1815 — Birth of John Mitchel, Young Ireland leader
Quote from John Mitchel
Mitchel was born at Dromalane House, Newry, Co. Down, son of a Unitarian minister. A Young Ireland writer of ferocious pen, he was transported in 1848 for advocating armed resistance during the Famine, escaped from Van Diemen’s Land and settled in America, where his pro-slavery journalism darkened his legacy.
His Jail Journal became the bible of physical-force nationalism for generations of Fenians and republicans.
1920 — A day of police killings and reprisals across three counties
Sean Mac Eoin’s North Longford Flying column
IRA units killed RIC Constable William Maxwell in Cloughjordan (Tipperary) and Sergeant Patrick Fallon in Ballymote (Sligo), while at Ballinalee, Co. Longford, Seán MacEoin’s flying column drove an eleven-lorry Crown force back into its barracks. Reprisals followed: Ballymote’s businesses and creamery were burned, and Churchill circulated a Cabinet memorandum seeking approval for official reprisals. This single day captured the escalating spiral of ambush, reprisal and official debate about “authorised” terror.
1921 — Griffith reports to de Valera on the negotiations
Arthur Griffith and De Valera
Arthur Griffith sent de Valera the delegation’s letter to Lloyd George, arguing that acceptance of “free partnership” with the Commonwealth did not alter Ireland’s essential position, and reporting that the British would rather resign than coerce Ulster into Irish unity. The Times simultaneously published leaked, truncated versions of the Irish position. The leak and the letters reveal the mutual suspicion between the plenipotentiaries and Dublin that would prove fatal in December.
1922 — Liam Lynch moves IRA headquarters to Santry
Liam Lynch
The anti-Treaty IRA Chief of Staff Liam Lynch arrived in Dublin and established his headquarters at Tower House, Santry, in a private home with the Cassidy family. The same day, an anti-Treaty active service unit robbed the Rotunda Post Office of £2,133 as the campaign to cripple the new state’s finances intensified. This shows the improvised, underground character of the anti-Treaty command structure as the Civil War settled into attrition.
References
1. Irish History 1919–1923 Chronology (n.d.) ‘November 1920’. Available at: http://irishhistory1919-1923chronology.ie/november_1920.htm (Accessed: 1 November 2026).
2. Irish History 1919–1923 Chronology (n.d.) ‘November 1921’. Available at: http://irishhistory1919-1923chronology.ie/november_1921.htm (Accessed: 1 November 2026).
3. Irish History 1919–1923 Chronology (n.d.) ‘November 1922’. Available at: http://irishhistory1919-1923chronology.ie/november_1922.htm (Accessed: 1 November 2026).
4. Wikipedia contributors (n.d.) ‘John Mitchel’. Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mitchel (Accessed: 1 November 2026).
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