Mr. Collins's troops, which had been transported by sea to
the neighbourhood of Cork, occupied the city on Thursday, August 10th. Mr. De Valera's so-called " irregulars " once more proved themselves to be very poor soldiers ; a single shell from a Free State gun put an end to their resistance. But in the congenial task of destroying property they displayed great industry and perseverance. All the barracks were burnt. The newspaper offices and telephone exchanges were wrecked. The railway bridges outside Cork were seriously damaged. Some of the patriots went into private houses and broke up the fire-grates with crowbars so as to establish the Irish Republic more thoroughly. A new steamer was sunk in the river, but did not block the fairway, as the " irregulars " meant it to do. The citizens of Cork, who had allowed a few hundred young ruffians to do as they pleased for weeks past, looked on apatheti- cally to the end. That a community should defend itself against murderers and robbers is an idea which never occurs to anyone in Southern Ireland.
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