25-596: Timothy Coughlan (1906-1928) was a volunteer in the Irish Republican Army , mainly known for his part in assassinating Kevin O'Higgins in 1927 and for the controversy surrounding the circumstances of his death in 1928. The second-eldest in a family of nine, Coughlan lived with his parents in the family home in Inchicore , Dublin . While only in his teens during the Irish War of Independence , he took up arms against
50-490: A "rank and file" member, similar to a private , or to a member that is not a senior officer such as Chief of Staff or Quartermaster General . Joe McCann , an Official IRA member killed in 1972, was referred to in commemorations as a "Staff Captain" but also as a "Volunteer". On the other hand, Joe Cahill , the commander of the Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade in 1971, said in a press conference after
75-501: A location overlooking his house, before he arrived. Whatever the truth of the matter, in the wake of this affair Harling - feeling in danger of his life - asked and got the help of the Irish Free State in departing for America . He later returned to Ireland and joined the civil service. Volunteer (Irish republican) A volunteer is a member of various Irish republican paramilitary organisations. Among these have been
100-566: A secret "vengeance grouping". The three vowed that once free of imprisonment they would take revenge on their opponents, whom they considered traitors to the Irish cause. Most such private revenge pacts were broken up by the IRA leadership when it was reorganised following 1924, but Coughlan and his two fellow conspirators persisted and carried through their deadly aim. On 10 July 1927, the three surprised Justice Minister Kevin O'Higgins on his way to Mass at
125-622: A title for members of the Volunteers and IRA during that period. The County Antrim Memorial in Milltown Cemetery in Belfast lists IRA members who died at various times between 1916 and the period of the Troubles in the late 20th century. "Volunteer" is used for those members who were not officers. The term volunteer can refer to any member of an Irish republican paramilitary organisation, to
150-678: The Black and Tans and later against the Free State forces in the Irish Civil War . As a known member of the Dublin Brigade of the IRA, he was interned by the "Free Staters" during the Civil War, but if anything became even more active and determined to continue the fighting though his side had lost the war. Together with two fellow detainees - Archie Doyle and Bill Gannon - he took part in forming
175-559: The Home Rule Crisis . The Volunteers took part in the 1916 Easter Rising and—as the Irish Republican Army (IRA)—in the Irish War of Independence . The title "Volunteer" or "Vol." was used for members of the Volunteers who were involved in the 1916 Rising, and in the War of Independence. A number of witness statements given to the Bureau of Military History make frequent use of "Volunteer" as
200-657: The Irish Army in Islandbridge Barracks with the rank of Commandant, and was attached to the Dublin Guard . He was involved in the seaborne assault on Fenit and spent the remainder of the war serving as a military intelligence officer operating between Ballymullen Barracks , Tralee & Killarney . He has been accused of involvement in several atrocities including the Ballyseedy massacre and has been referred to as
225-613: The Irish Free State . In 1921 Collins ordered Neligan to let himself be recruited into MI5 and he used the opportunity to memorise their passwords and the identities of their agents. All of this was passed on to Collins. After Broy and McNamara were dismissed in 1921, Neligan became Collins' most important mole inside Dublin Castle . On the outbreak of the Civil War in June 1922, Neligan joined
250-408: The Irish War of Independence (1919–21) and subsequently became Director of Intelligence for the Irish Army after the Irish Civil War (1922–23). David Neligan was born 14 October 1899 at Templeglantine , Limerick where his parents, David and Elizabeth Neligan (née Mullan), were primary school teachers. He was an accomplished hurler with his local Templeglantine GAA Club. In 1917 Neligan joined
275-511: The "Butcher of Kerry". However, Ernie O'Malley expressed doubts as to the evidence of this. In 1923 Neligan was posted to Dublin, where he was promoted to Colonel and succeeded Diarmuid O'Hegarty as the Irish Army's Director of Intelligence . In 1924 Neligan handed over his post to the youthful Colonel Michael Joe Costello and took command of the DMP (which still continued as a force separate from
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#1732859346386300-563: The Booterstown Avenue side of Cross Avenue in Blackrock , County Dublin and shot him down. (By one version, as he lay dying O'Higgins declared his forgiveness of his killers.) O'Higgins was especially hated by IRA members for having ordered the executions of seventy-seven of their fellows during the Civil War, an act for which he outspokenly took responsibility and refused to express any remorse. On 8 December 1922 O'Higgins signed off on
325-559: The IRA man died as a result of being shot in the back of his head". Also, the doctor found a cigarette butt in his mouth, which again indicated he had been caught unaware and killed, and tenants on Dartry Road testified that there had been unusual police activity that evening and that they heard more shots than mentioned in Harling's account. The Dublin IRA Brigade admitted that it did intend to murder Harling, who had betrayed IRA weapons dumps to
350-491: The IRA. Along with Detectives Eamon Broy and James McNamara, Neligan acted as a highly valuable agent for Collins and passed on reams of vital information. Neligan leaked documents about the relative importance of police and military personnel and also warned insurgents of upcoming raids and ambushes. Unconfirmed rumors were that Neligan might have been a double agent working for British interests, can now be dismissed as smear campaign owing to his subsequent service on behalf of
375-532: The government and who - using his former Republican credentials - was agitating among IRA supporters and calling for "a change in the IRA leadership", allegedly on orders from his government "controller" David Neligan . However, the IRA claimed that Coughlan and Doyle had been engaged in preliminary surveillance only, and had no intention to attack Harling that evening. This is supported by the fact that, even according to Harling's version, they did not open fire until he noticed them - even though they were in place, at
400-580: The intention of doing the Limerick IRA. Shortly afterward his brother Maurice was killed in a motorcycle accident, near their home in Templeglantine. In the meantime, Neligan also received word from a family friend that Michael Collins wished to meet with him in Dublin . Collins had been outraged that Neligan had been allowed to resign and persuaded Neligan to rejoin the DMP as a mole for the intelligence wing of
425-598: The introduction of internment that year, that British forces had only succeeded in arresting two officers of the Provisional IRA . "The rest are volunteers, or as they say in the British Army , privates". The 'v' in "volunteer" may or may not be capitalized. Most modern IRA memorials refer to the dead only as "Volunteer", "Vol." or " Óglach " rather than giving a specific rank. The grave of Martin McGuinness , who
450-534: The military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists - the Irish Volunteers . Against his father's wishes, Neligan joined the Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP) - also in 1917. Picking up travel documentation from the local Royal Irish Constabulary barracks he declined a suggestion that he enlist in this armed rural force. After service as a uniformed constable with the DMP, Neligan
475-452: The newly established Garda Síochána ) with the rank of Chief Superintendent. The next year he transferred to the Garda when the two police forces were amalgamated, and was instrumental in the foundation of Garda Special Branch . When Éamon de Valera became head of government in 1932, his Republican followers demanded Neligan's dismissal. Instead, Neligan was transferred to an equivalent post in
500-467: The retaliatory executions of four senior republicans ( Liam Mellows , Richard Barrett , Joe McKelvey and Rory O'Connor ) for the killing of a member of Dáil Éireann . Moreover, he was a dominant member of the Free State government and the conspirators had good reasons to believe that his death would weaken it. Coughlan and his companions managed to escape after assassinating Kevin O'Higgins. However, he
525-421: The street. His version was accepted by the tribunal which looked into the case, and he was not charged. However, the IRA claimed at the time - and many Irish nationalists continue to claim up to the present - that Coughlan was in fact ambushed and in effect extrajudicially executed. This version is especially supported by the autopsy carried out by Dr. Wilfred Lane which "amongst other anomalies, discovered that
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#1732859346386550-705: The various forms of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA), and the Irish People's Liberation Organization (IPLO). Óglach is the equivalent title in the Irish language . The Irish Volunteers were formed in 1913, in reaction to the formation of the Ulster Volunteer Force earlier that year, to protect the interests of Irish nationalists during
575-542: Was adjutant (second in command) of the Derry Brigade of the IRA in the early 1970s and who subsequently became deputy First Minister in the Northern Ireland Executive , a post he held until just before his death in 2017, calls him " Óglach Martin McGuinness". David Neligan David Neligan (14 October 1899 – 1983), known by his soubriquet "The Spy in the Castle", was a crucial figure involved in
600-620: Was killed six months later, on the evening of 28 January 1928, in circumstances which remain controversial up to the present. On that day he and another IRA volunteer, who may have been Archie Doyle , were on Dublin 's Dartry Road , opposite 'Woodpark Lodge', at the time the home of Seán Harling - a former IRA member who was an undercover police agent. Harling later claimed that upon his arrival home, he noticed Coughlan and Doyle, that one of them shot at him, that he pulled his gun while running and shot back in self-defence, and that later he went out to investigate and found Coughlan's body lying in
625-462: Was promoted to Detective and transferred into the Department's widely hated counterintelligence and anti-political-subversion unit, the G Division , in 1919. In May 1920 Neligan's elder brother Maurice (1895–1920), an Irish Republican Army (IRA) member and friend of Michael Collins , persuaded him to resign from the DMP. After his resignation, Neligan returned to his native County Limerick with
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