Rory O'Connor (28 November 1883 – 8 December 1922) was Director of Engineering of the Irish Republican Army from 1919 to 1921 during the Irish War of Independence. O'Connor was the commander of the men who took over the Four Courts building in Dublin at the start of the Irish Civil War in 1922, and he was executed for his act of treason.
Biography[]
O'Connor in 1922
Rory O'Connor was born in Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland on 28 November 1883, and he studied to become an engineer at University College Dublin. O'Connor took part in the failed 1916 Easter Rising, and he would serve as Director of Engineering of the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence. O'Connor was one of the men who was trained by Michael Collins, and he took part in Collins' guerrilla campaign in Dublin. After the IRA signed a peace treaty with the United Kingdom in 1921, O'Connor rejected the treaty, believing that the war was not over until Northern Ireland was also freed from British rule. On 14 April 1922, O'Connor and 200 IRA volunteers took over the Four Courts building in central Dublin, where they were besieged by Michael Collins' military. On 5 July, 4,000 Irish troops stormed the Four Courts building and ended the siege, and O'Connor was captured. On 8 December 1922, he was executed by firing squad alongside several other IRA leaders.