The Ballyturin House Ambush

Introduction

An RIC man (District Inspector Cecil Blake), his wife (Eliza Blake) and two British Army officers (Capt F.W.M. Cornwallis and Lt William McCreery of the 17^th Lancers) are killed in an ambush by the South West Galway Brigade of the IRA at the gates of Ballyturin (or Ballyturn) House, near Gort, Co. Galway.  (Ballyturin House was the home of John C. Bagot, a local landlord and JP.)

Lily Margaret Gregory (widow of Major Robert Gregory of Coole Park and Lady Gregory’s daughter-in-law), who was with the party, is not injured and is escorted back to the house after the ambush.

After the RIC arrive at the scene of the ambush, Constable John Kearney is shot in controversial circumstances and he dies six days later.

This essay looks at the ambush in detail, the aftermath and, in particular, at the shooting of Constable Kearney.

The Ambush

The ambush party took up various positions around the gates of Ballyturin House. They also took over the gate lodge where Frank Connolly and his family lived.

They attacked the party of five as they drove up to the gates Ballyturin House in the evening after spending the afternoon playing tennis as guests of the Bagots. As they approached the gates of Ballyturin House (about 100 meters from the house), Captain Cornwallis got out of the car to open the gates. One of the ambushers shouts ‘Hand up’ but Cornwallis runs for cover. He manages to fire three shots (grazing one of the attackers) but he is soon shot dead.

Fire is opened on the car with DI Blake (who was driving) attempted to fire back but he is soon killed. Lt McCreery is killed instantly as is Eliza Blake who is in the back of the car with him. When the firing started, Lily Gregory had got out of the car and kept low behind it. When the firing stopped, she was uninjured and two of the ambushers escorted her back to the Bagots residence and handed her over to Molly Bagot who was coming down the avenue. A notice was handed to John C Bagot by the IRA saying, if there were any reprisals, the IRA would return and burn Ballyturin House. (This did not stop reprisals – see below - but Ballyturin House was not burnt.) After the ambush, the IRA men removed three revolvers from the deceased and quickly dispersed.

The ambush party is composed mostly of IRA men from the South West Galway Brigade (Brigade No. 2 of the 1^st Western Division). According to Page 12 of the Activity Report of the South West Galway Brigade held in the Military Service Pension Collection (MSPC) of the Military Archives (available here: http://mspcsearch.militaryarchives.ie/docs/files//PDF_Membership/7/A21_1%202%20Brigade%201%20Western%20Division.pdf ), the ambush party consisted of Joseph Stanford; Patrick Glynn; Thomas Keely; Patrick Houlihan (Clare Brigade); Thomas Craven (North Galway); Daniel Ryan; Jack Berry; Michael Reilly; Mattie Moran; John Ramklin; John Keely and Jack Flaherty. In addition, there was one scout (Martin Coen) and three men manning an outpost on the Ballyturin to Lough Cutra road (John Noone; John Hawkins and Pat Cooney). For further detail on the composition of the ambush party, see below in Who Was in the Ambush Party?

The Shooting of Constable Kearney

After the RIC and military rushed to the scene of the ambush, RIC Constable John Kearney is shot.  He dies six days later in St Brides Hospital, Sea Road in Galway City from his wounds. [In the Civil Records, Constable Kearney’s death certificate can be seen here: https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1921/05094/4398983.pdf] As can be seen, his death is recorded twice as Number 60 and Number 63. Apparently, this is not unusual – one registration came from the Home and other after the Military Court of Inquiry which, since September 1920, was held in lieu of an inquest – See Aug-02-20/2.]

As mentioned above, Constable Kearney’s killing proved to be somewhat controversial. Abbott, in the 2019 edition of his book, says that, when the RIC and military arrived from Gort, “a shot rang out and Constable Kearney fell from the lorry. He was taken to St Brigid’s Home [St Brides Hospital], Galway, where he died” (Abbott (2019), pg 307). Similarly, Henry says that, after the RIC and military arrived “a shot rang out from the shrubbery, mortally wounding one of them, Constable Kearny” (Henry (2012), pg 226). From these two accounts, it would seem that Constable Kearney was killed by an ambusher who remained at the scene. However, there is other evidence which contradicts this version.

Ó Fathaigh says in his memoir that Kearney was sending information to the IRA “The Auxiliary officers were also doing Secret Service work; Const. Carney [Kearney] used to type out these and send copies to the IRA. I heard it said that it was Tan Ab--- who shot him” (Ó Fathaigh (2000), pg 75). McNamara goes further saying Kearney who “had been passing information to the south Galway Volunteers, was shot dead by his RIC colleagues after arriving at the ambush scene. … It was initially claimed by the authorities that Kearney was shot by the Volunteers; however local sources confirmed that police boasted about his death and the claim that republicans were responsible was later dropped by the authorities.” (McNamara (2018), pg 133).

However, it would not seem to be as straight forward as MacNamara states. Four members of the IRA who took part in the Ballyturin ambush gave witness statements to the Bureau of Military History in the 1950s. (Witness statements are available here: http://www.militaryarchives.ie/collections/online-collections/bureau-of-military-history-1913-1921/witnesses/ ). The four were Joseph Stanford WS1334, Patrick Glynn WS1033, Daniel Ryan WS1007 and Thomas Keeley WS1491.

In two of these statements, it is said that Kearney was shot because he wanted to resign. Daniel Ryan said that, after the RIC arrived at the scene of the ambush they shot “one of their own men, intentionally it was learned, as he was about to resign. His name was Kearney” (pg 21). Patrick Gylnn, in his statement, elaborated a bit more “The R.I.C. came to the scene of the ambush, firing recklessly from rifles and machine-guns. They shot one of their own men Constable Kearney. There was an inquiry into the shooting of Kearney after the Truce in Gort. Kearney's sister attended it. It was rumoured that he had handed in his resignation and that that was the reason he was shot” (pg 17). So both of those IRA men were under the impression (when they made their BMH statements in the 1950s) that Kearney was shot by his own side because he wanted to resign. [As will be seen below, the Military Court of Inquiry into Kearney’s death was not held after the Truce but on May 24th.]

However, Thomas Keeley in his statement goes a bit further. He says that “Good information regarding the day-to-day movements of the British forces was given to Brigade O/C, Joe Stanford. The information was given to Stanford by Volunteer Henry O'Shaughnessy of the Gort company, as far as I can remember. I think the information came to O'Shaughnessy from an R.I.C. man in Gort, named Kearney. He was shot by his own colleagues the evening of the Ballyturn ambush. I heard that he often gave information to the I.R.A. and that he would probably have survived but for the fact that he had tendered his resignation” (pg 10). This combines the giving of information and Kearney’s intention to resign.

Given that he was the O/C of the South West Galway Brigade of the IRA, Joseph Stanford’s witness statement is the most puzzling. He says that, after the RIC arrived at Ballyturin “They sent one of the R.I.C. into a wood to search and shot him dead, having suspected him of giving information to our Intelligence Officers. He was one of those R.I.C. men who did not agree with their methods and they knew it” (pg 48). What is strange about this statement is that Stanford does not name Kearney. He was the O/C and, according to Keeley, in receipt of information from Kearney via one of his Intelligence Officers. However, in his witness statement many years later, he only goes as far as saying that the RIC suspected Kearney of providing information to the IRA despite, presumably, being in a position to confirm it. If Kearney had been providing information to the IRA, then Stanford must have had some reason (many years later) for not wishing to explicitly say so.

So what happened to Constable Kearney? As no IRA men were in the vicinity of Ballyturin House when the RIC arrived after the ambush, it can be stated with some degree of certainty that he was shot by his ‘own’ side i.e. by a fellow member of the Crown Forces.

The main question is: was it an accident or was he shot intentionally? As noted, McNamara says “It was initially claimed by the authorities that Kearney was shot by the Volunteers; however, local sources confirmed that police boasted about his death and the claim that republicans were responsible was later dropped by the authorities” (McNamara (2018), pg 133). Unfortunately, McNamara does not give a reference for his local sources or for the claim of Volunteer involvement being later dropped. Also, in a letter to the Irish Independent on June 28th, Kearney’s sister said that, on his death bed, he had told her that the shooting was accidental and that he had not seen any Sinn Féiners.

Putting together the evidence available, it would seem quite likely that Constable Kearney was giving information to the IRA and was also probably about to resign. However, the evidence is not conclusive that he was intentionally killed by his ‘own’ side. While it would seem improbable that a member of the RIC who was passing information to the IRA just happened to be accidently shot, there is no concrete evidence that his death was not accidental.

Aftermath

In the immediate aftermath of the ambush, there were, as usual, reprisals by the RIC. According to McNamara, “Police burned many houses along the road from the ambush site into the town of Gort” (McNamara (2018), pgs 133-134). On May 17th, the Irish Independent reported and eyewitness as saying that before dawn the scene in the neighbourhood was like a sunset glow, the horizon being fringed with flames from burning houses.

According to Stanford in his BMH statement “When word reached the garrison in Gort of the ambush, they looted and smashed shops in the town, taking what they wanted in drink and cigarettes. As there was no officer left, they got completely out of hand” (pg 47). According to Patrick Glynn’s BMH statement “The R.I.C. burned Ruane's provision shop in Georges Street, Gort, and partly burned McNamara's dwelling house in Queen Street, Gort. The men of those families were in the I.R.A.” (pg 17).

The Cork County Eagle and Munster Advertiser on May 21st reported that “Mills belonging to Mr Michael Travers, who is currently in Ballykinlar, were badly damaged. The house of M. Coen, draper, and B. Fahy, draper had fittings smashed and goods taken.” (pg 2). The Cork County Eagle and Munster Advertiser, also on May 21st, says that four houses were burnt in the Kilbeacanty area (outside Gort) and, on a somewhat ironic note, added that “The Lancers assisted to put out the fires.” (pg 2).

According to Daniel Ryan in his BMH statement, along with looting in the town, “That Sunday night or early Monday morning they [RIC] burned three farm-houses in Ballycahalan and Kilbecanty Company areas: John Coen's house, Michael Fahey's and Patrick Callanan's” (pg 21). Glynn, Stanford and McNamara confirmed the burning of these three houses. These houses were the homes of IRA men – the RIC may not have known who took part in the ambush but had obviously reasonably good intelligence on who was in the IRA.

Handing the note to Bagot that his house would be burnt down if there were reprisals (see above), may have had some effect. According to Daniel Ryan in his BMH statement “It seems that Baggot did not deliver our note until Monday. We thought that what stopped them from burning more houses was the delivery of the note we gave Baggot” (pg 21).

Afterwards, a curfew is placed on the town of Gort from 8.00pm to 8.00am which stayed in place until after the Truce.

Military Court of Inquiry

A Military Court of Inquiry was held in Renmore Barracks into the four people killed in the ambush. What is notable about the Court of Inquiry, from newspaper reports, is that none of the witnesses identified any of the men who took part in the ambush.

Lily Gregory and May (Molly) Bagot gave evidence to the Inquiry but did not identify any of the attackers. However, Patrick Glynn in his Witness Statement said “Miss Baggot knew [Daniel] Ryan and me quite well” (pg 18). Ryan and Glynn lived near to Ballyturin House.

Similarly, Frank Connolly, who lived in the gatehouse, in his evidence to the Military Court of Inquiry said that he did not recognise any of his guards (See Cork County Eagle and Munster Advertiser on May 21st, page 1). According to Stanford in his BMH Witness Statement “When questioned by Auxiliaries and Tans, he [Connolly] said he never saw any of the men before, but they all spoke with a Clare accent” (pg 49).

Even Mr J C Bagot, when giving evidence to the Inquiry, did not identify any of the attackers even though (as noted) some were from his locality.

Comparison with the Killing of Eliza Blake and Eileen Quinn

O’Halpin and Ó Corráin make the following comment on the killing of Eliza Blake “unlike Eileen Quinn, also killed near Gort, her death evoked no public comment from W. B. Yeats”. Eileen Quinn was killed by Crown Forces on November 1^st 1920 – see Nov-01-20/5. Eileen Quinn was sitting on the wall outside her home (cradling her baby) when she was shot by Auxiliaries who were passing her home. They had started firing wildly and indiscriminately as a “precautionary measure”. In other words, Eileen Quinn was a totally innocent party and had done nothing to warrant her untimely death.

On the other hand, it could be argued that Eliza Blake should have known the risks she was taking by accompanying her husband on a social outing to the south Galway countryside. She would have definitely known that there was a guerilla war going on around her and that her husband was a key participant (and target?). It is also highly likely that she would have known that women accompanying members of the Crown Forces had been wounded or killed in IRA ambushes (see, for example, Jan-31-21/1 and May-14-21/12). More particularly, since the previous August, the British Army had issued an order saying that the wives and children of soldiers serving in Ireland should be moved to England (see Aug-31-20/2) and this order was re-issued after Bloody Sunday. It can therefore be argued that Eliza Blake took a calculated gamble when she chose to accompany her husband on a visit to the Bagots.

If O’Halpin and Ó Corráin wished to draw attention to the killing of women by the IRA in a manner analogous to the killing of Eileen Quinn by Crown Forces, they could have pointed to a number of other killings. For example, the killing by the IRA of Kate Wright in Trinity College, Dublin – see Jun-03-21/4.

Who Was in the Ambush Party?

There is some variation in different sources as to which IRA men were present at the ambush. Given below in Table 1 are the IRA participants in the ambush according to different sources.

Overall, the names of the participants given in the four BMH statements are quite similar and all four are quite different from the names given in the MSPC Activity report. The striking differences between the names given in the four BMH statements and the MSPC list are (a) the inclusion of seven names in the MSPC report which are not mentioned in any of the BMH statements (albeit three of them are named as manning an ‘outpost’) and (b) John Coen and Michael Kelly are named in three of the BMH statements (Coen in all four) but they are not on the MSPC list.

The MSPC list is the more ‘formal’ so would normally be given more credence but the consistency of the names in the four BMH statements would lend them more veracity.

MSPC Activity Report	Glynn BMH	Ryan BMH	Keely BMH	Stanford BMH
Joseph Stanford	Joseph Stanford	Joseph Stanford	Joseph Stanford	Joseph Stanford (Author)
Patrick Glynn	Patrick Glynn (Author)	Patrick Glynn	Patrick Glynn	Patrick Glynn
Thomas Keely	Thomas Keely	Thomas Keely	Thomas Keely (Author)	Thomas Keely
Patrick Houlihan (Clare Brigade)	Patrick Houlihan	Patrick Houlihan	Patrick Houlihan	Patrick Houlihan
Thomas Craven (North Galway Brigade)	Thomas Craven	Thomas Craven	Thomas Craven	Thomas Craven
Daniel Ryan	Daniel Ryan	Daniel Ryan (Author)	Daniel Ryan	Daniel Ryan
Jack Berry
	John Coen	John Coen	John Coen	John Coen
	Michael Kelly	Michael Kelly		Michael Kelly
Michael Reilly			Michael Reilly (Scout)
Mattie Moran
John Ramklin
John Keely	John Keely (Scout)	John Keely (Scout)	John Keely (Scout)	John Keely (Scout)
Jack Flaherty
Martin Coen (Scout)	Martin Coen (Scout)	Martin Coen (Scout)		Martin Coen (Scout)
John Noone (Manning Outpost)
John Hawkins (Manning Outpost)
Pat Cooney (Manning Outpost)
			Timothy Reilly (Scout)

Table 1: Participants in the Ballyturin House Ambush According to Different Sources [Note: In the map which accompanies the Activity Report on the Ballyturin Ambush on the MPSC file (Page 12A), the position of each of the participants listed on Page 12 is given except for Thomas Craven. In addition, a person named Coen is positioned in the Gatehouse. Presumably, this is John Coen and his omission from the list given on Page 12 was an oversight.]

One final point, Lily Gregory, in her evidence to the Military Court of Inquiry, said that she seen “about seventeen men altogether [in the ambush party] in nondescript clothing” (Cork County Eagle and Munster Advertiser on the 21^st May, page 1). However, given the circumstances that she found herself in, it would not be surprising if she did not get an accurate figure.

Acknowledgement: I would like state my appreciation to Dr Kay MacKeogh for her assistance in researching this ambush. In particular, for her help researching the issues surrounding the killing of Constable Kearney.

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