Custom House Burning - Part 1 / John Wilson

[Ms. Smokestoomuch]

There's access to some clips of film from various historical events. Very short, but the the customs house is one.
http://www.askaboutireland.ie/reading-room/history-heritage/history-of-ireland/a-history-of-ireland-feat/revolution-partition-and-/

[tommobecket]

Aplologies for being apparantly absent but I have been following these incredible links with great interest. I've been trying to follow up many of the helpful suggestions ... which is a hellaluja lot of reading ... and following up suggested links, and so I've also taken the liberty of starting a new posting (Marino House, 1916 Commemorative Booklet) which I would like to direct fellow forum member to and which I hope will be of interest, particularly to those following this and other related postings ... (Four Courts, Littles, The Squad etc). Its a large amount of text and I was worried about diverting attention from this topic. So, apologies if I am being presumptious in doing this, but I hope there is some connectivity and relevance to the subject we are exploring.

Denis

[seanod]

Welcome back, Denis. I have been a bit busy myself lately but I will certainly check out the new thread. 

[Gary Deering]

Hi Seanod did you have any luck finding the pictures of the custom house?.

[seanod]

Not yet, Gary. Sorry! I'll be in my brother-in-law's house tomorrow. 

[seanod]

Hi Gary, Sorry about this. There is a picture of the Custom House prisoners in the book but it's not the one I'm thinking of and I doubt that anyone would be able to spot an individual from it, especially not a grainy version in an old newspaper. I really can't remember where I have seen the other one with three prisoners in close-up. Leave it with me and I'll try and remember. All the best, Seán.

[seanod]

This message is for Gary. This thread seems to have come to the end of its active life, unfortunately, so I don't know if you are still following it. I finally came across the book which contains that picture. It is by Mercier Press and here are the details of the Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Dublins-Fighting-Story-Told-Stories/dp/1856356434/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257677257&sr=1-1
That's for the US Amazon. The picture shows a few men with their hands up under the girders of the Loop Line Bridge, with an Auxiliary in the foreground. Three of the men have their faces clearly visible, and the other two are in shadow. Obviously I can't guarantee that any of them is Jack Wilson! Strangely, the Amazon site suggests that the book isn't available yet, which is strange because it's been available in the Dublin shops since I bought it in September.
In a last-ditch attempt to get the thread started again, does anyone have any information on two Gaffneys who died in the early twenties? One of them, John Gaffney, was executed by firing squad in 1922 in the crackdown by the Free State authorities for possession of a gun. The other, Jeremiah Gaffney (I think his official name might have been George) was hanged in 1924 for a murder committed somewhere in Munster but I don't know if he was a Republican infiltrator in the Free State Army, or a Free Stater who exceeded his mandate or if the murder was non-political. I don't know whether there was any connection between John and George/Jeremiah either. Any Gaffneys out there?

[Ms. Smokestoomuch]

You may have already tried, but the Dail Debates of the time touch on many a killing.
It's a bit of a nightmare to go through though. The search doesn't pull in much.
If you have an idea of the time of year it was, it mightn't be so bad.
Here's the link
http://www.oireachtas-debates.gov.ie/en.toc.dail.html

[seanod]

I forgot to say there that George/Jeremiah Gaffney was at the Custom House.