Ambush at Central Park

In 1922, three of the Irish Republican Army's top gunmen arrived in New York City seeking vengeance. Their target: "Cruxy" O'Connor, a young Irishman who kept switching sides as revolution swept his country in the wake of World War I. Cruxy's last betrayal dealt a blow to Ireland's struggle for independence: six of his IRA comrades were killed when he told police the location of their safe house. A year later, the IRA gunned him down before a crowd of horrified New Yorkers. Based primarily on first-hand accounts, most of them never before published, Ambush at Central Park is a cinematic exploration of the enigma of "Cruxy" O'Connor. Author Mark Bulik delved through Irish government archives, newspaper accounts, census data, and unpublished material from the families of the main actors. Together they add to the story of a rebel ambush, a deadly police raid, a dinner laced with poison, a daring prison break, a boatload of tommy guns, an unlikely pair of spies who fall in love, and an assassination plot against the British cabinet. Here is a forgotten chapter of Irish and New York history: the story of the only officially authorized IRA attack on American soil. Contains mature themes.