William Geary was an intelligent, resourceful and successful policeman in 1920s Ireland. By 1928 he had also become a thorn in the side of the still active anti-Treaty IRA, so they contrived to besmirch Geary’s good name and have him dismissed from the force. A coded message, which they knew would be intercepted by the (Gardai,) police was sent implying that Geary had accepted a bribe of 100 from the IRA for providing them with secret State information.
Geary was confronted by Commissioner Eoin ODuffy, Chief Superintendent David Neligan and Deputy Commissioner Eamonn Coogan on 16 June 1928 and was summarily dismissed from the force on 25 June 1928 without any form of trial of a chance to reply to the charges against him. He spent the next seventy-one years clearing his name.
