Editing Bloody Sunday (1920) (section)

===Evening: Dublin Castle killings===
[[File:Commemorative plaque Dublin Castle.JPG|thumb|right|Plaque in memory of the three volunteers at [[Dublin Castle]]]]
Later that night, two high-ranking IRA officers, [[Dick McKee]] and [[Peadar Clancy]], together with another man, [[Conor Clune]], were killed while being held and interrogated in Dublin Castle.<ref name="O'Halpin Castle">Eunan O'Halpin & Daithí Ó Corráin. ''The Dead of the Irish Revolution''. Yale University Press, 2020. pp. 232–233</ref> McKee and Clancy had been involved in planning the assassinations of the British agents, and had been captured in a raid hours before they took place. Clune, a member of the Gaelic League,<ref>{{cite web|work =[[The Clare Champion]] |date=30 November 2020 |access-date=3 July 2024 |url = https://clarechampion.ie/clare-remembers-brutal-bloody-sunday-killings/ | title = Clare Remembers Brutal Bloody Sunday Killings }}</ref> had joined the [[Irish Volunteers]] shortly after it was founded, but it is unclear if he was ever active.<ref name="O'Halpin Castle"/> He had been arrested in another raid on a hotel that IRA members had just left.{{sfn|Dwyer|2005|p=172}}

Their captors said that, because there was no room in the cells, the prisoners were placed in a guardroom containing arms, and were killed while trying to escape.<ref>{{cite news |title=Kill Irish Prisoners Who Try To Escape From Castle Prison |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1920/11/24/archives/kill-irish-prisoners-who-try-to-escape-from-castle-prison-sentries.html |url-access=subscription |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=24 November 1920 |access-date=27 July 2018 |archive-date=4 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180704093535/https://www.nytimes.com/1920/11/24/archives/kill-irish-prisoners-who-try-to-escape-from-castle-prison-sentries.html |url-status=live }}</ref> They allegedly threw grenades, which did not detonate, then fired at the guards with a rifle, but missed. They were shot by Auxiliaries.{{sfn|Dwyer|2005|pp=195–196}} Medical examination found broken bones and abrasions consistent with prolonged assaults, and bullet wounds to the head and body. Their faces were covered in cuts and bruises, and McKee had an apparent bayonet wound in his side.<ref name="O'Halpin Castle"/> Michael Lynch, an IRA Brigade Commander stated that McKee suffered severe beatings prior to being shot to death – "I saw Dick McKee's body afterwards, and it was almost unrecognizable. He had evidently been tortured before being shot...They must have beaten Dick to a pulp. When they threatened him with death, according to reports, Dick's last words were, Go on, and do your worst!"<ref>Collins, Lorcan, (2019), ''Irelands War of Independence 1919–1921'', The O'Brien Press, Dublin, p. 166 {{ISBN|978-1-84717-950-0}}</ref>

However, Clune's employer, Edward MacLysaght, who viewed the corpses at King George V Hospital, stated that the claim "that their faces were so battered about as to be unrecognisable and horrible to look at is quite untrue. I remember those pale dead faces as if I had looked at them yesterday, they were not disfigured".<ref>Dwyer, T. Ryle (2005), ''The Squad'', p. 193</ref><ref>Michael Foy, ''Michael Collins' Intelligence War'', p. 168</ref><ref>Robert Kee, ''The Green Flag'', pp. 693–694</ref> An army doctor who examined the bodies found signs of discolouring on the skin, but stated this could have been the result of how the bodies were left lying. He found numerous bullet wounds as did a private doctor hired by Edward MacLysaght but no signs of any other injuries such as bayoneting. IRA mole David Neligan was also adamant about this fact.<ref>Dwyer, T. Ryle (2005), ''The Squad'', p. 192</ref> Head of British Intelligence Brigadier General [[Ormonde Winter]] carried out his own private investigation, interviewing the guards and inspecting the scene, pronouncing himself happy with their account, noting "One of the rebels was lying on his back near the fireplace, with a grenade in his right hand, and the other two were close by. And on a form in front of the fireplace I found a deep cut that had been made by the spade when it had been used to attack the auxiliary. I extracted the bullet from the door and at once reported to Sir John Anderson who, somewhat dubious of the accuracy of my information, accompanied me to the guardroom. He listened to the statements of the auxiliaries and I was able to show him ocular and tangible proof of them".<ref>Ormonde Winter, ''Winter's Tale'', {{ISBN|9780745950006}} pp. 322–323</ref>