Known Atrocities by the British in Ireland:
The Assassination of the Lord Mayor of Cork
"On 10 March 1920, the IRA's 1st Cork Brigade shot and severely wounded RIC District Inspector McDonagh near Sawmill Street in Cork City. On 16 March, the Brigade's Officer Commanding, Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Cork Tomás Mac Curtain, received a letter from the RIC on captured Dáil stationary. The letter read, "Thomas MacCurtain prepare for death. You are doomed."
At 10:40 PM on 19 March 1920, the 1st Cork Brigade fatally shot off duty RIC Constable Joseph Murtagh, who was returning home following a visit to the Palace Theater. Even though Constable Murtagh's assassination had been carried out against the Lord Mayor's orders, RIC District Inspector Oswald Swanzy ordered immediate retaliation against the commander of the local IRA.
Shortly after 1:00 AM on 20 March 1920, eight RIC personnel with blackened faces arrived at Mac Curtain's residence, which was located above his flour and meal business at 40 Thomas Davis Street. After the Lord Mayor's wife opened the door, one of the policemen demanded that her husband come out. As the Lord Mayor stepped out of the bedroom in his pants and night shirt, he was fatally shot in front of his wife and five children.[55]
Despite his having held senior rank within the IRA, the assassination of Tomás Mac Curtain shocked people throughout Ireland, where "many a person who was far away from the scene of the tragedy felt the awful deed in his own presence."