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The Creation of the Irish Free State and the Mountjoy
had been kidnapped and killed by clandestine supporters of the government. The coroner said his body bore signs of torture that would ‘shame the most primitive savage’.16
All this must have been in McPeake’s mind; heightened by the knowledge that prosecuting counsel in his case was attended by a bevy of army officers who suspected him of involvement in the death of their old commander in chief. Collins had suffered a gaping wound to his head, which could have been caused by a handgun fired at close range. The army officers asked defence counsel: ‘What about his revolver?’
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Counsel went back down to the cells and relayed this to his client. McPeake agreed revolvers were standard issue, ‘But I had no revolver.’ This explanation was relayed to the army officers but did not satisfy them. Comyn went back down to the cells for another conference and advised McPeake that he might be acquitted but ‘killed before nightfall’. Michael Comyn advised McPeake that prison was the safest option and he came up from the cells before Chief Justice Molony and pleaded guilty. The sentence was six years and McPeake went to prison.17
Over the preceding twelve months the government had delegated the suppression of the anti-Treaty faction to the National Army. The army brought in military courts to bring about the executions of people found in arms. Nearly 1,200 men were tried by the military courts and committees, and of these over 400 were sentenced to death. Eighty-three prisoners were shot by firing squad during the civil war.18 Over 125 more were killed in the custody of the state: kidnapped and shot; shot after surrender; shot under interrogation; or tied to landmines and blown up. These men were killed because they were anti-Treaty fighters or because they were suspected of involvement or just being in sympathy. McPeake only narrowly avoided their fate.
During the civil war, the rule of law had just fallen by the wayside. To understand how it all came about it is necessary to wind the clock back twelve months.
