generalpiarasbeaslai

Flickr is sometimes amazing! From 2016 via Diego Sideburns who says,
"Patrick Byrne Monument
In the grounds of the Church of St Anthony of Egypt, Scotland Road, Liverpool is the monument to Irishman "Dandy" Patrick Byrne who went to Liverpool as a 17 year old emigrant from Wexford and became a successful businessman and a Liverpool Councillor. He died in 1890 and a monument acknowledging his generosity to the Irish people in the Scotland Road area was erected in Scotland Place outside of the Morning Star Pub which Patrick Byrne owned. The original monument was removed from Scotland Place when work began on the second Mersey tunnel in the late 1960s. The monument was moved to another location and from there subsequently finished up in a Liverpool Corporation Yard. The whereabouts of the monument became known in 1998 and efforts to restore as much of the remaining parts of the monument succeeded in having it sited in the grounds of St Anthony's Church."

More via Diego Sideburns

beachcomber australia So we're not in Warrington at all, as we thought, but in Liverpool proper then? Must have been the "Warrington's Ales" that led the Krazy Kataloguer astray.

National Library of Ireland on The Commons Seems so.

"The Morning Star was situated at 24-28 Scotland Place. This pub has now been demolished."
www.closedpubs.co.uk/lancashire/liverpool_l3_morningstar....

"Possibly the best known pub, and one I have mentioned before in this blog, was the Morning Star at 24 Scotland Place. It was better known as Dandy Pat’s on account of its charismatic landlord Pat Byrne, also a Liverpool councillor. It was positioned at the city end of the Scottie where it became Byrom Street, most of which was demolished to make way for the second Mersey Tunnel road scheme. There is a great photo of the Morning Star with its front ‘arched’ windows, and Walker’s Warrington Ales sign on the left. In the centre is the Birmingham Arms ( a Threlfalls pub renowned for their blue and white livery, at 14 Scotland Place) next to the ’98 Shop’. In the centre next to the tramlines is the ‘Dandy Pat Memorial Fountain’ which, after a previous relocation, survives today in the grounds of St.Anthony’s church further along Scotland Road. ..."

From - cadhain.wordpress.com/2021/03/25/the-pubs-of-scottie-road/

Here he is - www.theauxiliaries.com/police-advisor-office/haldane/hald...

From thepeerage dot com: Lt.-Col. Maldwyn Makgill Haldane was born on 11 January 1877. He was the son of Robert Camperdown Haldane and Emily Anderson. He married, firstly, Mabel Constance Seymour, daughter of Robert George Seymour, on 8 November 1902. He married, secondly, Katherine Baylay, daughter of Reverend Atwell Mervyn Yates Baylay, in October 1934. He died on 29 June 1940 at age 63. He was educated at St. Paul's School, London, England. He was educated at Loretto School, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland. He was educated at Jesus College, Cambridge University, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England. He fought in the First World War. He gained the rank of Major and Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel in the Royal Scots. He was Assistant Director of Special Intelligence Services.

At The Peerage - www.thepeerage.com/p31101.htm#i311005

From the beachcombers link, I think the reason he was of interest to Beaslai and Collins was: 1914 Major, War Office (Declaration of War) Major, Head of H Branch MI5 throughout the war (under Lt. Colonel Kell) 1919 Jan 1 Lt. Colonel, 1920 Lt. Colonel, 1920, A Branch (Director of Administration) Ireland, Dublin Castle. In Police Advisor's Office in Dublin 1922 Lt. Colonel, 1922, Director Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Belfast

Wikispooks [!!] on MI5 history - wikispooks.com/wiki/MI5

I went grave digging -
www.findagrave.com/memorial/12533/john-charles-o'neill

streetview - maps.app.goo.gl/UrZbuVqVK4irrPy56

O'Neill at wikipedia

According to BEA76 in the archive, Seán Mac Caoilte is the Hitler mustache guy beside Béaslaí.

The dib says: The apprehensions indicated in the novel help to explain why Béaslaí took the pro-treaty side in 1922. After the dáil vote he was sent to America by Collins to publicise the pro-treaty case; he returned to Dublin shortly before the civil war and was chief press censor during the conflict.

The Catalogue also names James E. Deery. A HAGS says he was AOH National President: James E. Deery 1919-1923.