Often cited as one of the major 'innacuracies' on Neil Jordan's movie... not a huge departure from the truth in my opinion. Dublin, January 1920...
The movie account...
Reality...
'...In Dublin, the intelligence war continued. Police authorities sent veteran RIC
Detective W.C. Forbes Redmond from Belfast at the beginning of the year, and appointed
him Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the DMP in charge of G-Division. He brought a
squad of plain-clothes detectives with him from Belfast, and Neligan said his objective
was to "smash up Collins‘s activities". However, the problem with bringing in outside
policemen was that they did not know Dublin. Redmond appointed James MacNamara
as his secretary and guide. This compounded his problems, as MacNamara was passing
information to Collins. When the intelligence director learned that Redmond was living
in the Standard Hotel in Harcourt Street, he got Tom Cullen a room there to study his
movements. On the morning of January 21, members of the Squad tracked the GDivision
chief as he walked to Dublin Castle and shot him dead...'
Tactics, Politics and Propaganda in The Irish War Of Independence
The movie account...
Reality...
'...In Dublin, the intelligence war continued. Police authorities sent veteran RIC
Detective W.C. Forbes Redmond from Belfast at the beginning of the year, and appointed
him Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the DMP in charge of G-Division. He brought a
squad of plain-clothes detectives with him from Belfast, and Neligan said his objective
was to "smash up Collins‘s activities". However, the problem with bringing in outside
policemen was that they did not know Dublin. Redmond appointed James MacNamara
as his secretary and guide. This compounded his problems, as MacNamara was passing
information to Collins. When the intelligence director learned that Redmond was living
in the Standard Hotel in Harcourt Street, he got Tom Cullen a room there to study his
movements. On the morning of January 21, members of the Squad tracked the GDivision
chief as he walked to Dublin Castle and shot him dead...'
Tactics, Politics and Propaganda in The Irish War Of Independence
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