One hundred years ago today, on 17 November 1922, four members of the anti-Treaty IRA - John Gaffney, James Fisher, Peter Cassidy and Richard Twohig - were shot by firing squad in Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin.
A new phase had opened in the Civil War.
Out of over 12,000 men taken prisoner in the course of the war, about 1,200 faced trial, and 400 were sentenced to death. Those condemned men not executed had the death sentence hanging over them for the duration of the war. The government believed that if ordinary rank-and-file anti-Treaty IRA men could see people just like themselves being executed instead of just being imprisoned, they would lose heart and give up the struggle.
Four anti-Treaty IRA officers, who had been in captivity since the fall of the Four Courts in July, were selected for execution.
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