The Squad (Irish Republican Army Unit) - Bloody Sunday

Bloody Sunday

One of the Apostles' particular targets was the Cairo Gang, a deep cover British intelligence group, so called since it had either been largely assembled from intelligence officers serving in Cairo or from the Dublin restaurant called the Cairo, frequented by the gang. The Cairo Gang was brought in during the middle of 1920 by Sir Henry Wilson explicitly to deal with Michael Collins and his organisation. Given carte blanche in its operations by Wilson, the strategy adopted by the Cairo Gang was to assassinate members of Sinn Féin unconnected with the military struggle, assuming that this would cause the IRA to respond and bring its leaders into the open.

The most well-known operation executed by the Apostles occurred on Bloody Sunday, November 21, 1920, when British MI5 officers, linked to the Cairo Gang significantly involved in spying, were shot at various locations in Dublin (14 were killed, six were wounded). In addition to the "Twelve Apostles", a larger number of IRA personnel were involved in this operation. The only IRA man captured during the operation was Frank Teeling. In response to the killings, the Black and Tans retaliated by shooting up a Gaelic football match between Dublin and Tipperary at Croke Park, killing 14 civilians including one of the players, Michael Hogan, and wounding 68.