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Here is a focused chronological summary of the Killaloe Bridge Murders and General Crozier’s immediate, direct involvement in the aftermath.
1. The Capture: November 16, 1920
Under cover of a ruse involving a lake steamer on Lough Derg, 'G' Company of the Auxiliary Division (ADRIC) raided Williamstown House near Whitegate. They arrested three active IRA Volunteers—Alfie Rogers, Brud (Michael) McMahon, and Martin Gildea—alongside the civilian caretaker, Michael Egan. The prisoners were taken to the Auxiliary headquarters at the Lakeside Hotel in Ballina.
2. The Executions: Night of November 16–17, 1920
Late that night, the four men were handed over to a regular Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) patrol led by District Inspector Victor Stuart Gwynne to be marched across the 13-arch stone bridge to the Killaloe Barracks.
Halfway across the bridge in pitch darkness, the patrol opened fire, killing all four prisoners.
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The Crown Claim: The men were shot while making a concerted effort to escape.
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The Forensic Reality: A subsequent medical examination revealed at least 17 point-blank bullet holes, proving a summary, execution-style reprisal.
The Company commander was AJ Andrews who had been appointed 5 Oct 1920 and resigned from ADRIC on 1921 Feb 2.
3. Crozier’s Arrival: November 23, 1920
Just five days after the murders, Brigadier General F.P. Crozier (Commander of the Auxiliary Division) arrived at the Lakeside Hotel to inspect 'G' Company. He was walking into a unit that had just ben involved tangentially in the execution four nationalist prisoners with complete impunity.
The backdrop to his visit was grim: the body of Father Michael Griffin (a priest murdered by Crown forces in Galway) was being unearthed that very day. Crozier, already deeply horrified by the escalating lawlessness of his own men, was on the ground trying to assess a highly volatile situation.
4. The Bishop Fogarty Plot
While at the Lakeside Hotel, Crozier discovered that 'G' Company’s bloodlust had not faded. Officers within the unit had formed an active plot to assassinate the outspoken nationalist Roman Catholic Bishop of Killaloe, Dr. Michael Fogarty, and dump his weighted body into the River Shannon.
Recognizing that 'G' Company was operating entirely outside the chain of command, and desperate to prevent another public relations and moral disaster like the Griffin case, Crozier took a radical step:
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He bypassed his own officers and secretly sent a direct warning to Bishop Fogarty.
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The warning saved the Bishop's life; he immediately fled north to seek sanctuary with Cardinal Logue in Armagh, narrowly evading a hit squad that raided his house shortly after.
Historical Significance
While this specific event did not trigger Crozier’s resignation months later, it was a vital turning point. It proved to the commanding general that his elite paramilitary forces had devolved into state-sanctioned hit squads, to the extent that he had to act as a secret informant against his own men to prevent the murder of a Catholic bishop.