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Why was an Irishman executed by other Irish men a century ago? The Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed 100 years ago, brought an end to the Irish War of Independence and ending centuries of British colonial control. Ireland became the first nation to break away from the British Empire.

During the war members of the IRA were pitted against the Royal Irish Constabulary, the British Army and the notorious Black and Tans and Auxiliaries. It's a story of divided loyalties and the unresolved traumas of war, with resonance today as Britain and Ireland struggle to address the legacy of the more recent violence of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

In an investigation into the fate of one man, James Kane, the River Man, executed by the IRA a century ago, Fergal Keane explores some of these issues. Why did they kill him and what were the consequences for his family and his executioners?

Producer: John Murphy

​(Photo: The River Feale, Listowel, County Kerry, Ireland. James Kane was a fisheries inspector, patrolling the Feale)