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I was born in Castleblaney, Ireland, in 1892
In 1917 I joined the Irish Republican Army (IRA), serving with distinction in the Anglo-Irish War (1919-1921), rising to become Director of the Army in 1921.
I become commissioner of the newly formed Irish police, lauded for installing discipline and purpose into the force.
As an anti-communist, in 1933 I became the leader of the far right Army Comrades Association, the ‘Blueshirts’.
After this was banned, I formed an Irish brigade to fight for the fascist forces of Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), and towards the end of my life sought to build Irish links with Nazi Germany.

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1908 – King Carlos I of Portugal and his heir, Prince Luis Filipe are assassinated by Republican sympathizers in Lisbon.

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