On This Day / January 28, 1921
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
19210128
Reference Date
19210128
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 28th January 1921, a young chemist’s assistant was shot dead in his bed in Belfast in a reprisal killing following the Railway View Hotel assassinations. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
‘Reprisal’ for RIC murders | On This Day – 28th January 1921
A FURTHER tragedy, which did not transpire until after curfew hour yesterday morning, occurred in Belfast following the tidings of the grim occurrence in the Railway View Hotel, Belfast.
The scene of the second tragedy was in Bray Street at the junction of the Crumlin and Shankill Road and, between 12.30 and 1 a.m. yesterday morning, a young man named Michael Garvey who lodged in the first house was shot dead by men who entered and proceeded straight to the bedroom where he was sleeping.
Michael Garvey – from County Armagh and a chemist’s assistant – had been a lodger with Miss Morgan for a number of months past.
His landlady recalled hearing men entering the front door, apparently with a key, and making their way upstairs. She next heard the reports of shots.
When the men left she gave the alarm through a window and a passer-by went to Leopold Street [RIC barracks] and informed the police of the occurrence. District Inspector Nixon and a force of men went to the house.
Miss Morgan [the landlady] said: I heard heavy footsteps coming up the stairs … The persons entered the boy’s bedroom.
The next thing I heard was the report of two shots and then a third. I went out on the landing and saw three men going downstairs…. I saw the second man was wearing a black uniform and belt…
The third man wore a short-cut Burberry overcoat and had a black hat and a long black veil or mask.
The last man carried a long, bright article like a rifle. After they had left I … saw the boy lying dead on his bed.
I went to the window and shouted, “Murder, murder, they have shot the boy”. The men got into a waiting motor.
John McGarvey, the other lodger in the house who was absent at the time of the shooting, was later is detained. He is a native of County Sligo.
The deceased is described as a quiet young man who did not concern himself in politics.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: Michael Garvey was murdered in a direct RIC reprisal for the murders of the RIC men, as recorded by Mark Sturgis of Dublin Castle:
‘Later a young Shinn was shot dead in bed. I am told he was likely one of the murderers.’
In fact, It was a case of mistaken identity. The gang were looking for the other lodger, an IRA volunteer.
A RIC Intelligence source later reported that County Inspector Harrison and DI John Nixon – a later MP – were seen in a car departing the scene.
Official ‘reprisals’ were then the norm throughout Ireland.)
On This Day – 28th January 1921
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19210128
Reference Date
19210128
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 28th January 1921, a young chemist’s assistant was shot dead in his bed in Belfast in a reprisal killing following the Railway View Hotel assassinations. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
‘Reprisal’ for RIC murders | On This Day – 28th January 1921
A FURTHER tragedy, which did not transpire until after curfew hour yesterday morning, occurred in Belfast following the tidings of the grim occurrence in the Railway View Hotel, Belfast.
The scene of the second tragedy was in Bray Street at the junction of the Crumlin and Shankill Road and, between 12.30 and 1 a.m. yesterday morning, a young man named Michael Garvey who lodged in the first house was shot dead by men who entered and proceeded straight to the bedroom where he was sleeping.
Michael Garvey – from County Armagh and a chemist’s assistant – had been a lodger with Miss Morgan for a number of months past.
His landlady recalled hearing men entering the front door, apparently with a key, and making their way upstairs. She next heard the reports of shots.
When the men left she gave the alarm through a window and a passer-by went to Leopold Street [RIC barracks] and informed the police of the occurrence. District Inspector Nixon and a force of men went to the house.
Miss Morgan [the landlady] said: I heard heavy footsteps coming up the stairs … The persons entered the boy’s bedroom.
The next thing I heard was the report of two shots and then a third. I went out on the landing and saw three men going downstairs…. I saw the second man was wearing a black uniform and belt…
The third man wore a short-cut Burberry overcoat and had a black hat and a long black veil or mask.
The last man carried a long, bright article like a rifle. After they had left I … saw the boy lying dead on his bed.
I went to the window and shouted, “Murder, murder, they have shot the boy”. The men got into a waiting motor.
John McGarvey, the other lodger in the house who was absent at the time of the shooting, was later is detained. He is a native of County Sligo.
The deceased is described as a quiet young man who did not concern himself in politics.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: Michael Garvey was murdered in a direct RIC reprisal for the murders of the RIC men, as recorded by Mark Sturgis of Dublin Castle:
‘Later a young Shinn was shot dead in bed. I am told he was likely one of the murderers.’
In fact, It was a case of mistaken identity. The gang were looking for the other lodger, an IRA volunteer.
A RIC Intelligence source later reported that County Inspector Harrison and DI John Nixon – a later MP – were seen in a car departing the scene.
Official ‘reprisals’ were then the norm throughout Ireland.)
On This Day – 28th January 1921
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19210128
Reference Date
January 28, 2021
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice *
Summary: On This Day – 28th January 1921, a young chemist’s assistant was shot dead in his bed in Belfast in a reprisal killing following the Railway View Hotel assassinations. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
‘Reprisal’ for RIC murders | On This Day – 28th January 1921
A FURTHER tragedy, which did not transpire until after curfew hour yesterday morning, occurred in Belfast following the tidings of the grim occurrence in the Railway View Hotel, Belfast.
The scene of the second tragedy was in Bray Street at the junction of the Crumlin and Shankill Road and, between 12.30 and 1 a.m. yesterday morning, a young man named Michael Garvey who lodged in the first house was shot dead by men who entered and proceeded straight to the bedroom where he was sleeping.
Michael Garvey – from County Armagh and a chemist’s assistant – had been a lodger with Miss Morgan for a number of months past.
His landlady recalled hearing men entering the front door, apparently with a key, and making their way upstairs. She next heard the reports of shots.
When the men left she gave the alarm through a window and a passer-by went to Leopold Street [RIC barracks] and informed the police of the occurrence. District Inspector Nixon and a force of men went to the house.
Miss Morgan [the landlady] said: I heard heavy footsteps coming up the stairs … The persons entered the boy’s bedroom.
The next thing I heard was the report of two shots and then a third. I went out on the landing and saw three men going downstairs…. I saw the second man was wearing a black uniform and belt…
The third man wore a short-cut Burberry overcoat and had a black hat and a long black veil or mask.
The last man carried a long, bright article like a rifle. After they had left I … saw the boy lying dead on his bed.
I went to the window and shouted, “Murder, murder, they have shot the boy”. The men got into a waiting motor.
John McGarvey, the other lodger in the house who was absent at the time of the shooting, was later is detained. He is a native of County Sligo.
The deceased is described as a quiet young man who did not concern himself in politics.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: Michael Garvey was murdered in a direct RIC reprisal for the murders of the RIC men, as recorded by Mark Sturgis of Dublin Castle:
‘Later a young Shinn was shot dead in bed. I am told he was likely one of the murderers.’
In fact, It was a case of mistaken identity. The gang were looking for the other lodger, an IRA volunteer.
A RIC Intelligence source later reported that County Inspector Harrison and DI John Nixon – a later MP – were seen in a car departing the scene.
Official ‘reprisals’ were then the norm throughout Ireland.)
On This Day – 28th January 1921
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
On This Day is a daily column in the Irish News looking back either 50 or 100 years. The column was compiled by Dr Éamon Phoenix from the mid 1980s until autumn, 2022. The Foundation is very grateful to the Irish News for giving permission to reproduce Eamon’s columns. Funding gratefully received from Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs and the Magill Trust.
* The Foundation has worked hard to recreate Eamon’s distinctive voice through AI. Since this is an emerging technology, occasional imperfections may be audible.