The Siege of the Four Courts

national | history and heritage | event notice Tuesday March 18, 2014 21:24 by Stoneybatter & Smithfield People's History Project d7peopleshistory at gmail dot com

Our next public talk takes place on Saturday 29th March at 4.30pm in The Cobblestone, Smithfield.

This month's topic is The Siege of the Four Courts with guest speaker Liz Gillis, author of the Fall of Dublin, the story of the attack on the Four Courts.

The Siege of the Four Courts

On 28th June 1922 artillery shells rained down on the Four Courts, which had been occupied by the IRA for over two months in opposition to the Treaty and marking the commencement of the Civil War.

During the battle some key buildings around the Smithfield area such as St. Michan's Church and the Jameson Distillery were occupied by snipers from the Free State army.

The fighting around Dublin went on for one week with considerable loss of life. Liz has written the definitive account of the battle for Dublin and this promises to be a fascinating talk.

Copies of Liz's book 'The Fall of Dublin' will be available for sale at the meeting.

You can join and share the event on and a copy of the poster advertising the meeting is attached. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/655079181225206/

For those who missed our February talk, 'The King Killers of Pill Lane', you can access a recording of the meeting on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/StoneybatterSmithfieldPeoplesH...oject

We hope you can make it along on the 29th.

Regards,

Stoneybatter & Smithfield People's History Project.

About the speaker:
Liz Gillis is from the Liberties in Dublin City and currently works as a Tour Guide/Information Officer in Kilmainham Gaol. She has a Degree in Irish History. She has previously worked as a Local History Researcher for the St. Nicholas of Myra Heritage Centre.

Her area of interest is the Irish Revolutionary period 1913-24 and she has written three books about the period, ‘Ireland Over All’, about the life of Seán Treacy, ‘The Fall of Dublin’, which looks at the outbreak of the Irish Civil War in Dublin in 1922 and most recently ‘Revolution in Dublin 1913-1923’, a photographic study of the Irish Revolution in Dublin.

She is currently working on her next two books, “Women of the Revolution’, a photographic study of the women who took part in the Irish Revolution, which will be published later this year and ‘The Hales Brothers and the Irish Revolution’, due for release in 2015/2016.

She has also worked as a researcher on numerous publications covering the period including Paul O’Brien’s ‘Blood on the Streets’, “Uncommon Valour’ and ‘Shootout’ and Martin O’Dwyer’s ‘Seventy-Seven of Mine Said Ireland’ and ‘Death Before Dishonour’. She has also organised a conference on the Burning of the Custom House in 1921 and has taken part in numerous conferences and lectures on the period.