Treaty, the Treaty had to be ratified by popular vote and the Second Dáil had decided that the 16 June 1922 general election, campaigned on the Treaty, would be that ratification. By April, there were increasing clashes between government troops and irregulars and, in late April, Lynch attended public rallies with Michael Collins in Killarney and Tralee to argue for the Treaty, despite significant harassment from anti-treaty activists. Sinn Féin knew that the June election would split the party and in an effort to retain unity a Pact was drawn up in May 1922 under which it was agreed that both Pro and Anti-Treaty TDs would form a coalition government. The outcome of June 1922 election was strongly in favour of acceptance of the Treaty, both in the number of Pro-Treaty TDs elected and the votes cast. However, there were continuing disagreements about the Anglo-Irish Treaty, combined with many acts of aggression against treaty supporters as well as National Forces leading ultimately to the civil war, with the shelling of the Four Courts on 28 June 1922 being a significant watershed moment. During the Civil War he fought with the Irish National Army and rose to the rank of Brigadier-General. He enlisted in the National Army at Portobello Barracks on 12 July 1922, as a General Staff Officer in the General Headquarters Staff. By mid-summer the major cities were under government control and the Irregulars were concentrated in the rural areas of the province of Munster, particularly in the counties of Tipperary, Cork, and Kerry. In July 1922, with the sub-division of the original military districts, Lynch was appointed by Collins a vice commandant of the South Western Division with the rank of commandant-general, commanding a unit of Dublin soldiers in County Kerry. He served in that appointment under General Eoin O'Duffy, General Officer Commanding the Division, up to 13 December 1922. He undertook trips to his constituency in Kerry and the rest of the county but the population of the county was heavily anti treaty and there was considerable danger. On occasion he had to endure being ambushed and, during one ambush, he was hit on a metal cigarette case which saved his life. In August 1922, he travelled by car with Michael Collins as far as Limerick, where Lynch headed for his constituency of Kerry and Collins for Cork, but on 22 August 1922 Collins was ambushed and