The new Irish Free State of 26 Counties officially came into existence on 6 December 1922. Two days later on 8 December its government committed an act that was to define its treacherous nature in .
Dick Barrett, Joe McKelvey, Liam Mellows and Rory O’Connor were shot the next day, Dec. 8, 1922, at 8 a.m., explicitly as a reprisal for Sean Hales’s death, and as a warning.
Galway republicans will remember and commemorate Liam Mellows on 4 December, in Athenry. This Galway Sinn Féin event will commence with a march from Athenry Community Park at 2pm by a piper-led pro.