Archie Doyle
Encyclopedia
Archie Doyle was one of three anti-Treaty members of the IRA who on July 10, 1927 assassinated the Irish Justice Minister Kevin O'Higgins
. He had had a long subsequent career in the organisation's ranks.
Doyle fought in the Irish War of Independence
and took the anti-treaty side in the Irish Civil War
, and was subsequently interned among numerous others. Together with two fellow-detainees - Timothy Coughlin
and Bill Gannon
- he took part in forming a secret "vengeance grouping". The three vowed that once free of imprisonment they would take revenge on their opponents, whom they considered traitors to the Irish cause.
Most such private revenge pacts were broken up by the IRA leadership when it reorganised following 1924, but Doyle and his two fellow conspirators persisted and carried through their deadly aim. On July 10, 1927, the three surprised O'Higgins
on his way to Mass
at the Booterstown Avenue side of Cross Avenue in Blackrock, County Dublin
and shot him down. (By one version, as he lay dying O'Higgins begged forgiveness from his killers.)
O'Higgins was especially hated by IRA members for having ordered the executions of seventy-seven of their fellows during the Civil War, an act for which he outspokenly took responsibility and refused to express any remorse. Moreover, he was a dominant member of the Free State government and the conspirators had good reasons to believe that his death would weaken it.
The three made their escape and were not apprehended. However, Timothy Coughlin was shot to death by police informer Sean Harling on the night of January 28, 1928, on Dublin's Dartry Road, under circumstances which remain controversial up to the present. A second IRA man is known to have been with Coughlin that night, in surveillance of Harling's home, and to have escaped unharmed. It is believed that Doyle was that second man, though this point - as many other details of this still rather mysterious affair - remains not quite certain.
Doyle (as well as Gannon who died in 1965) was among the beneficiaries of the amnesty issued by Éamon de Valera
when he came to power in 1932, under which numerous IRA men were released from prison and the charges against others dropped. In later times Doyle openly admitted his part in the killing of O'Higgins, and indeed took pride in it, without fear of prosecution.
With the end of the IRA's alliance with de Valera and the increasing confrontation between them, Doyle - now a veteran highly respected in the IRA circles - became deeply involved in the organization's 1940s campaigns. "Harry", the memoirs of IRA man Harry White, make repeated admiring references to "Archie Doyle of Dublin, the Tan War veteran who had fought through it all".
During the IRA's Northern Campaign
, Doyle is mentioned by White as having participated in the abortive raid on the British
barracks at Crossmaglen
, County Armagh
, on September 2, 1942, in retaliation for the execution of Tom Williams
earlier that morning. The IRA unit - some twenty men in a commandeered lorry and accompanying car - was discovered by a passing RUC
patrol near the village of Cullaville
. Doyle is mentioned in White's memoirs as having "jumped out of the car, Thompson
in hand, and started shooting at the RUC". (Since the element of surprise was lost, the attack on the barracks had to be cancelled.)
A week later, on September 9, White mentions Archie Doyle as having commanded the assassination of Sergeant Dennis O'Brien
, Irish Special Branch
detective and himself a former IRA man, near Dublin. It was a highly controversial affair, opposed by the IRA GHQ in Belfast
as damaging to the Northern Campaign, and precipitating a massive manhunt by the Irish police. It was IRA Chief of Staff Charlie Kerins
who was two years later caught, charged with the O'Brien assassination and eventually executed for it. White, however, claims that it was Doyle who actually commanded that action, on Kerins's orders. (Doyle, who openly spoke of his part in killing O'Higgins, seemed far more reticent about this part of his career).
On July 1, 1943 Doyle is mentioned as having participated, together with Kerins and with Jackie Griffith - both of them much younger men, who were only born when Doyle was already a full-fledged fighter against the British - in an operation of "fund-raising" for the hard-pressed IRA (i.e., robbery). The three men arrived on bikes at the gates of Player Wills factory on the South Circular Road, Dublin
, and with scarves around their faces stopped at gunpoint a van loaded with some £5,000 for wages, and drove away with the van and the money (see http://www.cgrp.info/ck.htm).
Griffith was shot down by the police in Dublin less than a week later, in what was charged to be an extrajudicial assassination, and Kerins - as mentioned - was caught in 1944 and executed, becoming a major IRA martyr. Doyle, however, continually survived decades of a very dangerous way of life and managed to die of old age. He died in St. Jame's Hospital in 1980.
In April 1987, the Irish Nationalist "New Hibernia" magazine noted: "(...)Joe McGrath
and Jack O'Sheehan are dead; Archie Doyle went - though not before telling us how they had shot Kevin O' Higgins" (see http://www.voidstar.com/ukpoliblog/index.php/fid/602).
In jokes and "tall tales" still circulating on Irish websites, Doyle is depicted as a daring "bank robber for the Cause", a kind of modern Robin Hood
.
Kevin O'Higgins
Kevin Christopher O'Higgins was an Irish politician who served as Vice-President of the Executive Council and Minister for Justice. He was part of early nationalist Sinn Féin, before going on to become a prominent member of Cumann na nGaedheal. O'Higgins initiated the An Garda Síochána police force...
. He had had a long subsequent career in the organisation's ranks.
Doyle fought in the Irish War of Independence
Irish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence , Anglo-Irish War, Black and Tan War, or Tan War was a guerrilla war mounted by the Irish Republican Army against the British government and its forces in Ireland. It began in January 1919, following the Irish Republic's declaration of independence. Both sides agreed...
and took the anti-treaty side in the Irish Civil War
Irish Civil War
The Irish Civil War was a conflict that accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State as an entity independent from the United Kingdom within the British Empire....
, and was subsequently interned among numerous others. Together with two fellow-detainees - Timothy Coughlin
Timothy Coughlin
Timothy Coughlin was a volunteer in the Irish Republican Army, mainly known for his part in assassinating Kevin O'Higgins in 1927 and for the controversy surrounding the circumstances of his death in 1928....
and Bill Gannon
Bill Gannon (Irish Republican)
Bill Gannon was a well-known militant of the Irish Republican Army and later a leading member of the Communist Party of Ireland.- IRA career and the O'Higgins Assassination :Gannon had fought in the Irish War of Independence...
- he took part in forming a secret "vengeance grouping". The three vowed that once free of imprisonment they would take revenge on their opponents, whom they considered traitors to the Irish cause.
Most such private revenge pacts were broken up by the IRA leadership when it reorganised following 1924, but Doyle and his two fellow conspirators persisted and carried through their deadly aim. On July 10, 1927, the three surprised O'Higgins
Kevin O'Higgins
Kevin Christopher O'Higgins was an Irish politician who served as Vice-President of the Executive Council and Minister for Justice. He was part of early nationalist Sinn Féin, before going on to become a prominent member of Cumann na nGaedheal. O'Higgins initiated the An Garda Síochána police force...
on his way to Mass
Mass
Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...
at the Booterstown Avenue side of Cross Avenue in Blackrock, County Dublin
County Dublin
County Dublin is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Dublin Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Dublin which is the capital of Ireland. County Dublin was one of the first of the parts of Ireland to be shired by King John of England following the...
and shot him down. (By one version, as he lay dying O'Higgins begged forgiveness from his killers.)
O'Higgins was especially hated by IRA members for having ordered the executions of seventy-seven of their fellows during the Civil War, an act for which he outspokenly took responsibility and refused to express any remorse. Moreover, he was a dominant member of the Free State government and the conspirators had good reasons to believe that his death would weaken it.
The three made their escape and were not apprehended. However, Timothy Coughlin was shot to death by police informer Sean Harling on the night of January 28, 1928, on Dublin's Dartry Road, under circumstances which remain controversial up to the present. A second IRA man is known to have been with Coughlin that night, in surveillance of Harling's home, and to have escaped unharmed. It is believed that Doyle was that second man, though this point - as many other details of this still rather mysterious affair - remains not quite certain.
Doyle (as well as Gannon who died in 1965) was among the beneficiaries of the amnesty issued by Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera was one of the dominant political figures in twentieth century Ireland, serving as head of government of the Irish Free State and head of government and head of state of Ireland...
when he came to power in 1932, under which numerous IRA men were released from prison and the charges against others dropped. In later times Doyle openly admitted his part in the killing of O'Higgins, and indeed took pride in it, without fear of prosecution.
With the end of the IRA's alliance with de Valera and the increasing confrontation between them, Doyle - now a veteran highly respected in the IRA circles - became deeply involved in the organization's 1940s campaigns. "Harry", the memoirs of IRA man Harry White, make repeated admiring references to "Archie Doyle of Dublin, the Tan War veteran who had fought through it all".
During the IRA's Northern Campaign
Northern Campaign (IRA)
Northern Campaign is a term used to describe attacks involving volunteers of the Irish Republican Army during the Second World War between September 1942 and December 1944. It was a plan conceived by the then IRA Northern Command to launch attacks within Northern Ireland during this period...
, Doyle is mentioned by White as having participated in the abortive raid on the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
barracks at Crossmaglen
Crossmaglen
Crossmaglen or Crosmaglen is a village and townland in south County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 1,459 people in the 2001 Census and is the largest village in south Armagh...
, County Armagh
County Armagh
-History:Ancient Armagh was the territory of the Ulaid before the fourth century AD. It was ruled by the Red Branch, whose capital was Emain Macha near Armagh. The site, and subsequently the city, were named after the goddess Macha...
, on September 2, 1942, in retaliation for the execution of Tom Williams
Tom Williams (republican)
Thomas Joseph Williams, more commonly known as Tom Williams, was a volunteer in C Company, 2nd Battalion of the Belfast Brigade in the Irish Republican Army from the Bombay Street area of Belfast, Northern Ireland...
earlier that morning. The IRA unit - some twenty men in a commandeered lorry and accompanying car - was discovered by a passing RUC
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary was the name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2000. Following the awarding of the George Cross in 2000, it was subsequently known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC. It was founded on 1 June 1922 out of the Royal Irish Constabulary...
patrol near the village of Cullaville
Cullaville
Cullaville or Culloville is a small village and townland near Crossmaglen in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is the southernmost settlement in the county and one of the southernmost in Northern Ireland, straddling the Irish border. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 400 people...
. Doyle is mentioned in White's memoirs as having "jumped out of the car, Thompson
Thompson submachine gun
The Thompson is an American submachine gun, invented by John T. Thompson in 1919, that became infamous during the Prohibition era. It was a common sight in the media of the time, being used by both law enforcement officers and criminals...
in hand, and started shooting at the RUC". (Since the element of surprise was lost, the attack on the barracks had to be cancelled.)
A week later, on September 9, White mentions Archie Doyle as having commanded the assassination of Sergeant Dennis O'Brien
Dennis O'Brien (policeman)
Dennis O'Brien , often called "Dinny O’Brien", was a veteran of the Easter Rising, the Irish War of Independence, and the Irish Civil War...
, Irish Special Branch
Special Branch
Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security in British and Commonwealth police forces, as well as in the Royal Thai Police...
detective and himself a former IRA man, near Dublin. It was a highly controversial affair, opposed by the IRA GHQ in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
as damaging to the Northern Campaign, and precipitating a massive manhunt by the Irish police. It was IRA Chief of Staff Charlie Kerins
Charlie Kerins
Charlie Kerins was a prominent Irish Republican, who following his killing of policeman Dennis O'Brien, was named the Chief of Staff of the IRA...
who was two years later caught, charged with the O'Brien assassination and eventually executed for it. White, however, claims that it was Doyle who actually commanded that action, on Kerins's orders. (Doyle, who openly spoke of his part in killing O'Higgins, seemed far more reticent about this part of his career).
On July 1, 1943 Doyle is mentioned as having participated, together with Kerins and with Jackie Griffith - both of them much younger men, who were only born when Doyle was already a full-fledged fighter against the British - in an operation of "fund-raising" for the hard-pressed IRA (i.e., robbery). The three men arrived on bikes at the gates of Player Wills factory on the South Circular Road, Dublin
South Circular Road, Dublin
The South Circular Road is a road in Dublin, Ireland, one of the longest in the city. It runs from Kilmainham in the west of the city, through Rialto and Dolphin's Barn to Portobello, near the centre. As it runs mainly through residential areas, it is used by numerous bus routes.-History:Until the...
, and with scarves around their faces stopped at gunpoint a van loaded with some £5,000 for wages, and drove away with the van and the money (see http://www.cgrp.info/ck.htm).
Griffith was shot down by the police in Dublin less than a week later, in what was charged to be an extrajudicial assassination, and Kerins - as mentioned - was caught in 1944 and executed, becoming a major IRA martyr. Doyle, however, continually survived decades of a very dangerous way of life and managed to die of old age. He died in St. Jame's Hospital in 1980.
In April 1987, the Irish Nationalist "New Hibernia" magazine noted: "(...)Joe McGrath
Joseph McGrath (politician)
Joseph McGrath was an Irish politician and businessman. He was a Sinn Féin and later a Cumann na nGaedheal Teachta Dála for various constituencies in Dublin and County Mayo and developed widespread business interests.-Political career:McGrath was born in Dublin in 1887...
and Jack O'Sheehan are dead; Archie Doyle went - though not before telling us how they had shot Kevin O' Higgins" (see http://www.voidstar.com/ukpoliblog/index.php/fid/602).
In jokes and "tall tales" still circulating on Irish websites, Doyle is depicted as a daring "bank robber for the Cause", a kind of modern Robin Hood
Robin Hood
Robin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....
.