There was plenty of activity in Roscommon in October 1920 but an IRA attack on the RIC barracks in the village of Frenchpark ended in failure when the heavily outnumbered police force managed to stave off their attackers. The raiders occupied the post office and two houses close to the barrack from which they launched their attack. Again, using a different time and in an effort to catch the RIC by surprise, the barracks was...
What followed a month of reprisal and intimidation was an upsurge in attacks on the RIC and the military. Aided by the cover of darkness that the autumn evenings provided, the IRA once more upped the ante on the military and met them head on. October 1920 was a month of ambush and shooting recorded in the pages of the Irish Newspaper Archive & the Radical Newspaper Archive. Somewhat unfortunately, the newspaper account...
While the statistics quoted earlier this month about the success of IRA ambushes and attacks on the police barracks highlighted the failure of some, occasionally the IRA managed to inflict heavy casualty rates on the police and military. Three policemen were killed and two others wounded during an ambush near Roscommon town on 12 October 1920. A patrol having left Roscommon was ambushed at Four Mile with shots coming from b...
The shooting of Michael Kelly in county Monaghan in October 1920 occurred under strange circumstances and the military attempts to prevent an inquest taking place added to the suspicion. When a car carrying Kelly and Rev L Murray of Tydavnet from a funeral in Enniskillen crashed, John Kelly of Glaslough Street, Monaghan town, a brother of the deceased answered the call to bring a replacement car and duly made his ...
In early October 1920 news of the death of a farmer named John Keane, aged 60, who was wounded during the ambush near Miltown Malbay the previous month was widely lamented in Clare. Drawing hay near the scene of the battle, Keane was struck by a bullet to the knee from a machine gun and died a few days later of blood poisoning. His death also coincided with the discovery of a coffin containing the body of Capt AC Lendrum wh...
Perhaps one of the most daring attacks on the RIC and military occurred near Athlone in county Westmeath and involved a gun battle which was played out on the River Shannon. Major Adams DSO was seriously wounded in the attack and was removed to a local hospital and for a time it looked as if he would die. Other injured men were taken to Dublin for treatment. The patrol had gone to some islands on Lough Ree in a ...
Reports of the IRA’s attacks on constabulary barracks in October 1920 prompted the Irish Bulletin newspaper to compile and publish a list of all known attacks on police barracks from October 1919 to the end of September 1920. According to the Kerry People the total number stood at fifty-eight, of which twelve were captured; two were destroyed and forty four resisted efforts to storm them. The total number of c...
Constable William Stanley was shot dead and Sergeant Doherty was severely wounded during an attack on Feakle barracks in county Clare. Commencing at 11.30am, this was attack was different from most in that it was carried out in daylight. A ‘fierce’ exchange of rifle fire was exchanged between the IRA and the police. In the aftermath, a large force of military, with armoured cars, left Ennis for Feakle but there was no t...
[caption id="attachment_3269" align="alignnone" width="625"] Influenza Flue 1892 Russian Flue[/caption] The Plague of 1889 - View this excellent production by Bailey & Blake . The video provides background on the global impact of the Influenza epidemic 1889. The so-called Russian flue claimed the lives of 15,000 Irish people and over a period of 3 years killed 110,000 in the United Kingdom. By 1894 it was estimated to ha...
The new wave of IRA activity included attacks once again targeted the RIC and their barracks. A daring attack on the barrack in the village of Arva, county Cavan once again showed the ingenuity of the IRA. Commandeering a house in the village, the IRA unit cut through the roof and commenced the attack by throwing home made bombs at the barracks which caused ‘terrific explosions’. The barracks, manned by eight constables...