Stephen Hayes, a former IRA Chief of Staff, was kidnapped by members of the IRA on 30 June 1941. He later claimed he was subjected to a court martial and tortured during his captivity, accused of being a government informant.
IRA member Seán McCaughey was later convicted in connection with Hayes’ abduction. McCaughey would die during a hunger and thirst strike in Portlaoise Prison in 1946, becoming one of the last IRA men to die in such a protest in the 20th century.