of IRA Volunteers, during the early days of the Tan War, came from the political detective branch, the `G' Division of the DMP. The `G' men, as they became known, had been engaged in political work for years, spying on IRA Volunteers and identifying leaders of the Army. Their chief function, however, was to guide military raiding-parties to the homes of members of the Republican Movement, in particular members of Sinn Féin.

Warnings from the Irish Republican Army to cease their activities were ignored and in July 1919, Michael Collins, the then Director of Intelligence, formed an active service unit, comprising of twelve of the most skilled Volunteers from the Dublin Brigade of the IRA. These men became known as the `Twelve Apostles'. Towards the end of July, and after a period of intense intelligence gathering by the IRA, the systematic execution of the detectives of the `G; division began.

One `G' man, Det. Constable Dan Hoey, was particularly active in apprehending IRA leaders. Hoey, a tall, elderly grim faced man had identified Seán McDermott in 1916. As the rebel prisoners were lined up and marched towards the North Wall to be interned in England, McDermott was recognised by Hoey as being one of the leaders of the rising. Hoey had him dragged from the lines. He was taken away to face a British Courts Martial and was subsequently executed. Had it not been for Hoey, McDermott would have been interned with the other prisoners.

Undeterred by the execution of his colleagues, Hoey persisted with his activities against the IRA. In August 1919, he led a raiding party of British military on the Mansion House, during which Collins narrowly avoided capture by scaling a rope ladder and escaping through a skylight.

A month later, Collins and Harry Boland had another narrow escape when a British Army raiding party assisted by the police, led by Hoey, raided the Sinn Féin headquarters in Harcourt Street.

The following day, on 13 September 1919, on the order of Collins, Detective Dan Hoey was shot dead outside the Dublin Metropolitian Police Headquarters on Brunswick Street, known today as Pearse Street.

Following the execution of Hoey and his colleagues in the `G' Division, other `G' men, finding it impossible to stay at their homes, moved into the relative safety of Dublin Castle. Many of them resigned, while others transferred to `other duties'.

The detectives of the `G' Division no longer posed a threat to the IRA.

It was 82 years ago this month that the `G' Division of the Dublin Metropolitian Police, the predecessors of the present day Garda Special Branch, felt the wrath of the Irish Republican Army.