Following a less than stellar performance as Commander-in-Chief of the BEF during the First World War, John French was selected for the role of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1918. It was considered that the previous Chief Secretary had been too soft on the Irish republican movement and French was given considerable power to go after them. This he did, suppressing Dáil Éireann and outlawing Sinn Féin.

From October of 1919 numerous attempts were made to kill him, both for the propaganda value of killing the King’s representative and the shock this would have sent through the British establishment. The Ashtown Ambush in December would be the IRA’s most daring operation yet.

References:

Peter Hart - “Mick; the Real Michael Collins”

T. Ryle Dwyer - “The Squad”

John Joe Ambrose - “Seán Treacy”

Dan Breen - “My Fight for Irish Freedom”

Social Media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/theirishnation

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheIrishNationLives/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theirishnationlives/

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/theirishnationlives

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-irish-nation-lives

Main Sources:

Military Archives - http://www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie

Century Ireland - https://www.rte.ie/centuryireland

Diarmuid Lynch, Irish Revolutionary - http://diarmuidlynch.weebly.com/

Atlas of the Irish Revolution

Maurice Walsh - “Bitter Freedom”

Charles Townshend - "The Republic"

Michael Hopkinson - ”The Irish War of Independence”

Diarmuid Ferriter - “A Nation and not a Rabble”

Photos:

Military Archives

NLI Flickr account

Wiki Commons