Army Mutiny The Army Mutiny ( ) describes an Irish Army crisis in March 1924 provoked by a proposed reduction in army numbers in the immediate post - Civil War period . A second grievance concerned the handling of the Northern Boundary problem . As the prelude to a coup d ' état , the decisions made by influential politicians and soldiers at the time have continuing significance for the Government of Ireland . National Army . In the early weeks of the Civil War , the National Army comprised 7 , 000 men mainly pro - Treaty IRA units , especially the Dublin Guard , whose members had personal ties to Michael Collins . They faced around 15 , 000 anti - Treaty IRA men and Collins needed to recruit experienced soldiers from wherever he could . The army ' s size mushroomed to 55 , 000 men , many war - hardened Irishmen - 20 , 000 National Volunteers had joined the British Army on the urgings of Nationalist leader John Redmond . Likewise , Irishmen who had served in the British forces accounted for over half the 3 , 500 officers . W . R . E . Murphy , second - in - command ( January - May 1923 ) , had been a Lieutenant Colonel in the British Army , as had Emmet Dalton . Two more of the senior generals , John T . Prout and J . J . " Ginger " O ' Connell , had served in the United States Army . Collins promoted fellow - members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood but was slow to put Squad members in high positions . Irish Republican Army Organisation . In December 1922 , following Collins ' s death , Liam Tobin formed the Irish Republican Army Organisation ( IRAO ) taking in Dublin Guard and other Irish Army officers who shared his view that " higher command . . . was not sufficiently " patriotic " " . President W . T . Cosgrave , head of the government attempted to appease the IRAO . He met with them several times before the September 1923 Election and persuaded the opposing IRB faction of Generals under Richard Mulcahy to keep quiet . With the Election over , Mulcahy now ignored the IRAO as he started the process of demobilising 37 , 000 men . In November , sixty IRA officers mutinied and were dismissed without pay . The IRAO now pressurised the Government to establish a Committee to supervise future demobilisation . The Committee , consisting of Eoin MacNeill , Ernest Blythe and IRAO sympathiser Joseph McGrath , effectively undermined the authority of the Army Council . Ultimatum . On 7 March 1924 a representative of the IRAO handed a demand to end demobilisation to President Cosgrave . The ultimatum was signed by senior Army officers , Major - General Liam Tobin and Colonel Charles Dalton . Tobin knew his own position was to be scrapped in the demobilisation . That morning 35 men of the 36th Infantry Battalion had refused to parade and the preceding week officers had absconded with arms from Templemore , Gormanstown , Baldonnel Aerodrome and Roscommon . The immediate response was an order for the arrest of the two men on a charge of mutiny , this caused alarm throughout Dublin when announced . On 8 March General Mulcahy made an announcement to the Army : Leader of the Opposition , Thomas Johnson issued a statement of support for the Government . In contrast Minister for Industry and Commerce , Joseph McGrath , whose home Mulcahy ordered to be searched , resigned because of dissatisfaction with the government ' s attitude to the IRAO officers and support for their perception that the Irish Army treated former British officers better than former IRA officers . Fearing an incendiary speech by McGrath , Cosgrave first offered the IRAO an inquiry and an amnesty before then taking sick leave thus making Minister for Justice , Kevin O ’ Higgins , de facto head of the Government . Kevin O ' Higgins . Observers at the time have provided insights into the motivations of Cosgrave and O ' Higgins . Cosgrave was an " unpretentious and modest man " , O ' Higgins " redoubtable " . Generals Costello and MacEoin recount that Cosgrave faked illness hoping O ’ Higgins would talk himself into resigning . Mrs Mulcahy and Mrs Cosgrave agree O ’ Higgins wanted Cosgrave to resign . On 18 March , 40 armed men assembled at Devlin ' s Hotel in Parnell Street , Dublin . Two lorry loads of troops were sent to surround the premises and a stand off developed with the mutineers . McGrath and Daniel McCarthy were allowed access as intermediaries . O ' Higgins moved to resolve the problem . Strong reinforcements were dispatched . Tobin & Dalton were able to escape using an old path of retreat across the roofs known from the days when Devlin ' s had been a safehouse for Michael Collins The cabinet , already wary of the Free State Army , ordered an inquiry and appointed Garda Commissioner Eoin O ' Duffy to the army command . The cabinet demanded the resignation of the army council and the generals resigned . The crisis within the army was solved but the government was divided , Richard Mulcahy , the Minister for Defence , resigned and O ' Higgins was victorious in a very public power struggle within Cumann na nGaedheal . However the events re - affirmed the subservience of the military to the civilian government of the new state . McGrath and eight other TDs resigned from Cumann na nGaedheal then resigned their seats to contest by - elections , running as the National Party . However , Cumann na nGaedheal won seven of these and Sinn Féin won the other two . Charlie Dalton . Charlie Dalton had started as a 12 Apostle assassin with his brother , Emmet . He followed Michael Collins joining the pro - Treaty side and now held the position of Colonel in the Army . Dalton was born in 1903 and grew up around Columba ' s Road , Drumcondra , Dublin .