A contribution to The Irish Story, published 27th June 2016.
In most accounts of the events leading to the foundation of the Irish Free State, Rory O’Connor remains best known for his controversial leadership of the anti-Treaty IRA faction in 1922, at the outset of what became known as the Irish Civil War.
O’Connor’s tenure as IRA leader is often defined by a flippant – and likely inaccurate – remark at a press conference in which he seemed to suggest the IRA may seriously consider a military dictatorship in opposition to the then-new Free State government.