<p>IRA leader Rory O’Connor was once a close comrade of fellow republican Michael Collins and Kevin O’Higgins - indeed he was O’Higgins best man.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><br><p>&nbsp;But just over a year later after the wedding, O’Higgins signed his friend’s death warrant.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;O’Connor’s execution along with Liam Mellows, Dick Barrett and Joe McKelvey, added to the bitterness of Ireland’s civil war and made O’Connor a republican&nbsp;martyr,&nbsp;albeit&nbsp;a forgotten one.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><br><p>&nbsp;In&nbsp;‘To defend the Republic’,&nbsp;the&nbsp;first biography of O’Connor’s life, historian Gerard Shannon tells the story of&nbsp;this enigmatic&nbsp;IRA figure.&nbsp;</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>