- Not unusual at all for a man to be shot whilst on leave. The IRA policy was to strike at every opportunity and it mattered not that a man was on leave, walking home holding the hand of his child, coming out of Mass or out fishing. All these happened, and more.
- Internments often followed family wishes and in most cases were low key affairs. There was a boycott by Sinn Fein against even helping to bury RIC dead and frequently the police had to commandeer transport and gravediggers or simply do the job themselves. In a few cases there was more of a public display and ceremony.
- There was no entitlement to a medal for simply being killed.
- There are indeed accounts, in several books written by those on both sides of the conflict, that record individual actions. Some of the best can be found in the Bureau of Military History Witness Statements collated around 1947.
There may be references amongst these that you can find, or perhaps that someone might be able to track for you.
I do know that Redmond (whose burial details also appear on this site) was kiiled in Killarney St, Dublin, in the presence of his wife. Over the Whitsun period of 1921 (13-15 May) the IRA waged a particularly bloody and brutal orgy of killing no doubt designed to put further pressure on the ongoing Truce negotiations. This extract from another writer (copyright G.A.Mackinlay) encapsulates the horror:
13 May 1921 Constable Albert Edward Skeats, standing unarmed outside the barracks at Cadinteely Co Dublin, shot, dying on 28 May.

14 May Constable John Kenna, picking mushrooms in a field 400 yards from his barracks at Innishannon, Co Cork. Unarmed, shot dead by 4 IRA men at close range.

14 May 1921 Sergeant Joseph E Coleman, off duty, unarmed, drinking in a public house in Midleton shot, dying. When two constables Thomas Cornyn and Harold Thompson (an Australian), went the parish church to get a priest to administer the last rites, they were also shot and killed.
Sgt Coleman is buried at Glasnevin with Redmond.

14 May 1921 Constable Robert Redmond, on leave, with his wife at Frankford Cottages, Killarney Street, Dublin. Unarmed shot down in front of his wife.

14 May 1921 Constables Peter Carolan, Patrick Hayes, John Ryle. At 5pm a seven man police patrol on Waterhouse Road, Cork. was attacked by two men throwing bombs. (edit 7 Jan 2012 - it is now known that the mention of Constable Carolan is an error. The victim was Constable Peter Coghlan 57842 and the attack took place in O'Connell Street, Cork)

14 May 1921 Constable Thomas Bridges, shot dead by a group of men, whilst buying groceries at the village of Drumcollogher.

14 May 1921 Head Constable Francis Benson. Had just left his house in Pembroke Street, Tralee, shot down by a group of men whilst closing his garden gate. He was unarmed. He left a wife and five children.

14 May 1921 District Inspector Harry Biggs, with an army officer and three ladies, were driving in a private motor car from Killorcully to Newport Co Tipperary, when ambushed by a large party. He was badly wounded in the neck, and fell some ten yards from the car. The army officer attempted to pick him up under heavy fire, he expended all the ammunition in his revolver, and wounded managed to outrun his pursuers. A Miss Barrington was wounded, and died without receiving any assistance, a second lady wounded, the third no injuries. The ambush party had some seven or eight of its members, went over to the living DI and shot him at pointblank range.

15 May 1921 near Skibbereen, Co Cork. Constable Hugh McLean, a motor mechanic attached to the RIC, he had resigned from the RIC. His mother and his brother's wife had received death threats in Edinburgh (Scotland), his father a Sergeant and his brother, had also resigned. He was unarmed when attacked by a group of men and shot multiple times.

15 May 1921 District Inspector Cecil Arthur Maurice Blake, with his wife, another lady and two army officers, had left a tennis party by car at Ballyturin House, Gort, Co Galway. He had got out of the car to open the house gates, when fired upon by a party of 20 men, he was mortally wounded. His wife refused to leave him, the other lady left. Both unarmed officers were shot at close range by multiple weapons. Mrs Blake, killed by shots at close range from five different weapons. A Constable John Kearney, on arrival with a police party, was attending the bodies when killed by a long distant shot. Some references state that the bodies of the four original killed were "badly used".

Peter Mc
 
Last Edited By: Peter Mc RIC 7-Jan-2012 8:09 PM. Edited 4 times.