Mourne Abbey Counter
Ambush
Introduction from Chronology
IRA ambush party at Mourne Abbey in Co. Cork is surprised
by a British force. Four IRA men are killed and eight captured – two of
whom are subsequently executed.
More Detail
The
Mallow Battalion Column, under Jack Cunningham (with the battalion Commandant, Tadg Byrne, also present) were laying in ambush on the Mallow-Cork road at Mourne Abbey when they are surrounded by
a strong British force. Three IRA Volunteers were killed outright
(Patrick Flynn, Patrick Dorgan and Éamonn Creedon) and another later dies of his wounds on February
22nd (Michael Looney).
The
men killed were ordered to run by a British Army officer before they were fired
on ‘while trying to escape’. Eight Volunteers are taken prisoner
and two of them are subsequently executed on April 28th after
court-martial. (They are Patrick Ronayne and Thomas Mulcahy). See Apr-28-21/2.
Two
men – William Shields and Charles (or James) Saunders - were subsequently
shot by the IRA for allegedly giving information to the British Army about the
location of the IRA ambush party at Mourne Abbey. See Jul-07-21/3 and May-31-21/12 respectively.
Despite
the focus of the IRA on informers, in July 1921, Liam Lynch in a report on
Mourne Abbey said that he was “now certain” that Shields was not
responsible but that “Poor leadership and indiscipline in the local unit
seemed a more likely culprit”.