Walled In By Hate: Kevin O'Higgins, His Friends and Enemies

In July 1927, at just thirty five years old, Kevin O' Higgins was assassinated on his way to mass in Booterstown. A memorial plaque in his honour unveiled at the site in 2012 was removed after just two weeks due to persistent vandalism. In this compelling biography, Arthur Matthews examines the enduring hatred of O' Higgins through the lens of his close friends and many enemies. Appointed Minister for Home Affairs in 1922, O' Higgins resorted to draconian measures to fight the lawlessness that swelled in the wake of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. In an act that would seal his fate, he signed off on the execution of seventy seven anti-Treaty prisoners, including Rory O' Connor, who had been best man at his wedding the year before. As the hostility between former comrades intensified, O' Higgins was now a prime target for the incensed ' irregulars'. Holed up in government buildings in the years preceding his assassination, he described himself as being ' walled in by hate'. The complex legacy of Kevin O' Higgins encapsulates the bitter divisions of the Irish Civil War, and he remains one of the most compelling characters to emerge from the conflict.