November 1920

Nov-01-20/1

Kevin Barry is hung in Mountjoy Jail.

 Comment

 

O'Farrell P (1997), pg xvii; Townshend (2014), pg 197; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pgs 209-210;  Molyneux and Kelly (2020), pgs 330-333; Mitchell (1995), pg 214

Nov-01-20/2

RIC reprisal in Templemore, Co Tipperary

 

Hopkinson (2002), pg 80

Nov-01-20/3

Using an attack on Ardmore RIC barracks as a feint, the IRA’s West Waterford ASU, led by George Lennon and Pax Whelan, drew a British Army lorry from Youghal into an ambush at Piltown Cross (three miles west of Ardmore on the main Dungarvan to Youghal road). 

One British soldier (Private Anthony Leigh of the Hampshire Regiment) was killed and their commanding officer wounded.  The remaining 18 soldiers and two RIC men surrendered.  The IRA captured 20 rifles and several thousand rounds of ammunition. The BA soldiers and RIC men were released.

See also Jan-06-21/4.

 

McCarthy (2015), pg 72; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 210

Nov-01-20/4

RIC man Constable Peter Cooney killed at Breaghy Crossroads between Balinalee and Granard, Co Longford by Frank Davis of the Longford Brigade IRA.

Hopkinson (2002), pg 142; Abbott (2000), pg 141; MacEoin in The Kerryman (1955), pg 102; Coleman (2003), pg 123; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 211

Nov-01-20/5

A young mother, Ellen or Eileen Quinn, is shot through the stomach as she sits cradling her child on the wall in front of her home in Kiltartan, Co. Galway by Auxiliaries who were passing in a lorry. She dies later from her wounds. Eileen Quinn was pregnant at the time.

Calls for an inquiry to Greenwood went unheeded.  A Military Court of Inquiry finds that the Auxiliaries had fired as they approached a corner and that the firing was “a precautionary measure”.  They brought in a verdict of death by misadventure. This killing gives rise to an outcry in the media. See Nov-11-20/5 for Tudor’s reaction.

In his poem ‘Reprisals’, W. B. Yeats makes reference to the killing of Eileen Quinn as follows:

Where may new-married women sit
And suckle children now? Armed men
May murder them in passing by”.

Yeats is even more direct in his poem ‘1919’:

“ ….       a drunken soldiery
Can leave the mother, murdered at her door,
To crawl in her own blood, and go scot-free”

(Yeats’ residence of Thoor, Ballylee was not far from Eileen Quinn’s home in Kiltartan. Lady Gregory’s residence at Coole was even closer.)

 

Townshend (1975), pg 113; O’Farrell (1997), pg 89 & Hopkinson (2002), pg 139; Macardle (1999), pg 394;  McNamara (2018), pg 124; Leeson (2012), pg 51; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 210

Nov-01-20/6

In their first night after taking over the Lakeside Hotel in Ballina as their HQ, the Auxiliaries G Company (under Lieutenant Colonel R. I. Andrews) burn three houses in O’Brien’s Bridge, Co. Clare and damage many more as well as terrorising the local people.

 

Ó Ruairc (2009), pg 187

Nov-01-20/7

A formal announcement is made by the British Government that a Special Constabulary was to be raised – see Oct-22-20/6.  

Advertisements printed in local press calling on all law-abiding citizens between 21 and 45 to “assist the authorities in the maintenance of the order of the prevention of crime”.  Selection committees were set up in each of the northern counties.  They were instructed to select “only men of unquestionable fidelity”.  Enrolees had to swear to “well and truly serve our Sovereign Lord the King”.

The leader of the UVF, Wilfred Spencer, calls on its members to enrol in the Special Constabulary saying that there was “no reason why the UVF should not furnish all the numbers required”.

 

Parkinson (2004), pg 85; Abbott (2019), pg 179; Fanning (2013), pg 239; Parksinson (2020), pgs 64-66

Nov-01-20/8

IRA GHQ issues a General Order formally setting up a Police Force, under a Chief of Police as a separate force which “heretofore been borne entirely by the IRA”. 

Simon Donnolly is named as Chief of Police. The Minister of Home Affairs, Austen Stack, placed in charge of this new police force.

 

Townshend (2014), pg 133; Molyneux and Kelly (2021), pgs  14-15

Nov-01-20/9

Private Alfred Bell of the BA’s 17th Lancers kills himself in Buttevant, Co. Cork.  

O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 211

Nov-01-20/10

An ex-BA soldier, Edward Canning, is reported missing in Roscommon.  He was executed by the IRA as a spy.  

 

O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 211

Nov-01-21/11

In the British House of Commons, Greenwood says that “There is no charge with one exception of which I know urged against a policeman or soldier for murder.”  He did admit to Asquith that the RIC had killed two men in the “much regretted” Balbriggan incident.

According to Pakenham, at this point, twenty-two Coroners’ Inquests had returned verdicts of wilful murder or unjustifiable homicide and since Coroners’ Inquests had been suppressed (see Aug-02-20/2) and thirty seven deaths by violence had been circumstantially charged against Crown Forces.

 

Pakenham (1967), pg 55

Nov-02-21/1

An RIC lorry, travelling from Carrick-on-Shannon to Athlone for a court martial, is attacked at Auburn, Glasson, near Athlone, Co Westmeath by the Athlone Brigade of the IRA.  The attack results in the death of one RIC man (Constable Sydney or Sidney Larkin or Larking) and the wounding of two others (Sgt Meany and Constable Costello). 

IRA Volunteer James Finn from Streamstown or Auburn, Co. Westmeath is found dead in a nearly house apparently killed by an RIC bullet. 

Constable Larkin/Larking was from London.

See Jan-14-21/3.

 

Abbott (2000), pgs 147-148; O’Farrell (1997), pg 107; Abbott (2019), pg 187; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 211;  McGarty (2020), pg 89

Nov-03-20/1

RIC Constable William Maxwell is shot dead in Tooher’s hotel bar in Cloughjordan, Co. Tipperary by Joe O’Brien, Bill Kelly, Bill Meagher and Paddy Whelehan.

 

Abbott (2000), pg 148; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 211

Nov-03-20/2

RIC Sgt Patrick Fallon is shot dead by IRA men Pat Coleman and Jim Molloy as he makes his way to the barracks in Ballymote, Co. Sligo. 

That night reprisals are carried out by Auxiliaries and the British Army in Ballymote and a number of business premises, houses, a bakery, hay barns and Ballymote creamery are burnt. 

Newspaper reports say that the reprisals would have been much worse if it was not for the actions of the local RIC including District Inspectors Russell and MacBrien. It is reported that, if it wasn’t for the actions of these two DIs not a house in Ballymote would have survived.  (DI Russell is presumably the same DI Russell who led the reprisals in Tubbercurry – see Sep-30-20/2.)

In the coming period, four local Sinn Féin halls are burnt.

Michael Gray is subsequently arrested for the killing of Sgt Fallon and, at a trial in Belfast, is convicted of the killing after making a confession. However, he was not involved in the killing of Sgt Fallon. See Jan-26-21/5.

 

Abbott (2000), pg 148; Gallagher (1953), pg 103; Farry (2012), pg 62; Lawlor (2011), pgs 76-77; Abbott (2019), pgs 187-188; Leeson (2012), pg 159; pg 212; Hopkinson (2002), pg 80

Nov-03-20/3

A large force of RIC and British Army in 11 lorries enter the village of Ballinalee, Co Longford and attempt to burn down houses and businesses in reprisal for the killings of DI Kelleher and Constable Cooney (see Oct-31-20/1 and Nov-01-20/4 above).  They are engaged by the Flying Column of the Longford Brigade under Sean MacEoin. The RIC retreat to the local barracks. 

This became known as the Battle of Ballinalee.  The IRA hold the village for a number of days but eventually withdraw and the RIC/British military re-occupied the village. After re-occupying the village, the RIC set fire to many buildings

See Dec-13-20/2.

 

MacEoin in The Kerryman (1955), pgs 101-113; O'Farrell P (1997), pg xvii; Coleman (2003), pg 124; Lawlor (2011), pg 76

Nov-03-20/4

Churchill (as Secretary of State for War in the British cabinet) writes a memo seeking cabinet approval to initiate a policy of official reprisals in Ireland.

In his memo, Churchill says that “It is thought by many that such a policy would be less discreditable and more effective than what is now going on”.  He also calls for a system of identity cards to be carried by all males in Ireland and for passports to be introduced between Britain and Ireland. 

See Nov-10-20/4.

 

Kautt (2014), pgs 229-230

Nov-03-20/5

After an initial arson attack on the Athlone Printing Works by Crown Forces on October 16th, they return to finish the job and completely destroy the building and printing presses. 

(Athlone Printing Works is where the Westmeath Independent was printed.  The paper had been strongly critical of the actions of the Crown Forces locally.)

 

Kenneally (2017), pg 386

Nov-03-20/6

The IRA attack Milford RIC Barracks in Co. Cork – Paddy O’Brien from Liscarroll is injured.

 

O’Farrell (1997), pg 75

Nov-03-20/7

The HQ of the National Land Bank at 68 Lower Lesson St in Dublin is raided by Crown Forces (from Ormonde Winter’s Raids Bureau).  No documents or funds were seized in this raid but there are a number of subsequent raids in which both documents and funds are seized.  These raids seriously hamper the work of the Land Bank. 

However, see Jun-1921/3.

 

O’Sullivan Greene (2020), pg 161

Nov-04-20/1

Captain Henry Hambleton, British Army I/O, is shot dead in Nenagh Tipperary by four members of the North Tipperary Brigade IRA ASU. 

This is followed by reprisals by the BA which included firebombing houses and the burning of Nenagh creamery. 

Also, the British Army bayonet to death two young men, Patrick O’Brien and Thomas O’Brien, who were in their custody.  Dooley says that they were not members of the IRA but O’Halpin and Ó Corráin say that they were.

[Hambleton’s killing and the reprisals afterwards are mentioned in the British House of Commons by Greenwood on November 24th. He said “As an example of the provocation to the Commanders of British officers, soldiers and police, I may instance the circumstances attending the murder of Lieutenant Hambleton … This is only one instance out of many of the struggle of British officers in keeping discipline in the face of inhuman provocation”. 

While not as frequent as reprisals by the RIC, by this stage, there had been at least four other reprisals carried by members of the BA - See Sep-08-19/1 (Fermoy); Jun-28-20/1 (Fermoy again); Aug-28-20/3 (Cobh) and Sep-27-20/7 (Mallow).]

 

Dooley (2015), pg 56; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pgs 212-213; Kautt (2014), pg 209

Nov-04-20/2

The Inspector General of the RIC, T J Smith, retires and the post was left vacant thereafter.  However, as Leeson notes that “In the last year of its existence, the force was headed by the Police Adviser (later Chief of Police) Major General H. H Tudor”.

 

Leeson (2012), pg 233

Nov-04-20/3

Mark Sturgis writes in his diary that the RIC “were getting a bit of their own back and morale is improving”.

 

Mitchell (1995), pg 209

Nov-04-20/4

The miners’ strike in Britain ends after the miners vote, by a narrow margin, to accept terms offered.

 

Roskill (1972), pg 191

Nov-04-20/5

Joe Devlin brings up the killings of Trodden, Gaynor and Mc Fadden (see Sep-26-20/1) in the British House of Commons. The British government response is to dissemble. 

However, Devlin gets a more direct response from Unionist MP Donald Thompson (or Thompson Donald) who tells him that there would be retaliation on Sinn Féin members if further Crown Force personnel were killed.  In his stance, he is supported by the Daily Express.

 

Parkinson (2020), pg 164

Nov-04-20/6

Belfast Protestant, John McLean, dies of injuries that he had received earlier.

O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 213

Nov-05-20/1

Fifteen-year-old Teresa O’Connell and fifty-five year old local shopkeeper Michael Maguire are killed by the RIC in Ardfert, Co. Kerry. 

Maguire was arrested and brought to the RIC barracks in Causeway where he is shot dead. O’Connell may have been killed as a result of “a wager between two Black and Tans as to which of them could shoot the best”.

 

Macardle (1999), pg 394; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 213; O'Farrell (1997), pg 113

Nov-05-20/2

During disturbances and shooting in Youghal, Co. Cork, Private William King of the BA’s Hampshire Regiment is shot dead.

 

O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 214

Nov-05-20/3

Three members of the BA’s Royal Marines are accidently shot by a fellow BA soldier at Union Hall in Co. Cork.  One of the marines, Gunner Percy Starling, dies in hospital on November 8th.

 

O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 215

Nov-06-20/1

Two Auxiliaries IOs (Cadets Bertram Agnew and Lionel Mitchell) stationed in Macroom in the Cork West Riding are reported missing in Cork City. 

They were captured inside Johnson and Perrott Motor Co. by the IRA.   They were taken to a secret location, interrogated and killed.  Their bodies were never found.

 

Hart (1998), pg 29; Abbott (2000), pgs 311-313; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 219

Nov-06-20/2

IRA Volunteer Thomas Archer from Kilflynn, Co. Kerry is killed.

IRA volunteers from Kerry No.1 brigade were getting into position to attack Causeway RIC barracks.  However, their presence is discovered and the IRA men flee the village of Causeway as Crown Forces arrive from Tralee, Listowel and Abbeydorney.  Archer was a scout for the attacking party.  (Could have been same occasion as when O’Connell and Maguire were killed – see Nov-05-20/1.)

 

O’Farrell (1997), pg 102; Macardle (1999), pg 394; Horgan (2018), pgs 208-210; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 213

Nov-06-20/3

William Mulcahy is shot dead by the British military on Bachelors Quay near the North Gate Bridge in Cork City for failing to stop when ordered.  (Over 20 arrests were made in the Shandon St area on this night.)

O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 214; Macardle (1999), pg 394; Sheehan (2017), pg 99

cNov-06-20/4

After the IRA throw a bomb at an RIC tender in Parnell Sq in Dublin, Christopher McEvoy of the 2nd Battalion, Dublin Brigade, IRA in wounded to an ensuing gun fight.  He is taken to Jervis St Hospital and, afterwards removed secretly to the Portrane Asylum, where he dies.

 

O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 214

Nov-06 to 07-20/1

The IRA men try to disarm two RIC men – Sgt T. Wiseman and Constable G. Waters – at the Customs House (or GPO) in Derry City.  The two RIC men are shot (but not killed).   Later, three RIC men were found wounded in Foyle St.  They were in civilian clothing. One of these RIC men – Constable Hugh Kearns – later died from his wounds. 

More Detail  

 

Gallagher (2003), pgs 32-34; Abbott (2000), pg 317; Grant (2018), pg 103-104; Parkinson (2004), pg 96; Ozseker (2019), pgs 155-156; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 215

Nov-07-20/1

RIC Constable Thomas Joseph Walsh is kidnapped by the IRA from a train in Blarney, Co. Cork.  He escapes but recaptured and subsequently executed.  His body is never found.

His RIC record says that he was dismissed on this day.

 

Abbott (2019), pg 401;  O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 214

Nov-07-20/2

James O’Keffee who lived at 6 Stamer St in Dublin is knocked down by a car carrying members of the Auxiliary Division of the RIC.  He subsequently dies in hospital.

 

O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 214

Nov-08-20/1

The IRA led by Donnacha O'Hannigan lie in ambush for a British Army patrol at Grange (on Bruff to Limerick road) - as IRA were expecting only two lorries they had to retreat when eight arrived.

 

Hopkinson (2002), pg 121; O’Farrell (1997), pg 80

Nov-08-20/2

The Flying Column of the Longford Brigade of the IRA under Sean MacEoin attack an RIC post in Ballinalee, Co. Longford. 

According to MacEoin, three RIC men were killed and several others wounded.  Lawlor says that only one RIC man is recorded as being killed – Constable Taylor from Surrey.  

(Neither Abbott or O’Halpin & Ó Corráin mention any RIC man killed on this day in Ballinalee but do say that a Constable Frederick Taylor from Surrey was killed in an attack on Ballinalee RIC Barracks on December 13th – see Dec-13-20/2.  Almost definitely the same person.)

 

MacEoin in The Kerryman (1955), pgs 111-112;  Lawlor (2011), pg 76

Nov-08-20/3

Michael Brosnan from Castleisland, Co. Kerry and John Cantillion from Ardfert Co. Kerry are arrested by the RIC along with Maurice McElligott.  They are taken into a field and told to run.  When Brosnan and Cantillion do so, they are shot dead.  McElligott refused to run and is given a severe beating.  He subsequently escapes.

 

O’Farrell (1997), pg 103; Macardle (1999), pg 394; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pgs 214 -215

Nov-09-20/1

Guildhall Speech by Llyod George

Lloyd George gives speech at the Guildhall Banquet in London saying that "We have murder by the throat, we had to reorganise the police.  When the Government was ready we struck the terrorists and now the terrorists are complaining of terror."

More Detail

 

Coogan (1990), pg 156;  Abbott (2000), pg 179; Fanning (2013), pg 241; Boyce (1972), pg 55; Pakenham (1967), pgs 56-57 & 60

Nov-09-20/2

Two RIC men (Constable Archibald Turner and Constable James Woods) are taken from a train at Ballybrack Railway Station, Co. Kerry and shot dead. The attacking party included Tom McEllistrim, John Cronin, Bill Diggins and Jim Baily.  Reprisals by the RIC follow.

Constable Turner was from Kent in England and had five months’ service in the RIC.  Constable Woods was from Lancashire in England and had nine months’ service in the RIC.

 

Abbott (2000), pg 149; Horgan (2018), pgs 296; Abbott (2019), pgs 188-189; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pgs 215 & 217

Nov-09-20/3

The RIC break into the offices of the Leitrim Observer in Carrick-on-Shannon. The hold the editor, Thomas Dunne, and his wife at gunpoint and proceed to wreck the printing presses and set fire to the building. 

They then proceed to the jewelry shop of John Dunne (Thomas’s brother) and shoot out his windows.  They chalk the following message on his walls “Three lives for one of ours. Take heed, Sinn Fein. Up the Black and Tans”.

 

Leeson (2012), pg 164;  McGarty (2020), pg 89

Nov-09-20/4

Jim Sugrue, O/C of Listowel Battalion of Kerry No. 1 Brigade, IRA is arrested and almost beaten to death by the RIC.

 

Horgan (2018) , pg 127

Nov-09-20/5

IRA Volunteer Denis Ring accidently kills himself as he was cleaning a revolver at Killeendooling, Midleton, Co. Cork.

 

O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 215

Nov-09-20/6

IRA GHQ issues General Orders (New Series) No. 9 or 13 on Women Spies. The IRA states that women who are convicted of spying should be informed that it is only consideration of her sex that prevents the infliction of the statutory punishment of death.  Instead she was to be given seven days to leave the country.  In “dangerous and insistent” cases, brigade commanders were ordered to seek instructions from GHQ.

 

Dooley (2000), pg 44;  Hughes (2016), pg 136

Nov-10-20/1

Christopher Lucey, 1st Battalion, Cork No.1 Brigade, IRA is killed by Auxiliaries at Tooreenduff, Ballingeary, Co. Cork. 

O’Suillebhean says that he was unarmed when shot.   Quoting RIC reports, O’Halpin & Ó Corráin say that he was killed “in an exchange of shots with Auxiliaires searching houses in the Tooreenduff area”.  1st Battalion, Cork No.1 Brigade was based in Cork City (Lucey was a student in UCC) but he was on the run in the Ballingeary area.

The memorial for Lucey at Goughanebarra says he was killed on November 20th

Memorial to C Lucey

 

O'Kelly in The Kerryman (1955), pg 26; Macardle (1999), pg 394; O’Suilleabhean (1965); pgs 159-160; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 215;  Borgonovo (2007), pg 112

Nov-10-20/2

Richard Cruise appointed RIC Divisional Commissioner for Galway/Mayo.

 

Price (2012), pg 90

Nov-10-20/3

Frank Hoffman from Farmer’s Bridge, Tralee, Co. Kerry is killed by Crown Forces after he was stopped at a roadblock.  An RIC man, Constable E. Johnson, is subsequently acquitted of Hoffman’s manslaughter. 

 

O’Farrell (1997), pg 109 & 111; Macardle (1999), pg 394; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 216

Nov-10-20/4

According to Hankey, at a “very Hush-Hush meeting” of a small number of British Ministers (Llyod George, Law, Churchill, Shortt, and Greenwood along with - British Cabinet Secretary - Maurice Hankey), Churchill admits that British troops in Ireland are getting out of hand and, according to Hankey, Churchill asks for “the substitution of regular, authorised and legalised reprisals for the unauthorised reprisals by the police and soldiers which are winked at and really encouraged by the Government”.  

The meeting decides that the “moment is not opportune” and asks Greenwood to do “all in his power to prevent houses and creameries being burned by the RIC and troops in reprisals”. This meeting is probably a follow up to Churchill’s memo of November 3rd – See Nov-03-20/4.

 

Fanning (2013), pg 239; Jeffrey (2006), pg 267; Roskill (1972), pg 197

Nov-10-20/5

Corporal Robert Muir of the BA’s Royal Marine Light Infantry accidently kills himself in Kenmare, Co. Kerry.  He was using the butt of his fowling piece to club a wounded rabbit when it discharges.

 

O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 216

Nov-11-20/1

The Government of Ireland Act passes its third reading in the House of Commons by 183 votes to 53.  Devlin makes a strong speech against the act saying that Northern Ireland's 340,000 Catholics would be placed “at the mercy of the Protestant majority in the North of Ireland”.  Bill sent to House of Lords.  See Dec-16-20/5.

Also, the parliamentary party of the British Labour Party meets and calls for the withdrawal of the British Army from Ireland and the setting up of an Irish Constituent Assembly.  They also set up a Commission of Inquiry of their own. to investigate conditions in Ireland.  See Nov-30-20/3.

 

Macardle (1999), pgs 402 & 405; Gallagher (2003), pg 34; Phoenix (1994), pgs 95-98; Parkinson (2004), pgs 100-101; Boyce (1972), pg 111

Nov-11-20/2

Meeting of (mostly west Ulster) Sinn Féiners and some nationalists in Omagh to oppose the British government’s partition plans.

 

Phoenix (1994), pgs 970-98

Nov-11-20/3

Greenwood informs the House of Commons that 2,000 applications had been received for the Special Constabulary but refuses to answer Devlin’s questions about how many were former UVF members.

 

Phoenix (1994), pg 94

Nov-11-20/4

Mark Sturgis writes in his diary that there was “some talk of [the IRA’s] ‘fighting to the finish’, but I think that they’re beat … We’re on top and I am sure that they know it”.

 

Fanning (2013), pg 241

Nov-11-20/5

On November 12th, Charles A. Walsh, Deputy Inspector General of the RIC, issues a memorandum from Major General Tudor, Police Adviser (dated November 11th), saying (among other things) that “There must be no wild firing from lorries. It is useless and dangerous to innocent people. ... Firing in the air or over the heads of crowds is strictly forbidden.  It is dangerous to innocent people in the far distance.”   This memorandum is possibly a reaction to the outcry after the killing of Eileen Quinn – See Nov-01-20/5. 

However, Tudor’s call for discipline is somewhat blunted as the same memo says “The RIC will have the fullest support in the most drastic action against that band of assassins, the so-called IRA.  These murderers must be pursued relentlessly … The leaders and members of the criminal gang are mostly known to us.  They must be given no rest. They must be hunted down.”

 

Abbott (2019), pgs 224-225; Leeson (2012), pg 51 & 217

Nov-11-20/6

In an apparent celebration of Armistice Day, Crown Forces burn four Sinn Féin halls in the Mohill district of Co. Leitrim.

 

Lesson (2102), pg 162

Nov-12-20/1

Arthur Griffith calls off remaining hunger strikes

Hopkinson (2002), pg 86; Corbett (2008), pg 65;20  Molyneux and Kelly (2021), pg

Nov-12-20/2

A large convoy of RIC travelling from between Tralee and Castleisland in Co. Kerry stop at the Ballydwyer Creamery. 

They kill two men - John or Paddy Herlihy and John McMahon.  Horgan says that Herlihy was an IRA man but O’Halpin and Ó Corráin say that it unclear if he was a Volunteer.  Both sources agree that McMahon was a local farmer. 

There was a gun battle in Castleisland later. 

Macardle says that there was a third man killed called J. Walsh.  She also says that the men were not Volunteers killed in action.

 

Hopkinson (2002), pg 126; O’Farrell (1997), pgs 109 & 113; Macardle (1999), pg 394; Horgan (2018), pgs 297-298; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 216

Nov-12-20/3

Frederick Dumont, the American Consul in Dublin, writes to the US Secretary of State saying that “The Irish Administration [Dublin Castle] is slowly but surely resuming control of Ireland.  Ulster is being put in a position to take over its own government.  The courts of justice for the country will function in Dublin and Belfast.  Sinn Féin’s secret service has been matched by the organisation of a superior one which has in its possession enough to condemn the society”.

He also wrote “The deaths of the hunger strikers and the hanging of Kevin Barry have served to force the [Catholic] Church out into the open.  Their funerals as well as the funerals of numerous Irish Volunteers killed in attempts to assassinate members of the British forces, have been remarkable for the numbers of bishops and priests in attendance”.

 

Mitchell (1995), pgs 175 & 215

Nov-12-20/4

RIC Constable Daniel O’Brien is killed in a traffic accident in Cork City.

Abbott (2019), pg 411; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 216

Nov-13-20/1

Seven (or eight) RIC men are traveling in a lorry from Galbally to Bansha in Co. Tipperary when they are ambushed at Inches Cross (or Lisnagaul or Lisvernane) near Bansha in the Glen of Aherlow by the No. 1 Flying Column of the 3rd Tipperary Brigade under Dinny Lacey. 

Four RIC men are killed (Constable Charles Bustrock, Constable Patrick Mackessy, Constable John Miller and Constable Jeremiah [O']Leary).  One of the RIC men became trapped underneath the lorry and burned to death by ignited fuel.

 

Reprisals take place in Tipperary Town, including the burning of the pharmacy and home of PJ Moloney, local Sinn Féin TD.  His son, Jim Moloney, was I/O of the 3rd Tipperary Brigade and had collected intelligence for the ambush.

 

Constable Bustrock was from the Essex in England and had less than one month’s service with the RIC.  The other three constables killed were Irish. 

 

Abbott (2000), pgs 149-150; Ryan (1945), pgs 190-191, O’Halpin (2019), pg 20; Abbott (2019), pgs 189-190; Leeson (2012), pgs 130-134; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pgs 216-217;  Molyneux and Kelly (2021), pgs 23-24

Nov-13-20/2

In a memo to Wilson on the Situation in Ireland for Week Ending 13th November, Macready is generally positive saying that the “number of cases of rebel attacks has been very small during the week” but he goes on to complain that “a majority of news-papers in England … use their influence … on the side of organised opposition to authority in this country”. 

The memo given as Appendix D in Kautt (2014).

 

Kautt (2014), pgs 132 and 227

Nov-13-20/3

A member of the AOH, Michael O’Brien, is returning to his home in Co. Monaghan from a fair in Shercock, Co. Cavan when he comes across a group of IRA men.  He is shot and dies from his wounds on December 2nd.

 

Dooley (2017), pg 87; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 249

Nov-13-20/4

An eight-year old girl called Annie O’Neill is killed after shots were fired by members of the BA in a military lorry at a group standing at Charlemont Place in Dublin. Her six-year-old playmate, Teresa Kavanagh, is also wounded.

 

Macardle (1999), pg 394;  O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 217;  Molyneux and Kelly (2021), pg 23; Pakenham (1967), pg 51

Nov-14-20/1

A Galway priest, Fr Michael Griffin, is called out on a bogus call - his body is found on November 20th buried in a boggy field near Barna. 

Breen says he was called out on a bogus call to a sick parishioner – as do McNamara and Henry.  However, O’Farrell says that he was arrested at his residence – 2 Montpellier Tce., Galway – and taken to Auxiliary HQ at Taylor’s Hill. 

One version is that he had been killed by the Auxiliaries stationed in Lenaboy Castle to avenge the killing of Patrick Joyce – see Oct-15-20/3.  Another version is that he was accidently shot while being interrogated in Lenaboy Castle. See Nov-22-20/7. 

It is widely believed that the man who went to the priest’s residence with the bogus call was William Joyce (no relation of Patrick Joyce) – he later found infamy as the Nazi Propagandist Lord Haw Haw.

The house of Tommy Dillion (Professor of Chemistry in University College Galway) is also raided on this night but he escapes.  He and his wife (Geraldine Plunkett Dillion – sister of Joseph Mary Plunkett) leave for Dublin soon afterwards.

 

Hopkinson (2002), pg 139;  Breen (1989), pg 75; O’Farrell (1997), pgs 39-40; Brennan (1950), pg 290-291; McNamara (2017), pg 617; Henry (2012), pgs 155-164; Leeson (2012), pgs 51-52; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pgs 217-218

Nov-14-20/2

Three members of the RIC are killed and five injured when their Crossley tender crashes into the gateway of the Dromoland Castle in Co. Clare. 

The three killed are Constables Patrick Driscoll, Michael Fleming and Edward Roper. (Ó Ruairc say November 14th; Abbott says November 22nd as do O’Halpin and Ó Corráin.) 

The following night, a British soldier Private Dailey dies in an accident in Ennis (or it may be suicide).

 

Ó Ruairc (2009), pg 187;  Abbott (2000), pgs 316 & 318; Abbott (2019), pgs 405 & 412; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 232

Nov-15-20/1

IRA Volunteer John Conroy or Conry (who served with the 3rd Battalion, South Roscommon Brigade) from Rathconnor, Co. Roscommon is taken from his home by the RIC and shot dead. Probably revenge for the Fourmilehouse ambush – See Oct-12-20/1.

(O’Farrell says November 15th (or 14th) while O’Halpin & Ó Corráin say November 3rd.)

 

O’Farrell (1997), pg 104; O’Callaghan (2012), pgs 90-91; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 212

Nov-15-20/2

Three British Army officers (Captain Stewart Chambers, Captain – or Lieutenant - Montague Green and Lieutenant William Watts) are abducted from a train at Waterfall Railway Station, just outside Cork City. They were abducted by men from the 2nd Battalion, Cork No. 1 Brigade, IRA. 

 

Shortly after their abduction, notices appeared throughout Cork and Kerry in the name of the “Anti-Sinn Fein Society” saying that unless the three officers were released “individuals and houses would be blown to the Devil. No mercy shown.”. The notice then goes on to name thirteen villages and areas in Counties Cork and Kerry with specific number of houses to be blown up and men to be killed in each village and area.  In total, the notice threatens that some 222 men will be killed.  (Somewhat above the ratio stated in the notice where it said “Not a tooth for a tooth, but 50 to 1”. Perhaps their arithmetic was not good?)

Another notice appeared around Cork City which reads: “ANTI-SINN FEIN SOCIETY NOTICE.  If Capt Green, Capt Chambers, Lieut. Watts are not released unharmed within 48 hours, leading members of the IRA will be suitably dealt with.  Ignore this at your peril.  Vengeance may be slow, but it’s sure.”

 

All three officers were subsequently shot.  Their bodies were never recovered.  There is a discussion in Borgonovo as to whether these officers were involved in intelligence work. Also, O’Halpin and Ó Corráin state that “The IRA evidently mistook Green … for another officer of that name involved in torturing Tom Hales”.  Sheehan says that they were not intelligence officers. He also says that Walter Leo Murphy was involved in their killings – see Jun-27-21/8.

 

Borgonovo (2007), pg 8 &10 & 21-25;  O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pgs 234-235; Sheehan (2017), pg 74

Nov-15-20/3

A report appears in the press, written by an ex-BA officer, about the drunken behaviour of British soldiers in the village of Balla, Co. Mayo where they shot up houses in the village and terrorise a number of the inhabitants.

 

Macardle (1999), pg 395-396

Nov-16-20/1

Patrick Lynch is shot dead by the RIC in Golden, Co. Tipperary.  

O’Farrell (1997), pg  111;  O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 218

Nov-16-20/2

De Valera (still in U.S.) announces the formation of the American Association for the Recognition of the Irish Republic (AARIR) at a meeting in Washington. 

This marked the final break with the Devoy-Coholan led Friends of Irish Freedom (FOIF).  Macardle says membership of the AARIR rose to 800,000 within a year.

 

Hopkinson (2002), pg 173; Coogan (1990), pg 193; Macardle (1999), pg 410

Nov-16-20/3

Irish Labour Party and Trades Union Congress holds a National Congress in the Mansion House in Dublin and advocates acceptance of the proposals put forward by the British Labour Parliamentary Party on the 11th Nov – see Nov-11-20/1.

There are also calls for an end to the rail embargo given the living conditions of the rail workers and the devastating effect it was having on people dependent on the railways.  (It was also leading to food shortages in some parts of the country.)

See Dec-21-20/2.

 

Macardle (1999), pg 405; Molyneux and Kelly (2021), pg 24

Nov-17-20/1

After being arrested the previous day by Auxiliaries, four prisoners are taken from their barracks in the Lakeside Hotel, Ballina (on the banks of the River Shannon) in Co. Tipperary onto Killaloe Bridge where they are shot dead with their hands tied behind their backs. 

The four men (Alphie Rodgers, Michael ‘Brud’ McMahon, Michael Egan and Martin Kildea) had been tortured beforehand. Egan was not a member of the IRA but the other three were members of the 4th (Scariff) Battalion, East Clare Brigade.   The British issue a statement saying that the four men were shot trying to escape.  The coroner’s inquest returned a verdict of wilful murder against the British Forces stationed at Killaloe.

Tomás Mac Conmara has written a very detailed book on these killings called The Scariff Martyrs (2021).  As well giving considerable detail on the background to these killings, he also gives quite convincing evidence that the location where the men were staying was given to the Auxiliaries by a local informer.  He also provides evidence that the four men were killed by RIC (old RIC and Black and Tans) as well as by members of the Auxiliaries (but it was the latter who carried out the torture).

 

Brennan (1980), pg 64; O'Farrell P (1997), pg 53; Ó Ruairc (2009), pgs 188-190

Nov-17-20/2

As one of a number of raids in Co. Leitrim, Crown Forces enter the home of Bernard and Frank Ryan at Annaghacoolan.  They were placed on a hastily erected scaffold in their kitchen and threatened with hanging unless they gave information on the IRA.  They were subjected to half hanging until their faces were nearly black.  They were then forced to stand for an hour and a half in icy cold water while been beaten with whips.

 

McGarty (2020), pg 90

Nov-17-20/3

RIC Sergeant James O'Donoghue is shot dead by the IRA in White St, Cork City. 

After this killing, the RIC kill three men (Patrick Hanley; Eugene O'Connell and James Coleman) in retaliation and wound a number of others (one very seriously). 

The IRA subsequently kill up to three men who they suspected of informing the RIC about who carried out the O’Donoghue killing. 

More Detail

 

Hart (1998), pgs 1-11; Abbott (2000), pgs 150-151; O’Farrell (1997), pg 104 & 109 & 115;  Abbott (2019), pgs 190-191; Leeson (2012), pg 187; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pgs 219;  Borgonovo (2007) pgs 107 & 112

Nov-17-20/4

An RAF Bristol Fighter plane, which was dropping mail to the military barracks in Waterford city, crashes into houses near the barracks injuring the two crew members.

 

McCarthy (2015), pg 70; Ozseker (2019), pg 121

Nov-17-20/5

Two RIC men – Constables Edward Knights and William Johnson – are arrested in Roscommon for a series of robberies.  They are tried on February 18th 1921.  They are acquitted of robbery but convicted of unlawful possession and dismissed for the RIC.

 

Leeson (2012), pg 83

Nov-18-20/1

The Irish college in Cloghaneely in Co. Donegal and the nearby co-operative stores are burnt by the BA and RIC.

Ó Duibhir (2009), pg 189

Nov-18-20/2

After a British military plane had to make a forced landing near Cratloe, Co. Clare, the British Army put a guard on it overnight. 

This guard is attacked by IRA men from the 4th Battalion, East Clare Brigade led by Sean O’Halloran resulting in the death of Private Alfred Spackman of the Oxfordshire Regiment. A second soldier, Private Maurice Robins dies, four months later, from the wounds he received.

 

Ó Ruairc (2009), pgs 193-194; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pgs 220-221 & 321; Mac Conmara (2021), pg 171

Nov-18-20/3

Greenwood announces in the British House of Commons that “a Press Officer of long experience whose duty it is to communicate to the Press officially authenticated information with regard to events of public interest in Ireland”.  This was Basil Clarke – he was to sharpen British propaganda on Ireland and try to counter the propaganda of the Irish Bulletin.

(Molyneux and Kelly say Clarke was appointed on August 13th.)

In their The Record of the Rebellion, the British Army criticised the “feebleness of the counter-propaganda by the [British] Government”.  Kautt notes that “This direct criticism of the Government is unusual in The Record of the Rebellion.” But he goes on to comment that “British propaganda efforts … really were as feeble as described [in The Record of the Rebellion.] ”.

 

Boyce (1972) pgs 86-87;  Molyneux and Kelly (2020), pgs 268-269; Kautt (2014), pg 62

Nov-18-20/4

Seventeen bishops of the Church of England write a letter to The Times of London saying that “force breeds force and reprisals suggest reprisals” and asked that “military terrorism may cease and a truce be arranged on both sides”. 

 

Boyce (1972), pg 74

Nov-19-20/1

The American Commission on Conditions in Ireland holds its first public hearing in Washington.  Even though French and Greenwood are invited, no one from the British side appears before the commission.

 

Macardle (1999), pgs 407-409; Hopkinson (2002), pgs 173-174

Nov-19-20/2

IRA Volunteer, Patrick Clancy, is shot dead at Newton, Drangan, Co. Tipperary by Lieutenant Edward Litchfield of the 1st Lincolnshire Regiment, allegedly while Clancy was reaching for a pistol in his pocket.  Thomas O’Carroll says that Litchfield shot Clancy out of hand. There are subsequently a number of attempts by the IRA to kill Litchfield.

See Mar-20-21/7.  See also Mar-06-21/4.

 

O'Farrell P (1997), pg 104; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 221

Nov-19-20/3

Hopkinson says that Mulcahy's papers are discovered on this date in raid by British forces.  Included in the papers are the names of many IRA officers around the country. This is a serious blow to IRA. 

Molyneux and Kelly say that this raid took place on November 10th at Liam Hayes’s house at 49 Longwood Avenue in Portobello on Dublin.  Mulcahy narrowly escapes but papers captured including the names of over 200 IRA men and plans for attacks on infrastructural plants in England.

See Nov-25-20/6 and Dec-05-20/4.

(Mitchell says these raids were on October 26th and November 17th.)

 

Hopkinson (2002), pg 57 & 225; Ó Duibhir (2009), pgs 191-192; Boyce (1972) pg 87;  Mitchell (1995), pgs 64 and 215;  Molyneux and Kelly (2021), pg 18; Kautt (2014), pg 104

Nov-19 to 20-20/1

Four experienced IRA men (Maurice Donnegan - O/C 5th Battalion, Cork No. 3 Brigade; Ralph Keyes - Capt Bantry Company, Sean Cotter, Adj., 5th Battalion and Cornelius O'Sullivan) are captured at Durris, near Bantry, Co. Cork. 

They are protected from serious injury or even death at the hands of the RIC by the intervention of local British Army commander, Colonel Hudson of the King's Liverpool Regiment. 

(Deasy says that the capture of these men was about November 18th or 19th and Crowley names the British officer who saved the lives on the four men as Colonel Jones.)

 

Deasy 1973, pgs 162-163; O'Farrell P (1997), pg 46; Crowley in The Kerryman (1955), pg 39

Nov-20-20/1

Two men, Patrick Blake and James O'Neill, had been arrested for the killing of Constable Walter Oakley in Limerick (see Jul-24-20/1).  They had been taken to Dublin for court martial but were acquitted. 

They were returning to Limerick on this day with their families by train and the two families had split at Limerick Junction.  They continued their journey by road.  

The O'Neill family were stopped nearby by armed and masked men - James was removed and found shot dead the next day.  He had been blindfolded and shot four times in the head. 

The Blake family was stopped near Oola and Michael Blake (Patrick's brother) was shot dead.  (O’Callaghan says that the Blake brother killed was called James.) It is believed that the leader of death squad was a Black and Tan called Thomas Huckerby – see Sep-20-20/3. 

 

Abbott (2000), pgs 104-105; O’Farrell (1997), pg 102; Toomey (2008), pgs 64-65; O’Callaghan (2017), pg 552; O’Callaghan (2018), pg 83; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pgs 221-222

Nov-20-20/2

Capt Joseph Thompson, Acting I/O of the 1st Battalion, Manchester Regiment, is captured by the IRA as he drove on his motorcycle at Carrigrohane between Ballincollig and Cork City.  He is shot dead by Leo Murphy, D O’Mahoney and J Murray near Model Farm Road.  His body is found on November 22nd.

See Jun-27-21/8.

Sheehan (1990), pg 71; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 222;  Borgonovo (2007), pg 21; Sheehan (2017), pg 74

 

Nov-20-20/3

John McSwiggin is shot dead in the Diamond, Magherafelt, Co. Londonderry.  It would appear that he was accidently killed by a British soldier.

O’Farrell (1997), pg 113; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 222

Nov-21-20/1

RIC Head Constable John Kearney is shot in Needham St., Newry on his way back from attending devotions at the Dominican Church and later dies from his wounds.

Abbott (2000), pg 151; Lawlor (2011), pg 78; Leonard (2012), pg 140; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 234

Nov-21-20/2

A civilian, Austin Cowley, is killed by Crown Forces in Navan, Co. Meath after he failed to stop when called to by a sentry.  Cowley was deaf.

Leonard (2012), pg 140; O’Halpin (2012), pg 144; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 230

Nov-21-20/3

Members of Brigade staff of the Cork No. 3 brigade, IRA (including O/C Charlie Hurley) are stopped by the Auxiliaries (based in Macroom) at Copeen (on the Bantry-Cork road) as they return from a brigade council. 

The Auxiliaries detain two IRA men but let the remainder go. (Barry disputes this happened in the way that Deasy describes.)

 

Deasy (1973), pg 163; Barry (1974), pg 12

Nov-21-20/4

The premises of Dwyer’s and Company are bombed in Cork City. 

Also the Sinn Féin Hall at 56 Grand Parade is set alight. According to the RIC, this was the work of the Anti-Sinn Féin League.

 

Borgonovo (2007), pg 13

Nov-21-20/5

A young man, Thomas Lyons, is killed by the British Army at Knappagh, near Westport, Co. Mayo. 

Price reproduces a letter from Lyons’s parish priest to General Macready stating that Lyons was alone and “at a great distance from the road & in clear surroundings, the military party could have experienced neither difficulty or danger”. 

O’Halpin and Ó Corráin say that Lyons was ordered by the BA to “halt and approach.  Instead he ran away.  A soldier fired two shots without order: the second killed Thomas Lyons”.   No arms or ammunition was found on him.

 

Price (2012), pgs 103-104; Leonard (2012), pg 140; O’Halpin (2012), pg 144; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 227

Nov-21-20/6

Five RIC men are attacked as they leave Sheehan's Hotel in Leap, Co. Cork - it results in the death of one (Constable Harry Jays) and the wounding of another (Constable Bertie Mills).

Constable Jays was from Hampshire in England and had nine months’ service in the RIC. 

Abbott (2000), pg 151; Abbott (2019), pg 192 Leonard (2012), pg 140; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 231

Nov-21-20/7

An RIC man (Constable Issac Rea) is shot from a passing car in the village of Cappoquin, Co. Waterford by members of the West Waterford Brigade of the IRA.  He dies on December 27th.

Abbott (2000), pgs 151-152; McCarthy (2015), pg 71; Leonard (2012), pg 140; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 264

Nov-21-20/8

Bloody Sunday

On this Sunday morning, the IRA kill 15 people in Dublin – they were British undercover military intelligence agents, court-martial officers, two Auxiliaries and two civilians. (Abbott says 18 were killed, Gleeson & Hopkinson say 14 but differ in details and Townshend says 12 British officers and two Auxiliaries were killed.  The BA itself listed 13. In the most definitive list, Leonard says 15 were killed – 14 died on the morning and one more died from wounds about three weeks later. O’Halpin and Ó Corráin agree with Leonard.)

In retaliation, on Sunday afternoon, Crown Forces shoot at a crowd in Croke Park attending a Dublin vs Tipperary football match.  They kill or mortally wound 14 people and wound many more. 

Dick McKee, Peadar Clancy and Conor Clune, who were prisoners of the British, are killed in Dublin Castle by Crown Forces later in the evening.

Four or five other people were also to die from gunshot wounds in Dublin on this day.

 

In the period immediately after Bloody Sunday, the Castle Authorities restore internment and give orders for the arrest of all leaders of the IRA. Over the next week 500 arrests are made. BA soldiers are ordered to live in barracks and three hotels are commandeered for this purpose.

 

More Detail

O'Farrell P (1997), pg xvii; Townshend (1975), pg 129-130; Gleeson (1962), pgs 121-143; Abbott (2000), pgs 152-155; Breen (1989), pgs 156-158; Biaslai in The Kerryman (1955), pgs 114-119; Carey (2001), pgs 52-54; O’Farrell (1997), pg 8 & 45; Hopkinson (2002), pg 88-91; Gallagher (1953), pg 110 & 243; Foy (2017), pg 423; Abbott (2019), pgs 192-196; Leeson (2012), pg 36; Townshend (2014), pgs 201-209; Leonard (2012), pg2 102-140; Fanning (2013), pg 241; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pgs 222-234 & 554;  Molyneux and Kelly (2021), pgs 24-75; Kautt (2014), pg 104; Sheehan (2007), pgs 27-29; Sheehan (2009), pg 52; McMahon (2008), pgs 40-41

Nov-22-20/1

Curfew in Dublin (see Jun-30-20/2) extended by the British – now 10pm to 5am.

See Mar-04-21/1.

 

Sheehan (2007), pg 67

Nov-22-20/2

Capt. Patrick McCarthy (Newmarket Battalion, Cork No. 2 Brigade, IRA) is killed when taking part in an ambush on the RIC at Upper Mill Lane, Millstreet.

O’Donoghue (1986), pg 104; Horgan (2018), pg 166; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 234

Nov-22-20/3

Using Cockerill as a conduit, Patrick Moylett gets to meet with Lloyd George to discuss letter from Griffith (See Oct-21-20/1) which proposes a truce and direct negotiations with no preconditions. 

(Lloyd George is reported to have made the callous comment to Moylett that the British agents shot in Dublin on the previous day 'got what they deserved - beaten by counter-jumpers'.)

See May-30-21/5.

 

Coogan (1990), pg 187; Taylor (1961), pg 106

Nov-22-20/4

IRA Volunteer, Edmund Carmody, is killed by the RIC in Ballylongford, Co. Kerry.  It is alleged that he was shot and wounded when attempting to run away from the RIC.  He was then placed against a wall and shot dead. 

See Dec-12-20/1.

 

O’Farrell (1997), pg 103; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 232

Nov-22-20/5

Art O’Donnell, O/C West Clare Brigade, is arrested in Ennis.

 

 Ó Ruairc (2009), pg 202

Nov-22-20/6

John McCann from Quay Lane or Road in Rush, Co. Dublin is taken from his home by a group of men.  His body is found the next day. McCann had been in the IRA but may no longer have been.

 

O’Farrell (1997), pg  112; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 231

Nov-22-20/7

An RIC patrol is ambushed outside Ardara, Co. Donegal resulting in the wounding of four RIC men, two seriously. 

 

Ó Duibhir (2009), pg 191

Nov-22-20/8

The commander of the Auxiliaries, Brigadier General Crozier, goes to Galway and fires the commander of D Company for being drunk. 

He also investigates the killing of Father Griffin (see Nov-14-20/1).  Months later in May 1921, after he had resigned, Crozier told the press that the Auxiliaries had killed Father Griffin. 

On November 30th, Lieutenant Colonel F. H. W. Guard takes over as commander of D Company.

See Nov-24-20/4.

 

Leeson (2012), pg 52

Nov-22-20/9

Sixteen-year-old Michael O’Reilly is shot dead by a British Army soldier on Capel St in Dublin. This was probably an accident.

 

O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pgs 231-232

Nov-22-20/10

Referring to the killings in Croke Park, the Freeman’s Journal carries the headline “Amritzar Repeated in Dublin”.  This was a reference to the Amritsar Massacre - See Apr-13-19/1. 

There was many many more civilians massacred by Crown Forces in Amritsar than there was in Croke Park. 

 

O’Sullivan Greene (2020), pg 154

Nov-23-20/1

Paddy Flynn from Tarmon, Co. Roscommon is shot in his bed by a group of RIC men known as the ‘Castlerea Murder Gang’.  Flynn was Adjutant of the South Roscommon Brigade, IRA.  The RIC also burn the house in which he was sleeping.

Later that day, the Brigade O/C, Dan O’Rourke, has a lucky escape from the same ‘murder gang’.

 

O'Farrell P (1997), pg 108; O’Callaghan (2012), pgs 77-78; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 236

Nov-23-20/2

Macardle says that the Government of Ireland Bill receives royal assent but it is much more likely to be December 23rd – see Dec-23-20/4.

 

Macardle (1999), pg 403;

Nov-23-20/3

The Carrickmore Battalion of the Tyrone No. 1 Brigade of the IRA, led by Charlie Daly, attack Ballygawley RIC barracks resulting in the wounding of three RIC men and two civilian drivers.

 

McCluskey (2014), pg 94

Nov-23-20/4

Denis O’Donnell is shot and killed by the RIC in Meadstown, Kildorrery, Co. Cork.  He was in a house when it was being searched by the RIC.  It was alleged that O’Donnell was shot dead when he was trying to escape.

At the Military Court of Inquiry, it emerged that the three RIC men (Constables A. E. Wood, A. Gray or Grey and S. W. Coe) involved in this killing were drunk on duty at the time of the killing. Constable Wood admitted at the Inquiry to drinking in a pub after hours when on patrol.  He was asked if he knew it was illegal to drink in pubs after hours, he replied: “Yes. But there does seem to be any law now”.

Donnchadh O’Hannigan claimed that two RIC men, who were captured (and later released) after the Kildorrery ambush (see Aug-07-20/2) came back and killed O’Donnell.  It is not known if this is correct but O’Hannigan was not to release prisoners on, at least, one occasion in the future – see Feb-03-21/1.

See also Nov-26-20/2.

 

Leeson (2012), pgs 208-209; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 237

Nov-23-20/5

Three IRA volunteers (Patrick O'Donoghue, Patrick Trahey and James or Edward Mehigan) from 2nd Battalion, Cork No. 1 Brigade are killed as the result of an RIC man (in civilian clothing) throwing a grenade into a group of five men standing at the corner of Princes St and Patrick St in Cork City. The other two are injured.

O’Kelly says that a fourth man was killed (Stephen Dorman) but this would seem to be incorrect as a Stephen Dorman was killed on May 16th 1921 (See May-16-21/2) in similar circumstances.

 

O'Kelly in The Kerryman (1955), pg 26; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pgs 235-237;  Borgonovo (2007) pgs 107 & 112

Nov-23-20/6

Writing in the Manchester Guardian on the subject of reprisals, J. R. Clynes says “If the law cannot detect the guilty and arrest the wrongdoers the agents of the law should not be used to murder the innocent and burn down the homes of those guilty of no offence”.

 

Boyce (1972), pg 99

Nov-23-21/7

A bomb which is being carried by two IRA volunteers (Patrick Murphy and Edward O’Donnoghue) explodes prematurely in Patrick St in Cork City.  At least sixteen civilians are injured.

 

Sheehan (2017), pg 127

Nov-23-20/8

Among the IRA men arrested on this day in Dublin in the aftermath of Bloody Sunday was Thomas Whelan, a 23-year-old from Connemara who was living at 14 Barrow St, Ringsend, Dublin.  He was hung on March 1921 1921.  

See Feb-01-21/3 and Mar-14-20/2.

 

Carey (2001), pg 55

Nov-23-20/9

Bernard Ward is abducted by the IRA in Roscommon and drowned as an alleged spy.

O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 236

Nov-23-20/10

BA soldier, Charles Daily, is killed as a result of an accidental shooting in Ennis, Co. Clare.

 

Nov-23-20/11

James Conlan is shot after being searched by Auxiliaries at Lincoln Place in Dublin.  He dies on November 29th.  (O’Halpin and Ó Corráin say that William Cullinane is also killed by Auxiliaries during this search operation but Leonard says that he was killed on November 21st – see Nov-21-20/8.)

 

O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 554

Nov-24-20/1

RIC Constable Thomas Dillon is shot and killed at the junction of Infirmary Road and North Circular Road in Dublin.

Lance Corporal William Turner of the BA’s 15th (The King’s) Hussars is also shot dead.

Abbott (2000), pg 155; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pgs 236-237

Nov-24-20/2

In the British House of Commons, Greenwood says that “The murder gang in Ireland issues an illegal document known as the Irish Republican Bulletin.  … I consider it a loathsome alliance that men whose hands are red with the blood of gallant soldiers and policemen should come into the lobby of this House and be allowed to circulate their hideous documents of falsehood”.   He also asks, with a flourish “Who is for Ireland and the Empire and who is for the assassin?”

However, speaking about the reprisals carried out by Crown Forces in Ireland, Liberal Leader Asquith says that “We have evidence, not from Sinn Féin sources … but of a vast body [of] absolutely independent, impartial, representing the great organs of the Press not only of this country but of America, France, and other parts of the civilized world.  He goes on to say that the British government is trying “to repress crime by methods of terrorism” and also says that the “policy of the Government can only be fitly described as a policy of despair”.

 

Gallagher (1953), pg 107; Boyce (1972), pg 61 & 93

Nov-24-20/3

Liam Deasy and Jim Lordan - two officers of the Cork No. 3 Brigade, IRA - are detained by the Auxiliaries (under Colonel Crake) at Castletownkenneigh but they are released.

 

Deasy (1973), pg 166

Nov-24-20/4

RIC Constable Timothy Keane is accidently shot in the knee by a fellow constable.  He dies in the Military Hospital in Tipperary on January 23rd 1921.

According to Abbott, he was accidently shot in Bandon, Co. Cork on February 25th, 1921.

 

O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg  279; Abbott (2019), pg 407

Nov-24-20/5

The leaders of the British Labour Party, Arthur Anderson, accompanied by George Russel (AE), meet with Lloyd George in Downing St. to push for a ceasefire but with no practical results.

 

Macardle (1999), pg 412

Nov-24-20/6

Michael Moran, O/C of the Tuam Battalion in Co. Galway (who had led a number of attacks on the RIC – See Jan-12-20/1, Mar-26-20/3 and Jul-19-20/2) is captured.  When being transferred between RIC stations, he is shot dead ‘while trying to escape’. 

The new commander of D Company of the Auxiliaries, Lieutenant Colonel Guard, is present when Moran is shot and may have been the shooter himself.  The Auxiliaries claim that an ambulance was called to take Moran to hospital but the medical evidence at the Military Court of Inquiry says that that Moran died three hours after being shot and this evidence is accepted by the court. 

Thomas Dunleavy replaces Moran. 

 

O'Farrell P (1997), pg 114; McNamara (2018), pg 123 & 152; Henry (2012), pg 71; Leeson (2012), pg 52-53; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 236

Nov-24-20/7

Writing to Macready, CIGS Wilson says that, on the day after Bloody Sunday, he urged Churchill “for the hundredth time” that the “Government should govern, proclaim their fidelity to the Union and declare Martial Law”.   He went to tell Macready that his urgings had “no effect whatsoever”. 

See Nov-30-20/4.

 

Jeffrey (2006), pg 267

Nov-24-20/8

An ex-BA soldier and suspected informer, Tom Downing, is abducted by men from Cork No. 1 Brigade, IRA in Cork City.

Notices appear in the city and printed in the Cork Examiner on November 26th, signed by the “Black and Tans”, threatening violent reprisals if he is not released. He was taken to Knockraha and executed.

On February 10th 1922, Florence O’Donnoghue, then Adjutant, 1st Southern Division, IRA informed Gearoid O’Sullivan, Adjutant General, IRA that Downing was shot dead on November 28th 1920.

 

Borgonovo (2007), pgs 11 and 28;  O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 244; Cork Fatality Register

Nov-25-20/1

Arthur Griffith, Eamonn Duggan and Eoin MacNeil are arrested - 500 arrests are made in the week after Bloody Sunday during widespread raiding throughout the country. 

For example, in Galway, some 61 suspected IRA men were arrested in the last week of November. Paddy Daly also arrested.

Following Griffith’s arrest, Collins took over as Acting President of the Republic on December 11th.

Hopkinson (2002), pg xiv & 91; Macardle (1999), pg 406; Gallagher (1953), pg 260; McNamara (2018), pg 143;  Molyneux and Kelly (2020), pgs 86-87 & 104; Hart (2002), pg 88

Nov-25-20/2

Five houses and shops in the Manorhamilton area of Co. Leitrim have their windows shot out and two haystacks are burnt. 

 

Leeson (2012), pg 162

Nov-25-20/3

IRA Lieutenant Denis Carey, 1st Battalion, Tipperary No.1 Brigade from Nenagh, Co. Tipperary is taken from his lodgings in the early morning by four armed men.  He is interrogated about recent IRA attacks and shot three times.  He dies later in the day. The men who killed him were members of the RIC. 

 

O’Farrell (1997), pgs 103; Dooley (2015), pg 56; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 238

Nov-25-20/4

Two directors of the Freeman’s Journal (Martin Fitzgerald and Hamilton Edwards) and its editor (Patrick Hooper) are found guilty of “spreading a false report” and “intending to cause disaffection with the [British] monarch”. They are fined and imprisoned.  On the night of November 30th, the offices of the Freeman’s Journal are set on fire.

See Jan-06-21/3.

 

Kautt (2014), pg 130; O’Sullivan Greene (2020), pg 154

Nov-25-20/5

Frank Carty, O/C Sligo Brigade IRA, is recaptured at his home near Tubbercurry by Crown Forces.  He had been recuperating from illness.  He is taken to Sligo barracks and then transferred to Derry Jail.

See Feb-15-21/4.

 

Farry (2012), pgs 60-61

Nov-25-20/6

Among the captured Mulcahy papers (see Nov-19-20/3) were plans by Rory O’Connor, who was the IRA’s O/C in Britain for an extensive campaign in Britain.  On this day, these plans were released to the press in an attempt to discredit the IRA.

 

Hart (2003), pg 151

Nov-25-20/7

An ex-BA soldier, Martin Lyons, is shot dead by the IRA as an alleged informer outside his home at Ballynamuddagh, Moate, Co. Westmeath.

 

O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 237

Nov-25-20/8

Thomas Doyle is shot dead by the British military at his home at 3 Dolphin’s Barn Street, Dublin.

The military say that he failed to stop as he was climbing over a wall but his family say that he was washing himself in his back yard after a day’s work.

 

O’Farrell (1997), pgs 106; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 237

Nov-25-20/9

Constable Witherdon, who has survived an attack on August 21st, is accidently shot in the head when a gun he is showing a friend discharges.  He is left in critical condition.

 

Abbott (2000), pg 113; Lawlor (2011), pgs 57-58

Nov-26-20/1

Mortimer Duggan from Broadford, Co. Limerick is shot dead by Crown Forces.  He was shot when trying to get out the back door of a pub as Crown Forces came in the front door.

 

O’Farrell (1997), pg 107; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 238

Nov-26-20/2

There is an ambush by the IRA on an RIC and BA convoy at Labbacally or Labbacallee, near Glanworth, Co Cork. 

O’Donoghue says three members of the Crown Forces were killed (and four wounded).  O’Halpin and Ó Corráin say two BA soldiers (Private Walter Gammon and Acting Corporal Ernst Hall of The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)) were killed and others wounded.

More Detail

 

O’Donoghue (1986), pg 108; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pgs 237-238; Sheehan (2017), pg 53; Thomas Barry (BMH Statement); William Regan (BMH Statement)

Nov-26-20/3

The Loughnane Brothers

 

On this day, two brothers, Patrick (29) and Harry (22) Loughnane, are arrested by members of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), mainly Auxiliaries, at their home in Shanaglish in south County Galway.  They were taken to the RIC station in Gort and, afterwards, they were taken to Drumharsna Castle (near Ardrahan, Co. Galway) where a sub-company of the Auxiliary Division of the RIC were stationed.  The Auxiliaries claim that the two brothers escaped on the night of November 26th.  Nine days later, the battered and charred bodies of the two brothers are found at Owenbristy (or Umbriste), near Drumharsna Castle.

 

This case receives widespread publicity mainly because photographs were taken of the two brothers’ corpses in their coffins before they were buried.  These photographs showed that their bodies had been substantially mutilated.  It is widely believed that the brothers were killed by the Auxiliaries. 

 

In an extended essay (given in more More Detail), the evidence for and against the brothers being killed by the Auxiliaries will be reviewed.  This evidence clearly points to the Auxiliaries being responsible for the deaths of the two brothers.    While not as conclusive, the evidence also points to the high likelihood of the brothers being brutally treated before they were killed. 

Also, an attempt is made to look into why the brothers were subjected to such seemingly brutal treatment.  Unfortunately, despite a number of possible reasons having being put forward by different authors, it is not possible (on the basis of the evidence currently available) to establish a definitive explanation for the brothers being so badly treated.  However, a tentative explanation is put forward on the basis of the context in which the killings took place.

 

See More Detail

Nov-26-20/4

Among the IRA men arrested on this day in Dublin (in the aftermath of Bloody Sunday) was Patrick Moran, a 33-year-old labour activist and veteran of the 1916 Rebellion from Crossna, Co. Roscommon. His fate was to be hung March 14th 1921. See Feb-15-21/1 and Mar-14-21/2.

See also Feb-14-21/1.

 

Carey (2001), pg 68;

Nov-26-20/5

Two IRA men (Denis Christopher Morrisey & William (Liam) Mulcahy) from 1st Battalion, Cork No. 1 Brigade are killed.  The probable cause is that a bomb, with which they were working, exploded prematurely. This occurred on Watercourse Rd. in Cork City.

O'Kelly in The Kerryman (1955), pg 26; O'Farrell P (1997), pg 114; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 237; Sheehan (2017), pg 127

Nov-26-20/6

In a speech, British Liberal Party leader, H. H. Asquith, (who had on a number of occasions argued for giving Ireland ‘dominion home rule’ – see for example, Oct-05-20/3) makes the following qualification: “ I quite agree the geographical situation of Ireland – and I am not going to take any risks …of any sort or kind towards our strategic security … nor would I consent to the application of Dominion Home Rule for Ireland on any other terms – that any navy raised in Ireland should be auxiliary to the Royal Navy and subject to its orders”.

 

Boyce (1972), pg 124

Nov-27-20/1

Constable Maurice Quirk (or Quirke) is shot by members of the ASU of the West Waterford ASU of the IRA as he leaving his lodgings in Cappaquin, Co. Waterford and dies two days later.  Among the attackers were George Lennon and Mick Mansfield.

According to McCarthy, Constable Quirke was popular in the area and his killing caused resentment among local IRA men.  McCarthy quotes a local IRA man as later claiming that “if a policeman needs to be shot then local Volunteers were capable of doing it without the assistance of the Dungarvan men”.

 

Abbott (2000), pg 156; McCarthy (2015), pg 71; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 244

Nov-27-20/2

Armed and disguised men ‘with foreign accents’ burst into the home of Alderman Coughlan in Cork City.  Coughlan was not at home but, according to his wife, the men were looking for her husband to shoot him.

 

Borgonovo (2007) pg 107

Nov-27-20/3

The Cork Weekly News reports the release by the Cork City IRA of RIC Detective Thomas Ryan.  The IRA had mistaken him for a British Army intelligence officer.

 

Borgonovo (2007), pg 29

Nov-27-20/4

According to Abbott, two RIC men are attacked near Castlemartyr, Co. Cork and one (Constable Timothy Quinn) dies the next day. 

O’Halpin and Ó Corráin give a somewhat more complicated picture but confirm that Constable Quinn was mortally wounded (by Joseph Aherne).  They also say that IRA Volunteer Liam Heffernan is also killed by Quinn’s companion (Sgt Curley).

(O’Farrell says that Heffernan died on January 27th 1920.)

 

Abbott (2000), pg 155; Abbott (2019), pg 197; O’Farrell (1997), pg 109; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pgs 239 & 244

Nov-27 to 28-20/1

On the night of November 27th, both Blackrock and Douglas Parish Halls outside Cork City are burnt down.  The business premises of Herbert Forest on Patrick St in the centre of Cork City is also burnt down. 

On November 28th, the ITGWU hall is burnt down as are three more businesses and two houses.

Sheehan says that there was looting “committed by locals”.

 

Sheehan (2017), pgs 99 & 154

Nov-27-20/5

After an RIC constable was kidnapped, Carnadoe creamery in Co. Roscommon is burnt by Crown Forces as well as two Sinn Féin halls.  The windows and furniture in seven houses are smashed.

 

Leeson (2012), pg 162-163

Nov-27 to 28-20/2

Riots in Derry.

Gallagher (2003), pg 34

Nov-28-20/1

Kilmichael Ambush

Tom Barry, O/C of the (West) Cork No. 3 Brigade Flying Column leads and IRA ambush at Kilmichael in Co Cork which leads to the deaths of 17 Auxiliaries and 3 IRA men. 

More Detail Note:  The detail presented here (in pdf format) is a aquite in-depth look at the background to and the controversies that arose from the Kilmichael Ambush.  It was written in 2005 and a lot has been written on this ambush since. 

However, rather than update it, anyone interested in this ambush (and the many controversies that have arisen from it) is recommended to read Eve Morrison’s detailed and authoritative Kilmichael – The Life and Afterlife of an Ambush published in 2022.   (The extended essay presented in More Detail is retained as it has been referred to by a number of authors.)

 

Curran J M (1980), pg 40;  Hart (1998) Chapters 2 and 6; Abbott (2000), pgs 156-163; Barry in The Kerryman (1955), pgs 120-128; Townshend (2014), pgs 210-215; Kautt (2014), pgs 107-109

Nov-28-20/2

Six houses in Wexford are robbed by three men.

Two RIC men – Constables Patrick Myers and James O’Hara – and a British soldier are arrested, tried and convicted of robbery.  The two RIC men are dismissed from the force. 

 

Leeson (2012), pg 83

Nov-28-20/3

Over 100 members of the IRA in Liverpool burn a number of warehouses – twenty-three are attacked and nineteen burnt down causing hundreds of thousands of pounds in damage.  Hart says that a night watchman is killed. 

However, O’Halpin & Ó Corráin say that the man killed was William Ward who seen two men acting suspiciously in a warehouse doorway and went to notify the police.  When he returned with a constable, he was shot in the heart.

The Manchester IRA were supposed to act as well but they did not. 

(On November 27th, an attempt to burn a timber yard in London had been foiled by the police.)

 

Hart (2003), pg 151;  O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 244; Hopkinson (2002), pg 148

Nov-28-20/4

In the welter of condemnation and counter-condemnation of killings by both sides in Ireland, the Westminster Gazette states “Englishmen, unfortunately, cannot control Sinn Féin outrages, and they can do nothing but denounce them, but they can and ought to control the acts of their own Executive, and they have a duty to insist that it shall not engage in a competition of murder and sabotage with its assailants”.

 

Boyce (1972), pg 95

Nov-28-20/5

Sixteen-year-old Frederick Bundy of the BA’s Somerset Light Infantry is accidently killed by a fellow BA soldier in Belfast.

 

O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 244

Nov-29-20/1

Due to the number of attacks on the premises of local newspapers by Crown Forces, the Irish Bulletin notes that “the natural consequence has been that the provincial press now avoids any but the baldest details of the military and constabulary excesses”.

 

McGarty (2020), pg 89

Nov-29-20/1

James Blemens and his son, Frederick, are abducted by the IRA from their home on the Blackrock Road in Cork City.  They were executed as alleged spies and buried in Carroll’s Bog.

On December 17th 1921, Seán O’Hegarty, O/C 1st Cork Brigade, IRA wrote to Gearoid O’Sullivan, Adj Gen, IRA informing him that the Blemens had been executed as spies on December 2nd 1920 after trial and conviction. 

The CFR concluded that “On balance it seems likely that at least one member of this household was operating actively against the IRA.”

 

Borgonovo (2007), pg 28;  O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 245; Cork Fatality Register

Nov-29-20/2

Sixty-two tear-old Martin Walsh, who was a long-term ‘liberty patient’ in the Asylum in Ennis, Co. Clare is shot dead by Private James Arthur of the BA’s Royal Scots outside the Asylum for ‘failing to stop when challenged’. 

According to O’Halpin and Ó Corráin, Walsh was “Regarded as quiet and harmless” and he “had a habit of running to work”.

 

O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 244; Mac Conmara (2021), pg 186

Nov-29-20/3

Two members of the Crown Forces remove Denis O’Sullivan from a public house in Coolderrihy, Kilmichael, Co. Cork and kill him.  This is thought to be part of on-going reprisals for the Kilmichael ambush in which a number of houses in the vicinity were burnt by Crown Forces.

 

O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 245

Nov-30-20/1

Lunch takes place in London for the RC Archbishop of Perth, Joseph Clune, at which he tells the guests (including Joe Devlin) of the reprisals after the Rineen ambush (see Sep-22 to 23-20/1). 

Devlin arranges for him to meet next day with Lloyd George. See Dec-01-20/3.

 

Coogan (1990), pg 194

Nov-30-20/2

A letter appears in press from Roger Sweetman (Sinn Féin TD for Wexford North) saying that he was “absolutely convinced that the methods of warfare now being deployed are deplorable in their results for our country”.  He goes on to propose a conference of public bodies (Catholic hierarchy, Irish Labour Party, etc) to formulate peace proposals.

This letter had not been sanctioned by the leaders of the Dáil government. See Dec-03-20/1.

 

Coogan (1990), pg 196; Mitchell (1995), pg 220

Nov-30-20/3

British Labour Party Commission on Ireland arrives in Dublin.  They subsequently travel to Limerick, Kilkenny, Killarney and Cork. 

See Dec-29-20/1

.

Macardle (1999), pg 406; Boyce (1972), pg 62

Nov-30-20/4

Llyod George meets with Greenwood and Wilson to discuss martial law in Ireland.  See Dec-01-20/1.

 

Jeffrey (2006), pg 268

Nov-30-20/5

A notice is posted in the village of Beaufort in Co. Kerry from the Anti-Sinn Féin League saying that any trees or roads cut must be filled at once.  If not, four houses in the vincinity will be burnt out and blown up.

 

Borgonovo (2007), pg 8

Nov-30-20/6

Two IRA men, Patrick Tierney (QM in Ardee Company) and John O’Carroll (a Lieutenant in the South Louth Battalion) are taken from their lodgings in Ardee, Co. Louth and summarily executed.

 

Hall (2019), pg 76; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 246

Nov-30-20/7

Two RIC men (Constable William Muir and Constable Coughlan) are captured by the Ballylongford Company of the IRA.  Constable Muir was brought to Moyvane where he was guarded by the local company.  The British Army issued an ultimatum that Ballylongford would be razed to the ground if two men were not released. Kerry No. 1 Brigade HQ orders their release.  (Constable Muir later commits suicide on December 27th 1920.)

Constable Muir was from Edinburgh and had less than three months service in the RIC.

 

Abbott (2000), pg 318; O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 264

Nov-30-20/8

RIC Sergeant William McCarthy is in a Lancia, which is being towed by another car, at Julianstown, Co. Louth. The go over a bump in the road which sets off Sgt McCarthy’s carbine and the bullet hits him.  He dies a number of hours later.

 

O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 246

Nov-1920/1

Warren Harding, the Republican candidate, is elected as President of the U.S.

 

Macardle (1999), pg 410

Nov-1920/2

Ballykinlar Internment Camp is opened by the British Army in Co. Down.

 

Murphy W (2017), pg 443

Nov-1920/3

The RIC’s CI for Cork, in his report for November, says that “a new organisation known as the Anti Sinn Féin Society has sprung into existence … It is believed that many of the recent burnings in Cork are attributed to it”.

 

Borgonovo (2007), pg 13

cNov-1920/4

Peter O’Dwyer of the Clonoulty Company, 3rd Battalion, Tipperary No. 3 Brigade, IRA dies.  No further information given.

 

O’Halpin and Ó Corráin (2020), pg 247

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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