Editing Irish Civil War (section)

===Fighting in Dublin===
{{Main|Battle of Dublin}}
On 26 June anti-treaty forces occupying the Four Courts kidnapped [[JJ "Ginger" O'Connell]], a general in the National Army, in retaliation for the arrest of Leo Henderson.{{sfn | O'Malley | 1978 | p=117}} Collins, after giving the Four Courts garrison a final (and according to [[Ernie O'Malley]], only){{sfn|O'Malley|1978|p=95}} ultimatum to leave the building on 27 June, decided to end the stand-off by bombarding the Four Courts garrison into surrender. The government then appointed Collins as Commander-in-Chief of the National Army. This attack was not the opening shot of the war, as skirmishes had taken place between pro- and anti-treaty IRA factions throughout the country when the British were handing over the barracks. However, this represented the 'point of no return', when all-out war was effectively declared and the Civil War officially began.{{sfn | Harrington | 1992 | p=22 |ps=: In clashes between pro- and anti-treaty fighters prior to 28 June, eight men had been killed and forty-nine wounded.}}

Collins ordered Mulcahy to accept a British offer of two 18-pounder field [[artillery]] for use by the new army of the Free State, though General Macready gave just 200 shells of the 10,000 he had in store at Richmond barracks in Inchicore. The anti-treaty forces in the Four Courts, who possessed only small arms, surrendered after three days of bombardment and the storming of the building by Provisional Government troops (28–30 June 1922). Shortly before the surrender, a massive explosion destroyed the western wing of the complex, including the [[Irish Public Record Office]] (PRO), injuring many advancing Free State soldiers and destroying the records. Government supporters alleged that the building had been deliberately mined.<ref>[[Tim Healy (politician)|Tim Healy]] memoirs (1928), chapter 46.</ref> Historians dispute whether the PRO was intentionally destroyed by mines laid by the Republicans on their evacuation, or whether the explosions occurred when their ammunition store was accidentally ignited by the bombardment.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cottrell |first=Peter |title=The Irish Civil War 1922–23 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |year=2008 |series=ESSENTIAL HISTORIES |volume=70 |page=40 |isbn=978-1-84603-270-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zn22MvnyW2QC&q=%22mines+under+the+public+records+office%22&pg=PA40 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>{{sfn | Hopkinson | 1988 | p=179|ps=: The Republican garrison had converted this part of the Four Courts into a munitions factory with the cellars underneath being used to store explosives. The Free State bombardment caused a fire which reached the cellars and the consequent explosion destroyed priceless historical records and documents, some of them dating back to the twelfth century.}} Coogan, however, asserts that two lorry-loads of [[gelignite]] was exploded in the PRO, leaving priceless manuscripts floating over the city for several hours afterward.<ref>{{cite book|last=Coogan|first=Tim Pat|title=Michael Collins: A Biography|url=https://archive.org/details/michaelcollinsbi00coog|url-access=registration|year=1991|publisher=Arrow|isbn=978-0-09-968580-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/michaelcollinsbi00coog/page/332 332]}}</ref>

Pitched battles continued in Dublin until 5 July. IRA units from the Dublin Brigade, led by [[Oscar Traynor]], occupied [[O'Connell Street]] – provoking a week's more street fighting and costing another 65 killed and 280 wounded. Among the dead was Republican leader Cathal Brugha, who made his last stand after exiting the Granville Hotel. In addition, the Free State took over 500 Republican prisoners. The civilian casualties are estimated to have numbered well over 250. When the fighting in Dublin died down, the Free State government was left firmly in control of the Irish capital and the anti-treaty forces dispersed around the country, mainly to the south and west.