The Twelve Apostles were an Irish brigade founded by Michael Collins in July 1919. More precisely, it’s an Irish Republican Army unit tasked with assassinating agents or informers linked to British intelligence. This squad brought terror to the British during the Irish War of Independence. This unit relentlessly hunted down its enemies, assassinating numerous high-ranking officials of the British Empire.
Michael Collinns harangues the crowd
January 1919. Ireland is in the grip of an increasingly poisonous conflict between the Irish and the British. Irish nationalists, galvanized by the Easter Rising of 1916, were desperate for a free and autonomous Republic of Ireland, free from the English yoke.
In Dublin, the Dáil Eirean, Ireland’s political assembly, confirmed this wish and declared that it no longer recognized the authority of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), a police militia under British rule.
The RIC is well known for its repression of Irish republicans. These actions were deemed intolerable and provoked the anger of Sinn Féin, the Irish nationalist republican party.
For Michael Collins, then Minister of Finance, leader of the Easter Rising, and of the Irish Republican Brotherhood militia, it was time for action. In July 1919, with the help of Dick McKee, he decided to create a special unit to carry out the dirty work of the Irish Republican Army: the Twelve Apostles.
This militia is designed to instill fear, and to commit assassinations of the utmost violence. A way of intimidating the British and forcing their departure.
The Twelve Apostles squad originally comprised 9 members:
From then on, many assassinations were ordered. On July 30, 1919, Sergeant Smith was shot dead in the northern Drumcondra district in the heart of Dublin.
More murders followed, targeting G Division of Dublin’s Metropolitan Police. Civilians are also shot for their complicity with the intelligence services as informers.
From then on, the Twelve Apostles recruited en masse. They need more men to continue their dirty work. They are joined by :
There must have been other members within the organization. But there are few documents to shed light on the unit’s full composition.
The Cairo gang
In 1920, the Twelve Apostles were asked to take on the“Cairo Gang“, a group of 18 officers belonging to the British secret service. This gang was specially sent to Ireland by London, to infiltrate Irish nationalist organizations.
The Cairo Gang’s mission was to shoot Sinn Féin members, in order to force the IRA to react and expose itself.
Aware of this strategy, the Twelve Apostles organized one of their most famous operations on November 21, 1920. That day, they shot dead 12 agents of the Cairo Gang in various parts of Dublin. A successful operation, which provoked anger in London.
In retaliation, the British government ordered a commando operation. The Black and Tans, a notoriously violent British militia, arrive at Dublin’s Croke Park stadium in the middle of a Gaelic soccer match.
They then fired indiscriminately into the crowd, killing 14 innocent Irishmen and injuring 68 others. This dramatic event was commemorated as the first “Bloody Sunday” (the second took place in Derry in January 1972). An act that left an indelible mark on Irish society.
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