Ballingeary Volunteers 1920
This account of I.R.A. activities by the
Ballingeary Brigade in the year 1920 was
compiled by
Donal Cronin, Bawnatoumple
from his uncle, John Cronins account of that
period. The periods 1914 - 1916 and 1916 -
1920 are covered in Journal No. 2 and No.
4.
1920:
Volunteers now collected contributions for
the national loan which was organised by Michael
Collins, Minister for Finance, to fund the newly
elected First Dail and aid the struggle for
independence. 168 households subscribed
and a total of £262 10s 0d was
collected. By July 1920 £379,000 had
been subscribed nationwide. To add to the
heavy responsibilities of the company many
wanted men frequented the area. Prominent
officers included Tomás McCurtain, Terence
McSweeney, Pat Higgins, Pat Hyde, Sean Hyde,
Sean Murphy, Sean Hegarty, Tadg Barry etc. and
we were responsible for their safety.
Assistance had been given to Donncha Mc Neilus
after his dramatic rescue from Cork jail.
Members canvassed for Sinn Fein in the local
government elections, January 1920. Tomás
Mc Curtain and Terence McSweeney were elected to
Cork Corporation.
On January 30th
Tomás McCurtain was elected Lord Mayor of Cork.
He immediately fired the High Sheriff of Cork.
On the night of March 20th R.I.C. and
Military broke into his house and murdered him
in front of his wife and family. His death
caused great sadness locally and volunteers
attended his funeral. Terence Mc Sweeney
was elected Lord Mayor and also Officer in
Command 1st Brigade, Sean Hegarty
moved to Vice O.C.
On Whit Sunday, 23rd
May 1920, an attack was planned on the local
barracks. On the previous Sunday the
R.I.C. had lazed around the yard enjoying the
sun, most without their weapons. If they
repeated this on the 23rd it was
planned to rush the building and take them by
surprise. Selected men armed with
revolvers from Kilnamartyra and Ballyvourney
were brought in to front the attack as the
locals were too well known and would arouse
suspicion. They mingled with crowds
going to the Whitsun and filtered into Shortens
Bar. Local volunteers stood by to join in
once the attack began.
The R.I.C.
under Sergeant Applebey had been reinforced by
Black and Tans and now numbered 14 men.
After a lengthy wait the door finally opened and
a policeman appeared. However he quickly
went back inside again and rifles appeared at
all the portholes. The plan was abandoned.
Five or six naval officers with radio equipment
were now sent to further reinforce the barracks.
However the threat of attack, the continuing
boycott and the serious overcrowding had the
desired effect and on the 7th June
1920 the British withdrew. That night the
building was thoroughly searched and then burned
to prevent re-occupation. The following
men reported: John P. Cronin, Liam
Twomey, Dan Corcoran, Jerh McCarthy, Timothy
Callaghan, Dan T. O'Leary, John P. Cronin,
Daniel O'Leary, James O'Leary, Danny Shea, John
McSweeney, John Lynch, Tadg Twomey, Tim H.
Twomey, Jerh Shea, Denis Cronin, James D.
Cronin, Pat Murray, James Cotter, Jack Moynihan,
Dan Sullivan and Dan Lehane.
On June
24th the Batt. planned another attack
on Inchigeela Barracks. Arrangements had been
made to deliver poteen to the garrison
beforehand. A lorry was borrowed and
driven to Inchigeela to enable the attackers to
remove the captured equipment and arms quickly
from the area. It was driven by James D.
Cronin and the following travelled in it,
John C. Cronin, Patrick Cronin, Jerh McCarthy,
James Cotter, Danny Shea, Liam Twomey, John P.
Cronin. All were armed. The agent failed
to deliver the poteen and the plan was called
off.
On July 15th.
Ballyvourney and Kilnamartyra men inflicted
heavy casualties on the British during an attack
at the "Geata Bán" near Ballyvourney.
No arms were captured and the lorry load of
soldiers managed to escape. On July 28th
the area west of Macroom was declared a special
military area. Among the restrictions
imposed was one compelling every homeowner to
display a list of the occupants on the door.
As this posed a threat to the men on the run,
people risked severe penalties and refused to
comply.
July 27th.
On the evening of July 27th two
heavily laden army lorries passed through
Ballingeary en route to Castletownbere.
One of the lorries broke down near the lochán at
Túirín Dubh. The soldiers in the leading
lorry stopped at Keimaneigh to wait for their
companions. They pulled into the soft dyke
and quickly sank there. Dan Sullivan
scouted the area and then alerted the
volunteers. As the message was relayed
from man to man, they began to assemble near
O'Learys in Gurtafluddig. When 13 men had
arrived they decided to move off and attack in
case a search party arrived for the soldiers.
Their arms were one service rifle, one old rifle
and 11 shotguns. They took a wide detour
to the west and approached the first lorry from
the south. The men involved: Danny
Shea, Jerh Shea, Christy Lucey, Tadg Twomey, Dan
Lehane, Pat Murray, Jack Moynihan, John P.
Cronin, Dan T. O'Leary, John Con Cronin, John Mc
Sweeney, Connie Cronin, Denis Cronin.
They advanced through Keimaneigh School yard
until they were directly over the lorry.
The five armed soldiers and the unarmed driver
were taken by surprise and immediately
surrendered. They were disarmed and held
under guard. The next task was to take the
armed sentry who patrolled between the two
lorries. Dan Lehane and Tadg Twomey
confronted him as he passed a gateway some
distance to the east. He too surrendered
and was held captive. They now approached the
eastern lorry. However the six soldiers
here refused to surrender and opened fire.
Fire was returned and very soon they waved a
white cloth attached to a rifle barrel. The
driver here was also unarmed. Eleven
service rifles and eleven hundred rounds of
ammunition were captured. Other volunteers
had now arrived on the scene: Patrick Cronin,
Liam Twomey, Dan Corcoran, James T. O'Leary, Con
D. Cronin, James D. Cronin, Jerh McCarthy, Danny
O'Leary, Pat Sweeney, James Cotter, John J.
Cronin, Con Cronin, Neilus Kelleher, Ned
Sweeney, George Riordan and Paty Twomey.
They helped to remove and hide the
weapons and unload the lorries. They were
heavily laden with sheets of armour plating,
tins of paint, and household goods including
ware and cutlery. All these were hidden at
Gurtafluddig and the lorries were burned.
The captured soldiers were taken to a vacant
house south of the road. Some began to cry
and plead for mercy as they thought they were
about to be shot. They were quickly
reassured. A fire was lit in the hearth
and they were treated to tea and bread courtesy
of Dan Sullivan. When darkness fell they
were released and escorted through the village.
A short time later they were met by a large
search party from Ballincollig.
Two
Volunteers arrested:
During widespread
follow up searches by R.I.C., Black and Tans and
military, our youngest volunteer, Tadg
Callaghan, aged 17 years was arrested while
working in a field saving hay. A tin of
paint found hidden in a nearby field was the
only evidence they could produce against him.
Sargent Maunsell recognised Dan Sullivan as a
volunteer and he was identified by a soldier he
had given tea to. They searched his house and
ransacked his shop. Both men were interrogated
but refused to yield any names or information.
They were held in Cork Jail, where they did nine
days hunger strike along with other prisoners,
claiming they were illegally held by the
British. Both were tried by a military court at
Ballincollig. Soldiers acted as lawyers for
them. Both were convicted and sentenced to
prison. They served time on a prison sloop off
the coast of France, where they suffered
sea-sickness, in Winchester Jail, in Pentonville
Prison and in Wormwood Scrubbs. They
joined numerous protests and further hunger
strikes.
On August 12th
Terence Mc Sweeney was arrested and began his
long hunger strike. Sean Hegarty was now
appointed Brigade O.C. Tadg Barry was Vice
O.C. On August 17th
Ballyvourney and Kilnamartyra men attacked a
British cycle patrol at the "Slippery Rock"
near Ballyvourney. British casualties
were one killed and four wounded. Eleven
rifles were captured.
On the evening of
August 23rd Sargent Maunsell was shot
dead in Inchigeela. A party of R.I.C.
travelled from Bandon to collect his body on the
24th. They were ambushed at
Lissarda. This ambush was unsuccessful and
there were casualties on both sides.
On
August 25th a party of soldiers set
up camps at the Mouth of the Glen. As
volunteers were assembling to raid them, large
numbers of British troops arrived from Macroom,
Kenmare, and Bantry. The volunteers
quickly left the area and worked throughout the
night removing all guns and ammunition from the
area. Most volunteers also left. At dawn
next morning over two hundred soldiers, R.I.C.
and Black and Tans began thorough searches.
Particular attention was paid to Keimcoraboula.
These searches proved unsuccessful. It
became known locally as the Keimcoraboula
Round-up. On Sunday 6th
September, Liam Hegarty and Michael Lynch were
shot dead by Black and Tans at Ballyvourney.
Both were unarmed and it caused outrage in the
area. Large numbers of local people
attended their funerals.
We now received
information that secret service men were to
visit the area and a guard was mounted at the
Pass of Keimaneigh for almost a month. One
suspect was captured and held prisoner for a few
days. However he proved innocent. He
was a British Magistrate named Brady who was
touring Ireland on a motor-bike. He was
well treated and was released unharmed. The
company had now acquired a motor-bike which
proved invaluable for delivering dispatches and
conveying officers to meetings etc.
Death of Terence NcSweeney:
On October 5th
Terence Mc Sweeney died after seventy four days
on hunger strike. Around this time a
Battalion Flying Column or active service unit
(A.S.U.) was formed. It numbered thirty
two men, armed with twenty six rifles and six
revolvers. It included men from
Ballyvourney, Coolea, Kilnamartyra, Inchigeela
and twelve men from Ballingeary: John Con
Cronin, Cors. Cronin, Danny Shea, John P.
Cronin, Jerh Mc Carthy, James Cotter, James
Cronin, Liam Twomey, Cal O'Callaghan, John
McSweeney, Pat Cronin, and Dan Lehane.
The Black and Tans had arrived
in Macroom during March 1920 and occupied
Macroom Castle and Mountmassey House. They
numbered over sixty. During September a
hundred auxiliaries arrived there also.
All were now housed in the castle for safety.
Thirty six R.I.C. occupied the police station.
They carried out widespread raids in the area,
often two or three times a week. The local
volunteers now numbered over a hundred men and
they countered these raids as best they could by
trenching roads etc. On successive Sundays in
October and November 1920 the Tans cordoned off
Ballingeary village as people attended Mass and
questioned people at gunpoint as they returned
to their homes. On Sunday 15th
November, Jerh Shea, Tadg and Liam Twomey came
under intense fire as they escaped through the
cordon to warn a group of officers holding a
meeting at Túirín Dubh.
On Sunday
November 7th the newly formed flying
column took up ambush positions at the Mouth of
the Glen. They were joined there by ten
other men from Ballingeary: Dan T. O'Leary,
Pat Murray, Jack Moynihan, Jack Callaghan, Danny
D. O'Leary, Dan Corcoran, Denis O'Leary Jerh
Shea, Con Cronin and Johnny Lynch. All
were armed with shotguns and they took up
positions on the flanks and as out-posts. We
waited in vain. On that Sunday and on
successive Sundays the Black and Tans raided
south of Macroom and on November 28th
they were wiped out at Kilmichael by Tom Barry's
men.
Criostóir Ó Luasaigh:
On
Wednesday, November 10th Black and
Tans again raided Ballingeary. Twenty two
year old Christopher Lucey (Section Commander,
B. Company, 1st Battalion, Cork City)
and late of Pembroke Street, had been on the run
in the area all Summer and Autumn. He
slept in a "béilic" south of the road, at Túirín
Dubh but had his meals in Twomey's of Túirín
Dubh. He spotted the approaching lorries
and ran to the Twomey house to warn his
companions. They had already left and when
he ran from the rear of the house, he failed to
follow the pre-arranged and often proved escape
route. He came under heavy fire and was
shot while crossing open ground near Carrig.
He was unarmed.
When the Tans returned to
Macroom they entered the Market Bar and began to
celebrate. They were toasting one man in
particular and he described in detail how he had
taken aim and fired the fatal shot. The
barman, an ex R.I.C. man named Vaughan was able
to identify him and he informed the Macroom
volunteers. All companies were notified
about this man and some time later he was again
identified by volunteers in Cork City, when he
signed his name to a docket, while ordering
military stores. When he returned to
collect his order he was taken prisoner and
executed.
(Great credit and
thanks is due to Donie Cotter, Carrig and
his brother in law Pat O'Sullivan, Kealkil for
the restoration of the Conchúr Ó Luasaigh
monument in Carrig. Míle buíochas).