Just take a look at this lovely image here:

The happy man in the middle is Kevin O’Higgins. He has just been married to the lovely lady in front of him. On his right is his best man, Rory O’Connor.

This was taken in October 1921, during the Irish War of Independence. O’Higgins, and O’Connor were leading figures in the Irish nationalist cause.

Now flash-forward a year. Much has changed since then. Two and a half years of warfare has finally dragged the British to the negotiating table, and the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1922 essentially made Ireland an independent nation, apart from one crucial point; the King would still be our head of state.

Of course, some in the nationalist movement took exception to this. Took so much exception, in fact, that they decided that those who supported this Treaty were traitors, and deserved to be treated as such.

O’Higgins, being the fine and moral man that he was, supported the Treaty. O’Connor, being the fine and moral man that he was, rejected the Treaty.

So one thing led to another, and before you know it, the nationalist movement had split, and the two sides were tearing each other apart in the Irish Civil War. In December 1922, four anti-Treaty leaders who had been captured earlier in the war were executed, in reprisal for the killing of a pro-Treaty leader the day before.

The name of one of those men?

Rory O’Connor.

The name of the man who signed their death warrants?

Kevin O’Higgins.

When later accused of personal vindictiveness in carrying out these executions, O’Higgins responded: “Vindictiveness! Great heavens! One of these men was a friend of mine.”