On the 29th of November 1919 John Barton was shot dead in Dublin on the orders of Michael Collins. Though he had only recently transferred to G Division of the Dublin Metropolitan Police Barton had found an arms dump belonging to the Irish Republican Army and was investigating the shooting of another officer. It’s possible that with pressure mounting on him following the suppression of Dáil Éireann Collins had Barton shot by the Squad before he could become a serious threat.

A hero to some whose death shocked the capital city, a villain to others for identifying prominent rebels after the 1916 Rising, Barton’s death marked the end of the opening phase of the Intelligence War.

*Please note the wrong dates are given in this episode, Barton was shot on the 29th of November, not the 30th as stated*

References:

T. Ryle Dwyer - “The Squad”

Richard Abbott - “Police Casualties in Ireland 1919-1922”

Padraig Yeates/History Ireland - https://www.historyireland.com/volume-24/issue-5-septemberoctober-2016/features-issue-5-septemberoctober-2016/oh-god-deserve/

Social Media:

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

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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