Some time after the outbreak of the Civil War at the end of June 1922, Arthur Griffith began to feel unwell. He had been working more or less non stop since negotiating the Treaty which was ratified the previous January. As its terms were not widely accepted, he spent the time since defending it. After the general election of June 16th, in which he was elected for Cavan, Griffith attended forty-one of the forty-two provisional government meetings which took place in the week between 23 June and 30 July.

His strong and vigorous constitution was debilitated by the heavy burden of official responsibilities and great anxieties consequent on the tragic happenings of the last six weeks and only under the persuasion of his own relatives and personal friends died he consent to go into the Private Nursing Home, 96 Lower Lesson Street, where the past fortnight he had been under treatment, leaving it only for brief itrevals to go to his office in Merrion Street.

Freeman’s Journal 14 August 1922

After contracting influenza along with tonsillitis, he remaining working, and even began to show signs of improving. But on the morning of 12th August he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died. He was only 51.

After he entered the nursing home he was attended to by Dr. St John Gogarty, who released a medical statement after his passing

Funeral

A pall of melancholy seemed to hang over the whole town. The funeral and the empty grave were the thoughts on all minds.

Weekly Freeman’s Journal 19 August 1922

Sources

Freeman’s Journal 14 August 1922

https://www.dib.ie/biography/griffith-arthur-joseph-a3644 Contributed by Michael Laffan

Weekly Freeman’s Journal 19 August 1922

The war wages on

One of the features of the Civil war was the disruption to the transport system, such as the destruction of the road and railways. The railways in particular were targeted by the irregulars, as they were easier to destroy than the roads. They were vandalised too. The disruption to the transport and communication systems was a tactic of guerilla warfare.

Looting was common too. Some pillaging was opportunistic, but sadly most was not. Due to the disruption in the transport as well as the supply system, people in rural areas were deprived of the basics. In some instances they went hungry, and looted the shops and abandoned lorries and carts for supplies. Luxury goods were not left behind in the ‘raids’, as newspaper reports of the time conveted:

The tracks between the larger urban centres were generally repaired quickly but the outposts including Achill were left in a state of wreck for longer periods of time.

Sources

Freeman’s Journal 11 August 1922

Dublin Daily Express 20 June 1914