Cathal was brilliant for that kind of stuff during his time as a broadcaster. RTE would have a very rich archive, of , of course, they didn’t delete it

Interesting I wonder the reason for that

​@@seanohare5488civil war bitterness

Why would they ? His brother Charlie murdered several Anti Treaty prisoners at the Curragh. Charlie , who was a member of Collins Squad (barely 20 years of age at the time ) , struggled in shooting G Men but got over it when it came to shooting old colleagues during the Civil War . Emmet to his credit , wasn’t as bad. He had to make sure that the IFS soldiers in Cork City didn’t go on a rampage against Anti Treaty Heart lands and against IRA prisoners within the possession, after Collins was shot . Emmet however was manning the artillery at the Four Courts when the Battle of Dublin phase of the Civil War started . He was one of the main commanders , one of the supremely efficient commanders (in contrast to self promoters like O’Duffy and McKeown - both windbags , dining on 1-2 half decent raids during the Tan War, and did better for themselves immediately after the War ) . Emmet won the war in Dublin and again in Munster and unlike McKeown (a TD for Longford for decades) or O’Duffy (a top Garda Commissioner until he went crazy ) or even Joe Sweeney of Donegal (Army Chief of Staff) , Emmet was kinda left penniless and had to be a Dáil clerk (before the Ardmore studio stuff) So makes perfect sense that members of the government , who by then , were often sons of Anti Treaty Men , didn’t attend. (Haughey funny enough, his father was an IFS Officer during the war )

Interesting , Cathal O’Shannon’s father was Anti Treaty IRA and later Labour Party.

That’s always the way….those who talked a good show did better than those who do the work…the anti treaty side who were TD’s for FF in later years were as far as I’m concerned a party of traitors.

WW1 and WW2 were made by the same people. Period.

Lol He was LOST Til He tossed the Imprinting Out. Then became a TRUE Man.

​@@ryujin2101wdym

You may be able to search for this using the public records, or sites such as ancestry.co.uk. There’s also the Gazette (link provided at the National Archives web site, which lists WW1 field honours.

Do you have his medal

Hi, part two is here, kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ibKietF60r-np4k.html

I believe it was through his brother, he joined the War effort to try and sway the British to giving home rule

Unfortunately, this comment, while full of opinion, is devoid of facts or sources to back its assertion. The construction and development of the National Army from January 1922 is well documented and easily available. The National Army pre-dates what is usually seen as the first moment of hostility in the Civil War, and its initial ranks on formation would have drawn from the remaining elements of the IRA that was active during the War of Independence, which would be personnel on both sides of the later conflict. It's surely neither a surprise nor a question for innuendo that many of its first recruits were people who had served in Irish units of the British Army in the Great War. A new nation needed a command and training structure that could assemble a fighting force and defend the fledgling state. You'll have to make a better case if you expect anyone to be moved beyond the established facts.

@@chris.dalton Stephen Fuller who survived the Ballyseedy massacre said they were called Irish bastards by those that were about to kill them- I wonder where those men with Irish accents learnt that or is that also too opinionated as well for you?

@@merrybutcher2978 loooking up the incident, there's no doubt it counts as a war crime, and that it was covered up (or at least buried) in the politics and tumult of the period. Do you have a source for the Fuller remark? I could not see a reference to the Free State forces involved not being from Ireland. Nevertheless, a shocking event.

@@chris.dalton They had Irish accents those that made the remark and laughed, my point is where do you think they learned that? Those men were beaten with hammers that night and tortured repeatedly whilst in custody .by Neligan who retired with 3 pensions 2 of which were from his British service.

Yet it was an ex(?) British Army sniper - Sonny O’Neill - & ex-RIC man who is believed to have fired the fatal shot that killed Collins at Béal na Bláth in 1922. O’Neill even applied for his old job back in the RIC after WWI! 1916 obviously didn’t put him off working for the Brits. Maybe the money was just too good.

@Tony K Emmet Dalton was not the only IRA veteran of WW1 who had been decorated for bravery. Martin Doyle won both the VC & MM on the Western Front serving with the Royal Munster Fusiliers. He would serve as an IRA intelligence officer working in a British army barracks in Co.Clare during the Irish War of Independence. Michael Bishop was awarded the MM twice serving on the Western Front with the Irish Guards and would serve with the IRA in Co.Waterford. Joseph Clancy was awarded the DCM on the Western Front and would later serve with the Co.Clare IRA. John Prout served with the famous Irish 69th Regiment which was part of the AEF(American Expeditionary Force) during WW1 and was awarded the Crois de Guerre for bravery on the Western Front. He would later train IRA units in Co.Tipperary.

Yes. Emmet was known for three things - a very dry sense of humour, not suffering fools gladly, and being as tough as old boots.

Factually correct that he enlisted in the RAF in Belfast in 1945 (aged 16/17) and trained for Lancaster bomber crew duties in the Far East.

Gangsters?? I doubt if you can justify that insult!

@@heritage195 there was a Dalton gang in the united states in His Fathers time....

The Blood lives STRONG.

My great grandfather was a dalton and a cousin!

@@cpldalton5966 well hello then cuz...

Why, we have a republic, it’s better than nothing

Lee Walsh anyway we don’t need the 6 counties

Muppet

Your dream is getting closer with every mention of the word "Brexit".. Will be a shame to lose N.I, but most of us understand why it would be the easiest solution to a problem the English far right caused.

@@cpldalton5966 Pipe/Stand down soldier.

This wins some kind of prize as a random comment, and I had to look up the term pixie ear. Needless to say, no-one in the family had plastic surgery.

I don't understand this comment, sorry.

Yes, he was my Great Uncle

You just have

I doubt he was the assassin of Collins as it would have been one british collaborator killing another british collaborator. A great pity both these men didn't fight for Ireland's freedom.

Why would he shoot his best friend

@@mob3144 bro Collins is the reason we have independence what are you saying?

@@cpldalton5966 Collins accepted 26 counties. The british told him to bomb the four courts and clear out any IRA or they would come back and do it. All this is a matter of record and you should look it up.

There were more

You could not have stated it better. A Statehood of rot and corruption compliments of FF and all associated with them.

Most of the IRA leadership agreed, and it's only with historical hindsight that your question can be asked. At the time, British politics would have been a very complex and partisan affair (sound familiar?) and the prospect of a prolonged and bloody armed conflict against a stubborn and elusive enemy, in a state increasingly difficult to govern from London might well have influenced government policy and intentions. A truce could have easily swung the other way, with the pause used by the British to re-arm and ready themselves for an overwhelming use of force. Equally, a truce was the only thing that would prevent the Irish forces from needing to show their weak hand. Collins was a master strategist and prepared to carry on the battle by taking the conflict to the UK mainland (sound familiar?), which was a tactic they didn't need to use in the end. I doubt anyone in the Irish leadership expected to get half of what was negotiated in London. It was almost certainly an opportunity missed when the IRA split itself in response. So, it's unclear that the British "certainly knew this". Remember, their intelligence operations in Ireland had been more or less rubbed out by Collins and the others. I'm sure there are good accounts of this subject by reputable historians.

@@chris.dalton What you say may well be true, but Emmet Dalton speaking with the advantage of hindsight in the 1970s & as one who was very close to events at the time, seemed to think that suing for peace was strange behaviour for the British. The popular consensus among historians of the period that I have come across like to suggest that Collins had fought the British to a standstill & that’s why they came to the negotiating table. Emmet Dalton suggests this was not the case. It may well be as you say that after WWI the British had lost the stomach for the fight.

@@cushyglen4264 have you read what Tim Pat Coogan had to say on this question? I think he concludes that Collins was very acutely aware of the vulnerability of his forces and the likelihood of the British realising this during the Truce period. Emmet was one of those charged with building, very quickly, a national army alongside a free state, something that (ironically) the Civil War enabled them to accelerate to the point where the withdrawal of British forces was also hastened. History has so many twists and turns, and Ireland has very many armchair generals! (that's a general observation, not a dig. I found your question reasonable).

@@chris.dalton fine for you to be free in one of Ireland's 26 counties, what about the people who were unlucky enough to be living in one of Ireland's 6 counties that were to be sold out, did they not matter? Were they not equal Irishmen deserving of freedom, many of whom contributed to the war for independence. And look at the suffering it would go on to cause and create for the next 100 years while you were safe in your "free state". Very easy for someone in the 26 counties to say that....

Your gay or something, troll.

With respect, you probably need to do a search for the Emmett Dalton you’re looking for. This Emmet (with one t) is not “fake”, he is a figure from history, just not US history. It is an inconvenient truth that there is a world outside the United States, we shall just have to come to terms with it…

Try reading the heading from now on. You will find that that might help esp if you can read.