Mountjoy Prison was a heavily-guarded, high-security facility. While outwardly calm, Emmet Dalton feared he might not come out alive. Being a devout Catholic, he took the precaution of going to Confession.36 Dalton later recalled Collins’ briefing on the rescue plans to participants. When Collins detailed the arrangements ‘he seemed to have made molehills of mountainous difficulties’. Dalton went on: ‘His “God Speed” when our little party set out was in itself a tonic to cheer us.’37
Members of Michael Collins’s Squad, the Active Service Unit and of the intelligence staff were mobilized for the rescue. Charlie Dalton was stationed in the home of the abattoir superintendent. For three days he kept vigil on the slaughterhouse while the others lay in wait. On the morning of 12 May 1921, he saw the armoured car crew step out of the vehicle. Recognizing the time had come to strike, he signalled the others by raising a window blind. Paddy O’Daly led an IRA party into the abattoir, where they shouted ‘hands up’. One soldier was fired on when, apparently, he failed to comply immediately with instructions – he may have showed resistance or may simply have hesitated. He was seriously wounded and died later of his injuries.38 Meanwhile, Charlie Dalton ran to a nearby house to breathlessly tell his brother and Joe Leonard that the operation had been launched. The two men already wore their British Army uniforms. The house, An Grianán, on the corner of Ellesmere Avenue and North Circular Road, was occupied by two elderly ladies. Probably fearing the worst, the women knelt in anxious prayer as Dalton and Leonard left the house. The Peerless armoured car, equipped with two machine guns, was commandeered, with Pat McCrea, the Squad’s premier ‘wheelman’ driving, and Bill Stapleton as his assistant. McCrea had never driven a vehicle like this. Also in the IRA group were Sean Caffrey; machine gunner Peter Gough, who had served in a machine gun unit in the British Army during the Great War, and Tom Keogh whose coolness was regarded as an important asset. They wore British Army caps and dungarees. Meanwhile at the abattoir, soldiers and staff were held at gunpoint by members of the IRA group until the armoured car was well on its way – then they themselves withdrew.
McCrea drove the car along the North Circular Road to Hanlon’s Corner where Emmet Dalton and Joe Leonard were waiting. McCrea’s co-driver Bill Stapleton gave the pre-arranged signal – a white handkerchief waved out the window of the car – and the two ‘officers’ were quickly on board. With seven now in the vehicle, it was a tight squeeze. When the armoured car drove up to the prison, the car horn was sounded and a warder looked out through the grille and then emerged from the wicket gate. With an air of authority, Dalton waved an official-looking document, and demanded immediate access to the prison. The main gates were opened and the armoured car drove through. The gates closed behind them but McCrea managed to reverse and to park the vehicle in such a way that the two inner gates of the jail could not be closed. Meanwhile, a separate group of Volunteers hung about outside the prison to open the front gates when the time came for the car to escape.39
Leonard had been a prisoner in Mountjoy. A warder was clearly startled when he recognized Leonard in his British Army uniform but does not appear to have raised the alarm. Dalton was approached by the Chief Warder who asked him why he was there, and Dalton replied that he had come to see the prisoner ‘McKeon’ (MacEoin). Dalton and Leonard made their way into the prison with the help of their inside man, warder Peadar Breslin. MacEoin had already been tipped off by Breslin to expect a rescue attempt. The original plan was that MacEoin would contrive to get himself in the Governor’s office at the time the rescuers came in. They would then leave together. Unfortunately, police in the prison introduced an additional security check on the prisoners which prevented MacEoin getting to the Governor’s office in time.40 Dalton carried with him duplicate keys to the doors of the wing and the cell where MacEoin was being held. The keys had been made for Michael Collins from impressions supplied to him by a sympathetic warder, possibly Breslin.41
Dalton and Leonard passed into the central section, or ‘diamond’ where blocks converged. They were on their way to MacEoin’s cell in C (I) Wing when the Chief Warder again approached Dalton and stopped him, asking him again what his mission was. Dalton told him he needed to see MacEoin to read to him a statement of evidence. The warder said he could not interview the prisoner – he had first to go and see the Governor and get permission. Governor Charles Munro, brother of Hector Munro, the short story writer with the pen name Saki, was an essentially humane man. He had brought in a rule that military officers had to check with him first before seeing a prisoner. The rule had been introduced after prisoners had complained of being abused by visiting army officers.
Dalton and Leonard were shown by the Chief Warder into the Governor’s office. He introduced the visitors and then departed. Now the two ‘officers’ met with another setback – the Governor was not alone. The Deputy Governor and the prison medical officer, Dr. Hackett, were also there. Dalton saluted the Governor, who greeted the visitors pleasantly. Emulating the clipped tones of a British officer, Dalton explained his mission, requesting that he should be allowed to go and see MacEoin, or that MacEoin should be brought to the office. He handed over a forged ‘prisoner transfer’ document ordering MacEoin to be taken from Mountjoy to Dublin Castle. The Governor read the document and went to pick up the telephone to phone Dublin Castle to confirm the order. Leonard immediately sprang forward and knocked the telephone out of his hand while Dalton produced his revolver, saying ‘Hands up, gentlemen please.’ The governor and his colleagues were so shocked they did not immediately comply. Leonard addressed them more forcefully. ‘Put up your f…ing hands.’ The three raised their hands and the Governor was so astonished at this turn of events that his monocle fell from his eye, and broke on his desk. It was one of those details that stayed engraved in Dalton’s memory. Dalton told Leonard to tie up the three men. Leonard asked with what should he tie them up. Dalton said to take their handkerchiefs and tie their hands behind their back. Leonard proceeded to do so. Dalton’s idea was that he would put his head out the door and ask for MacEoin to be sent to the Governor’s office immediately. Just then, they were startled to hear the sound of gunfire.
Mingling with a large crowd of people waiting outside the prison to visit relatives were members of a second section of the rescue group – Frank Bolster, Tom Walsh, and Cumann na mBan member Áine Malone, who carried a prisoner’s parcel.42 When the wicket gate was opened to allow the parcel to pass through, Bolster and Walsh drew revolvers and grabbed the gate-keeper’s keys. They then opened the main gate, to facilitate the escape of the party inside the jail. A sentry on the roof saw the commotion and fired a shot that wounded Walsh in the hand, thus raising the alarm. Before the sentry could fire again, Tom Keogh shot him dead from inside the courtyard with a Mauser C96 ‘Peter the Painter’ pistol. The soldier’s rifle fell to the ground and was picked up by Bill Stapleton.
Dalton and Leonard heard the gunfire in the Governor’s office. They knew now that they had to abandon the rescue operation. In his RTÉ interview with Pádraigh Ó Raghallaigh, Dalton recalled turning to Leonard and saying, ‘Let’s get out of here.’ They managed to lock their captives into the office as they emerged into a corridor full of Auxiliaries and warders milling around, clearly on full alert due to the gunfire. Dalton murmured to Leonard, ‘For God’s sake, don’t run.’ They walked out into the yard where Pat McCrea was ready to drive off. McCrea was relieved to see them but disappointed that MacEoin was not with them. McCrea recalled that they asked, ‘Who the hell started shooting?’, and said it had spoiled the job.43 Dalton ensured that everyone was on board. Then Dalton realized there was little room for himself inside the vehicle. He and Frank Bolster sat on the outside, at the back. Dalton remained calm and said to McCrea, ‘Pat, home please’ or words to that effect – like a gentleman addressing his chauffeur. With little time to spare McCrea drove out through the front gate and down the avenue to the North Circular Road. A troop of British soldiers ran out after the vehicle but did not open fire – apparently they thought the occupants of the car were British Army personnel. The British later reported that the car, with its occupants, ‘still unrecognized as hostile, was permitted to depart’.44
The armoured car moved south down the North Circular Road. As he sat outside at the back of the vehicle, Dalton lit a cigarette. Meanwhile, the Governor, locked in his office, managed to break a window to raise
