The Soloheadbeg Ambush
Introduction from Chronology
In what is referred to as the first military act of
the War of Independence, an ambush is carried out by members of the South
Tipperary Brigade of the Irish Volunteers on a cart carrying gelignite for a
quarry in the Soloheadbeg area (about four miles from
Tipperary Town and about one mile from Limerick Junction).
In the ambush, the two RIC men, guarding the
consignment of gelignite, Constables James McDonnell and Patrick O'Connell, are
killed.
More Detail
The driver of
the cart, James Godfrey and a County Council employee, Patrick Flynn were
unhurt. The ambushers missed the detonators which were in Flynn's coat
pocket.
The Volunteer
unit from the South Tipperary Brigade comprised Seamus Robinson, OC; Sean
Tracy, Vice-OC; Tom Breen, QM; Sean Hogan, Tim (Tadgh) Crowe, Patrick [O']Dwyer, Michael Ryan, Patrick McCormack and Jack (Sean)
O'Meara.
(Breen gives
the names of these nine Volunteers who were present at the Soloheadbeg
ambush (Breen (1989), pg 33). However, there are only
eight names on the Soloheadbeg memorial at the site
of the ambush. O'Meara's name is missing. Ryan says that, according to
some accounts, O'Meara was active as a cyclist scout and dispatch rider.
Also involved, according to Ryan, but not present at the ambush were Con Power,
Arty Barlow, Maurice Crowe, Dinny Lacey and Brian Shanahan (Ryan (1945), pgs 56-57.)
The killing of the two policemen met with
widespread condemnation. Constable McDonnell was a widower and the
killing left his six children orphans.
Constable McDonnell's son at the inquest asked whether the policemen
"were given a dog's chance, and whether they had been given time to
deliver up the explosives" (Ryan (1945), pg
66). Volunteer GHQ had not sanctioned the ambush. Also, according
to Breen, Volunteer GHQ wanted the ambushers to go to the States but they
refused to leave. According to Molyneux and Kelly, Mulcahy feared that
“all the work that had gone into the Dáil’s meticulous stage-managing would be
overshadowed by the backlash that would come from both the national and international
press for these killings” and that “Mulcahy felt that the country still needed
convincing of the justification of war” (Molyneux and Kelly (2020), pg 61).
According to Ryan, many Volunteers "believed
that the capture of arms and gelignite could have been made without loss of
life and by surprise; that to be blunt, the Soloheadbeg
was a bungled business." Ryan attempts to disprove this but his
arguments are not convincing. Robinson, Breen, Tracey and Hogan (‘The Big
Four’) went on the run, staying at various 'safe houses' in Tipperary and
Limerick. They did not carry out any further actions until Knocklong – See May-13-19/1.
Twohig's comment on the Soloheadbeg
ambush combines Cork conceit and pragmatism in equal measure "The ambush
at Soloheadbeg, Co. Tipperary on 21 January 1919, has
been upheld as the first in Ireland and the start of the War of
Independence. So claimed Dan Breen in My Fight for Irish Freedom.
This is totally erroneous. On the previous July 7th 1918 [July 8th
according to O'Farrell (1997), pg 85 – See
Jul-08-18/1], a like ambush occurred … near Ballingeary,
Co. Cork. … A policeman was wounded and some weapons captured. The men
had worn masks and simply went home afterwards, to indicate the simplicity of
the operation. At Solohead they neglected to
take such precautions and spent the next few months circling rather
hysterically about the general area." (Twohig 1996, pg
191).