Ernie OMalley IRA (5/6)

After the rising, O'Malley became deeply involved in Irish republican separatist activism, a fact he had to hide from his family, who had close ties to the establishment. He left his studies and worked as a full-time organiser for the IRA from 1918 on, work that brought him to almost every corner of Ireland.On one occasion he attended a semi-public meeting of the Ulster Volunteer Force in County Tyrone for intelligence purposes, and lamented that such able men were opposed to his ideals. Although officially attached to IRA GHQ, O'Malley was tasked as a training officer for rural IRA units, which involved him in IRA operations throughout the country once the war got under way.In February 1920, he and Eoin O'Duffy led an IRA attack on the Royal Irish Constabulary barracks in Ballytrain, County Monaghan, and were successful in taking it over. This was the first capture of an RIC barracks in the war.