Rory O’Connor (1883-1922) was an Irish republican nationalist who fought in the War of Independence (1919-1921) and the Irish Civil War (1922/1924). Considered an Irish martyr by the republican movement, he was executed in 1922 for his stand against the Treaty of London of December 1921.
Rory O’Connor was born in Dublin in 1883, into a well-to-do family. At the age of 20, he found work as a railway engineer in Canada, returning to Ireland in the 1910s. As soon as he arrives, O’Connor is embroiled in a political whirlwind that fascinates him.
A fervent supporter of the nationalist struggle, he took part in the Easter Rising of 1916, and like many of the movement’s great leaders was imprisoned in Dublin Prison. On his release, Rory O’Connor was appointed Director of Engineering for the IRA. (Irish Republican Army), coordinating all the military and technical resources needed to win the War of Independence (1919-1921).
When the Treaty of London was signed (December 21, 1921), Rory O’Connor took a firm stand against it. On March 26, 1922, the anti-treaty I.R.A., of which O’Connor was a member, voted to officially disavow the Treaty.
In April 1922, Rory O’Connor and over 200 men stormed the Four Courts and began a showdown with the new Irish government. Michael Collins, then commander-in-chief of the national army, attempts to negotiate with the anti-treatyists, to no avail… He is then ordered to bomb the building…
O’Connor surrendered 2 days after the first bombardment, and was incarcerated in Mountjoy prison…
The Irish Civil War (1922/1924) broke out, and fighting increased throughout Ireland. Rory O’Connor is still imprisoned, and is finally sentenced to firing squad, in response to the assassination of a member of the Irish Free State Parliament (Sean Hales). He was finally shot as a martyr on December 8, 1922, along with 3 other anti-treaty Republicans including Liam Mellows, Richard Barrett and Joe McKelvey.
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