The military pension file of Mary Egan, which has just been released, suggests the assassination of Wilson was planned in 1921 before the Anglo-Irish Treaty came into being. The assassination, coming five months after the signing of the treaty which ended the War of Independence, caused outrage in Britain. This began the Civil War which would claim his life, the lives of thousands of others and divide Irish society for generations. Some historians have speculated that Collins ordered the assassination of Wilson before the treaty and forgot to rescind it afterwards. O’Sullivan lost a leg at Ypres, but both men went on to join the IRA after the first World War.

Source: The Irish Times May 12, 2018 00:00 UTC