Assassination of Sir Henry Wilson ‘triggered Irish Civil War’

The assassination of Sir Henry Wilson on the doorstep of his home in London in 1922 was the trigger event for the Irish Civil War, according to the author of a new book on the subject.

Great Hatred by Irish Times journalist Ronan McGreevy tells the story of the assassination of Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson MP by two IRA members.

Speaking at the launch of the book on Thursday, McGreevy called the killing “Ireland’s Sarajevo”.

“Just as the shooting of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the triggering even of the first World War, so too was the shooting of Wilson the triggering event for our Civil War,” he said.

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“Without the Wilson shooting, there would have been no ultimatum from the British Government, no shelling of the Four Courts, no destruction of the Public Records Office, no Civil War, Michael Collins would have lived and the history of Ireland would be different.”

The book is described by its publisher Faber & Faber as “a gripping investigation into one of Irish history’s greatest mysteries”. It also calls the assassination of Wilson as “the most significant political murder to have taken place on British soil for more than a century”.

Launching the book, Comdt Daniel Ayiotis, head of the Irish Military Archive, said it confronts the reader with two central points.

“Firstly, the complexities of Irish history and identity, and secondly, the obligation to critically analyse our attitudes to the use of violence for political ends,” he said.

“Regarding the former point, this is the story of the assassination of a British officer, a politician, by two members of the IRA. It is also the story of the killing of a first World War veteran by two first World War veterans.

“Ronan’s even-handed account presents the case that some acts, such as the case of the killing of Sir Henry Wilson, were neither legitimate, viable nor productive. This book presents a complex issue in a very straightforward way.”