>"They said I was ruthless, daring, savage, blood thirsty, even heartless."
>"The clergy called me and my comrades murderers; but the British were met with their own weapons."
>"They had gone in the mire to destroy us and our nation and down after them we had to go."
Tom Barry, Commander of the 3rd West Cork Brigade of the IRA. (picrel)

Barry is best known for the Kilmichael Ambush; seen as a turning point in the Irish War of Independence. He and his men ambushed the British "elite" Auxiliary Divison-a firefight ensued. The British surrendered-but when the IRA approached, they dropped their weapons and fired, killing 3 of Barry's men. Barry ordered the men to start shooting again-when the British surrendered a second time, he ordered all of them executed on the spot.

>"There is no crime in detecting and destroying in wartime the spy and informer. "
>"They have destroyed without trial. I have paid them back in their own coin."
Michael Collins, Director of Intelligence for the IRA.

This quote was in response to criticism of his actions in Novermber 1920, when he had over a dozen British spies and officers assassinated in Dublin in a single morning. He had done so because the British Prime Minister had claimed a few weeks prior that the IRA were on the brink of defeat.