Sack of Balbriggan

Introduction from Chronology

RIC Head Constable Peter Burke and his brother, Sgt Michael Burke are attacked by the IRA in Mrs Smith's (or Smyth’s) public house on The Square, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin. Peter Burke was to die from his wounds. The RIC carry out major reprisals in Balbriggan including killing two members of the IRA – Seamus (James) Lawless and Sean (John) Gibbons.

More Detail

The IRA men who attacked the Burke brothers were William Corcoran and Michael Rock from the Naul Battalion of the Fingal Brigade, IRA. Rock was O/C of the Naul Battalion.

In retaliation, RIC men (including Auxiliaries), who are based nearby in Gormanstown, descend on Balbriggan and carry out major reprisals. They burn or partially destroy 54 houses (or about 30 according to the official weekly report) and the hosiery factory of Messrs Deeds Templar & Co. They also loot four public houses. According to Rock, an ex-BA soldier, called William or Jack Straw, who had been living in Balbriggan, “guided the Tans around the town and pointed out … the houses to burn” (O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 179) - See Sep-21-20/1. The RIC also arrest, severely beat and then kill two ‘reputed Sinn Féiners’ (Seamus Lawless & Sean Gibbons). They were members of the IRA.

This became known as the 'Sack of Balbriggan'. It receives wide-spread publicity compared to previous RIC reprisals. (This was probably due to the fact that Balbriggan is relatively close to Dublin and therefore within easier reach of the Dublin-based foreign correspondents.) The retaliatory actions of the RIC are condemned by both the conservative and liberal press in Britain.

Writing in his diary, Assistant Under Secretary in Dublin Castle, Mark Sturgis (see May-22-20/1) says “Tudor quite agreed yesterday to my view that that had they confined themselves to the dignified shooting of the two prominent Sinns, notorious bad men, the reprisal would have been not so bad – the burning spoilt the whole thing” (Hopkinson (2002), pg 80). Whether a killing can ever be “dignified” is highly debatable but what is not debatable is the way that Lawless and Gibbons were killed was very far from being “dignified”. According to Molyneux and Kelly, after they were arrested, Lawless and Gibbons were taken to the RIC barracks and “Arriving there at 1a.m., they were badly beaten, before been put up against an outside wall. Shots were then fired into the wall around them, the drunken gunmen disregarding the danger from ricochets. They then set about both men once again with punches and kicks.” This was followed by a lull while a priest and a doctor were called by some horrified RIC men but “Then, near the corner of Bridge Street and Quay Street [Gibbons and Lawless] were suddenly set upon again and beaten severely about the head … Both men died under the onslaught during which they were shot and bayoneted, their blood and brains splattering an adjacent wall. A chunk of Gibbons’ throat was then cut away. Their bodies were hacked again before being concealed in an outhouse” (Molyneux and Kelly (2020), pg 291). Also, according to O’Halpin and Ó Corráin, after Lawless and Gibbons were taken to the RIC barracks “local RIC reportedly stated that neither had been involved in the earlier killing” (O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 179).

Sturgis went on to say in his diary “Worse things can happen than the firing up of a sink like Balbriggan”. Most likely without intention, he was being prophetic.