As the author of many works which swayed public opinion toward the Irish cause,
Childers was a natural target of the
Crown forces. Also as an
Englishman who
pressed for the Republican ideal of independence in place of
home rule status,
Childers came to be mistrusted in spite of his past services
as their most moving
spokesman. The weapon for which he was arrested and
executed was described as 'a tiny delicately-made gun such as a middle-aged
lady of timid disposition might carry in her handbag.'
On the evening of his execution Childers declined a blindfold and asked
the firing squad "Take a step forward, lads. It will be easier that way.". A
man who wrote beautiful prose, he was also a man of strong convictions.