Conor Clune (
Irish name
A formal Irish name consists of a given name and a surname. In the Irish language, most surnames are patronymic surnames (distinct from patronyms, which are seen in Icelandic names for example). The form of a surname varies according to whethe ...
Conchobhair Mac Clúin; 26 July 1893 – 21 November 1920) was one of three men along with
Dick McKee and
Peadar Clancy killed in controversial circumstances in
Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle () is a major Government of Ireland, Irish government complex, conference centre, and tourist attraction. It is located off Dame Street in central Dublin.
It is a former motte-and-bailey castle and was chosen for its position at ...
on
Bloody Sunday, 1920, a day that also saw the killing of a network of British intelligence agents by the "
Squad
In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of Military organization, military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and United States, U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a fireteam, ...
" unit of the
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...
and the killing of 14 people in
Croke Park
Croke Park (, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and headquarters of the Gaelic At ...
by the
Royal Irish Constabulary
The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the island was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom. A sep ...
. Clune was 27 years old.
[Seán O'Mahony, ''Death in the Castle: Three murders in Dublin Castle 1920''. 1916/1921 Club]
Early life
Clune was born as Cornelius Clune in the village of
Quin, County Clare on 26 July 1893, the son of John Clune, a carpenter, and Bridget Walsh from Kilkishen, who had married in 1874. Clune was one of a family of seven boys and three girls. He was educated at the local National School and St. Flannan's College, Ennis. A
Gaelic League
(; historically known in English as the Gaelic League) is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde as its first president, when it eme ...
enthusiast, he also spent some time at Ring Irish College, Colaiste na Rinne, County Waterford.
From a young age he was active in
Gaelic League
(; historically known in English as the Gaelic League) is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde as its first president, when it eme ...
circles, and spoke Irish on every occasion possible.
[50th Anniversary Commemorative Booklet, published in conjunction with the unveiling of a memorial by Club na Sionna, Gaelic League Branch and the people of Quin, with an introduction by Kevin J. Brown.]
Involvement in nationalist organisations
Clune was at one time a member of the
National Volunteers
The National Volunteers were the majority faction of the Irish Volunteers that sided with Irish Parliamentary Party leader John Redmond after the movement split over the question of the Volunteers' Ireland and World War I, role in World War I.
O ...
, the military organisation led by
John Redmond
John Edward Redmond (1 September 1856 – 6 March 1918) was an Irish nationalism, Irish nationalist politician, barrister, and Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), MP in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. He was best known as leader ...
that resulted from the 1914 split in the
Irish Volunteers
The Irish Volunteers (), also known as the Irish Volunteer Force or the Irish Volunteer Army, was a paramilitary organisation established in 1913 by nationalists and republicans in Ireland. It was ostensibly formed in response to the format ...
. He does not appear to have been a member of the Irish Volunteers, although the commemorative plaque in Dublin Castle refers to him as "Volunteer Conor Clune" (see picture). However, he was devoted to the
Irish language
Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...
and was involved with the
Gaelic League
(; historically known in English as the Gaelic League) is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde as its first president, when it eme ...
.
[MacLysaght, ''Changing Times'' (1978) p. 98]
Edward MacLysaght
Following a period during which he worked in Dublin, he applied for and was appointed Manager at the seed and plant nursery owned by
Edward MacLysaght
Edgeworth Lysaght, later Edward Anthony Edgeworth Lysaght, and from 1920 Edward MacLysaght (; 6 November 1887 – 4 March 1986) was a genealogist of twentieth-century Ireland. His numerous books on Irish surnames built upon the work of Rev. Pat ...
at Raheen, Tuamgraney, about ten miles from Quin. It was with MacLysaght that he travelled to Dublin on the morning of Saturday, 20 November 1920, bringing with him the books of the Raheen Co-op for its annual audit.
Vaughan's Hotel
They arrived in Dublin that Saturday evening. Clune told Mr. MacLysaght that he was to meet an Irish language enthusiast, John O'Connell. While there, Clune met
Piaras Béaslaí, a member of
Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann ( ; , ) is the lower house and principal chamber of the Oireachtas, which also includes the president of Ireland and a senate called Seanad Éireann.Article 15.1.2° of the Constitution of Ireland reads: "The Oireachtas shall co ...
, Director of Publicity and then Editor of ''An t-Óglach''. They parted company, after arranging to meet on the following day.
Also on Saturday evening,
Peadar Clancy, along with members of the GHQ staff of the
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...
, met at 35 Lower
Gardiner Street, Dublin. The meeting was called to discuss the final arrangements for what would be the route of the British secret service, with the elimination of the
Cairo Gang the following morning. Having concluded their business, the meeting dispersed,
Michael Collins, Clancy, McKee and some of the others went to Vaughan's Hotel (present-day
Parnell Square
Parnell Square () is a Georgian square sited at the northern end of O'Connell Street in the city of Dublin, Ireland. It is in the city's D01 postal district.
History
Formerly named ''Ruthland Square'', it was renamed after Charles Stewart ...
), then the rendezvous for many of the leaders of the IRA.
It was at this time that Clune, accompanied by Seán O'Connell, went to Vaughan's. Beaslaí was upstairs with Brigadier
Dick McKee, Michael Collins,
Peadar Clancy when word was brought to Beaslaí that Conor Clune from Clare was there to meet him.
While in the hotel, the porter, Christy Harte, became suspicious of one of the guests, a Mr Edwards, who had made a late-night telephone call, and then left the hotel. Harte informed the Volunteers, who quickly left the building. Beaslaí, who was familiar with the Hotel's surroundings escaped with the other senior volunteers including Michael Collins.
Clune was arrested in the raid which soon followed by British Auxiliaries.
Clune was the only one arrested at Vaughan's that night as he was not registered as a guest. This, according to Seán Kavanagh, a member of the "
Squad
In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of Military organization, military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and United States, U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a fireteam, ...
", would ultimately cost him his life. Clancy and McKee would also be arrested in the early hours of the morning in another part of the city, though the
Cairo Gang assassination plan was already in motion, for the next day.
Dublin Castle
Having been arrested, the three men were taken to the old detective office in the Exchange Court. According to T. Ryle Dwyer, the room was being used as a kind of guardroom, and was furnished with some beds, tables and some stores, which included a box of hand grenades Brigadier General
Ormonde Winter, head of the British Secret Service in Ireland and two
Auxiliary Division
The Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary (ADRIC), generally known as the Auxiliaries or Auxies, was a paramilitary unit of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) during the Irish War of Independence. It was founded in July 1920 by Majo ...
officers, Captain Hardy and Captain King, were the British personnel who interrogated Clune, Clancy, and McKee.
A republican prisoner, V J. Young, in custody at the time in the Castle is certain that Clune was killed in error for Seán Fitzpatrick, the man arrested with McKee and Clancy at Fitzpatrick's home in
Gloucester Street. Clune and Fitzpatrick he says were of similar build and both were wearing brown suits. Young overheard two Auxiliary officers disputing the identity of one of the prisoners. One said, "That’s him" while another said" no, its him" as they looked at just Fitzpatrick and Clune.
According to T. Ryle Dwyer, the prisoners "supposedly" got hold of the hand grenades and threw them. One of the sentries testified that himself and a colleague heard a noise behind them and noticed that two of the prisoners had thrown the grenades at them. They dived for cover behind some mattresses, but the grenades did not detonate. One of the prisoners was also said to have got hold of a rifle according to one of the guards, which he levelled and fired at the guard commander as he entered the room, but missed. The prisoner then turned the rifle and fired another shot at another guard. The guard said he then fired at the prisoner, and the prisoner dropped, and that the guard commander also fired at the prisoner.
[Dwyer, T. Ryle, ''The Squad'' (2005), p. 193]
The guard commander said, on hearing a noise, entered the room, and "the prisoner McKee fired at me", and that McKee then turned and fired at the sentry. The guard commander also claimed to have dropped McKee. He then said he saw Clancy with a shovel, and that Clancy was attempting to strike another guard. One of the guards (who had dived behind the mattresses) then fired at Clancy and he fell.

A fourth witness was to tell much the same story.
According to author Seán O'Mahony, the three were tortured in the guardroom to extort from them the names of the volunteers who had earlier that morning shot dead most of the "
Cairo Gang". Refusing to talk, they were "subsequently murdered" on the evening of 21 November 1920.
[McCarthy, Daniel. "A Clare Patriot", address delivered to the Peadar Clancy Festival, subsequently published in The Clare Association Yearbook 2002]
The condition of their bodies when returned by the British authorities to their families supports this assertion.
Medical examinations of the three bodies revealed broken bones and abrasions consistent with prolonged assaults and bullet wounds to the head and bodies.
[ O'Halpin, Eunan & Ó Corráin, Daithí (2020), ''The Dead of the Irish Revolution''. Yale University Press, pg 233.] There were extensive signs of discolouring. A military doctor claimed that large staining could occur, and this would depend on the way the bodies had been lying. He also said that Clancy had been hit with up to five bullets, which made eight wounds; Dick McKee had three wounds caused by two bullets. He said McKee had no bayonet wounds, but there was a bullet lodged underneath his skin on the right of his chest. Clune, he said, had nine wounds caused by seven bullets. T. Ryle Dwyer also states that
David Neligan was adamant that they had not been bayoneted.
His employer Edward McLysaght took charge of the body when the authorities released it. He had the body medically examined. The examination proved that Clune was shot 13 times in the chest. Clune's body was brought home to Co. Clare for burial. His coffin was draped with the
Irish flag
The national flag of Republic of Ireland, Ireland (), frequently referred to in Ireland as 'the tricolour' () and elsewhere as the Irish tricolour, is a vertical Tricolour (flag), tricolour of green (at the Flag terminology#Description of sta ...
, but when a British officer objected to it, Canon Slattery, the presiding priest, complied and removed it. He is buried in Quin Abbey near his ancestors.
A book titled ''Death in the Castle: Three murders in Dublin Castle 1920'', written by Sean O'Mahony, and published by
1916–1921 Club records both the life and deaths of the three Republicans.
There is a road in Dublin, close to the
Phoenix Park
The Phoenix Park () is a large urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its perimeter wall encloses of recreational space. It includes large areas of grassland and tree-lined avenues, and since ...
called Conor Clune Road and another called Clune Road in Finglas.
Notes
References
* Dwyer, T. Ryle, ''The Squad'', Mercier Press, Cork, 2005,
* MacLysaght, Edward, ''Changing Times: Ireland Since 1898''. Colin Smythe, 1978.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clune, Connor
1893 births
1920 deaths
People from County Clare
Irish Republicans killed during the Irish War of Independence