Friday 14 April

 Irregular Troops Take Possession of the Four Courts Dublin  

‘A few minutes after midnight on Thursday night, between three and four hundred irregular troops took possession of the Four Courts, Dublin. They also occupied the Four Courts Hotel adjoining, which will be utilised for the commissariat.  

‘Commandant Rory O'Connor said the occupation had been carried out on account of lack of accommodation for his troops, and not because a coup d’etat was contemplated. He knew of no suggested revolution.  

‘Commandant O’Connor was asked by the special correspondent of the Press Association if there were any possible grounds on which an arrangement for preserving peace could be made. His answer was that Mr. [Arthur] Griffith and Mr. [Michael] Collins would have to give an undertaking, and see that it was carried out, that the Provisional Government would not function. He added that the only means he could see of averting civil war was the scrapping of the Treaty’.  

(Source: Irish Examiner, Saturday 15 April 1922)  

Serious Floods in Cork 

‘Considerable damage to private property and the public roadways was caused by the floods in Cork on Friday night. Some time after 7 o’clock the river had filled to such an extent that water bubbled up through the sewers. Between 8.30 and 9 o’clock all the central positions were impassable, there being water to a depth of over 2 feet in Patrick Street, Oliver Plunkett St., the South Mall and intersecting thoroughfares. The western area, Blackpool and other low-lying districts also suffered. Apart from injury to property in shops and private houses, into which the flood found its way, large portions of the surface of the roadway and the central street were torn up…..whilst other were “marooned” in tramcars, which were forced to cease running.’ 

(Source: Irish Independent, Monday 17 April 1922) 

19 April 1922  

The Munster Agricultural Society admits County Pupils to exhibit at Cork Summer Show 

‘Professor O’Donoghue and the County Secretary re the proposal to exhibit the work of the county pupils in the Cork Summer Show. The Munster Agricultural Society have decided to add to the exhibits and entertainments, at the forthcoming Summer Show, certain sections which will bring the society into closer relationship with the national outlook of today, and at the same time enable them to place the society on a sound financial footing. In these new sections, the Irish Industrial Development Association, Irish Products League, Gaelic League, G.A.A., Chamber of Commerce, School of Art etc, will be actively represented...the Cork School of Art will supply exhibits to an arts and crafts section. 

‘The County Committee are asked to co-operate with the City Committee, [Technical Instruction Committees] in making the last-mentioned section a success. Exhibits of pupils’ work in lace and ask them to offer prizes for farriery [i.e. Blacksmiths], with a view to encouraging the support of this important craft. 

(Source: Minutes from Cork Technical, Meeting of County Cork Committee, Evening Echo, Wednesday 19 April 1922)