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On This Day In History - 1 November

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY - 1 November 

**I apologize for being late but I felt this event was too important to just skip**

On this day in 1920, 18-year-old Irishman Kevin Barry was executed by British forces at Mountjoy Prison in Dublin for his role in an IRA ambush that resulted in the death of 3 British soldiers. 

Kevin Gerard Barry was born 20 January 1902 at 8 Fleet Street, Dublin to Thomas and Mary Barry. He was the 4th of the couple's 7 children. As a young man, he attended St Mary’s College, Rathmines, until the school was closed in 1916. From there he transferred to Belvedere College and was a member of the championship Junior Rugby Cup team, as well as secretary of the newly formed hurling club. In 1919, he entered University College Dublin as a medical student. 

At the age of 15, while attending Belvedere College, Barry joined the Irish Republican Army (IRA). His first job was delivering mobilization orders around the city. Over the next few years, he was introduced to the reorganized Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and took part in a number of operations. His final operation took place on the morning of 20 September 1920, when Barry went to mass, then joined a group of volunteers on Bolton Street. The plan was to ambush a British army truck that was picking up a delivery of bread and capture their weapons. Barry and the other IRA volunteers surrounded the lorry. The 5 soldiers at the back complied with the order to lay down their weapons but at some point, possibly from a soldier at the front, a shot was fired. Barry and the rest of his group then opened fire. His gun jammed several times causing him to dive for cover and in the chaos, the other volunteers fled leaving him behind. He was spotted and arrested. 1 soldier was killed during the ambush and 2 others who were wounded later died. Following his arrest, Barry was placed in the back of the lorry with the body of the dead soldier and transported to the North Dublin Union. He refused to give any information beyond his name, address, and occupation. 

A month after the ambush on 20 October, Barry was tried by court-martial. The court sentenced him to death by hanging on 1 November. On 31 October, he was allowed visitors including his mother, brother, and sisters. On 1 November, after hearing 2 masses in his cell, Kevin Barry was hanged. His execution, just days after the death of hunger striker, Terence MacSwiney, the republican Lord Mayor of Cork, inflamed nationalist public opinion, in large part due to his age. His death brought international attention, with both the United States and the Vatican attempting to have his sentence lessened. With his death, and the death of Terence MacSwiney, came an escalation in violence and the War of Independence entered its bloodiest period.  

A plain cross marked the grave of Kevin Barry and 9 others who would be handed at the same prison before the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921. Their grave went unidentified until 1934. On 14 October 2001, their remains were given a state funeral and moved from the unconsecrated grounds of the prison and re-interred at Glasnevin Cemetery.