September 1920
|
Early-Sept |
After being
interviewed by Brigade O/C Charlie Hurley and Brigade V/C Ted O'Sullivan, Tom
Barry is made Brigade Training Officer of the Cork No. 3 Brigade IRA on
October 1st. |
Deasy (1973), pgs
141 & 319 |
|
Sep-01 |
Five RIC men on
bicycles were attacked at Rathmacross (or Ratra Crossroads), Co. Roscommon
(between Ballaghdereen and Frenchpark) resulting in the deaths of two
policemen (Constables Edward Murphy and Martin McCarthy) and one IRA man
(Captain Tom McDonagh from the South Sligo Brigade). The IRA ambush
party of about 25 men are led by Jim Hunt and Michael Marren from the East
Mayo Brigade. (O'Farrell says that the ambush takes place at Ratra, Teevnacreeva.) It is said that McDonagh’s body was dragged
by Crown Forces through the streets of Ballaghdereen and put on public
display. Also a number of buildings and businesses are burnt or blown up in
Ballaghdereen that night in reprisal by the RIC. |
Abbott (2000), pg
119; O'Farrell P (1997), pg 60 & 112; Farry (2012), pg 58; Price (2012),
pg 94; O’Callaghan (2012), pgs 60-68 & 192; Lesson (2012),
pgs 154-155 |
|
Sep-01 |
Ambush by 6th
Battalion, Cork No. 1 Brigade on British forces at Inniscarra. British got
away and there were no casualties on either side. |
O'Callaghan (1974),
pg 35 |
|
Sep-02 |
Following the
severe disturbances in Belfast, at a meeting in London, Sir James Craig
presses Bonar Law, Lord Privy Seal, to create a special constabulary of 2,000
full-time men and a part-time special constabulary should be raised “from the
loyal population which would only be called out for duty in case of
emergency. The organisation of the UVF should be used for this purpose,
as was done for raising the 36th Ulster Division when the war
broke out”. See July 23rd and
July 29th above. Also,
September 8th below. |
Parkinson (2004), pg 84; Abbott
(2019), pg 186 |
|
Sep-03 |
Two policemen were
cycling from Portland (Portlaw?) to Leamybrien when they are ambushed by the
IRA led by Pat Keating, at Kilmacthomas, Co. Waterford resulting in the death
of Sgt Martin Morgan. One of the IRA
men present said the policemen were unarmed.
|
Abbott (2000), pg
119; McCarthy (2015), pg
71 |
|
Sep-03 |
N. Kerr from Pigeon
House Rd., Ringsend, Dublin dies. |
O’Farrell (1997),
pg 110 |
|
Sep-03 |
The cashier of the
large Dunbar McMaster & Co thread-spinning mill in Giford, Co. Down was
returning in a taxi from the Northern Bank in Banbridge with the wages for
the workers in the mill (£1,300) when they meet a car broken down on the
road. The taxi driver, William
McDowell, gets out of his car to see if he can help but is shot and killed by
one of the men in the broken down car.
The cashier is bundled out of the car and the men make their getaway
with the wages. Despite there being no
evidence of any political connection to the robbery, the following morning
the Banbridge Chronicle has the
headline ‘Gilford man shot by Sinn Féin Raiders’. This inaccurate headline led to further reprisals against
the local Catholic population with about 1,000 Catholic workers expelled from
their place of work in the Bann Valley. |
Lawlor (2009), pgs
78-81 |
|
Sep04 |
IRA men from the
Letterkenny and Fanad companies, led by Dr JP McGinley, attack the coast
guard station at Fanad, Co. Donegal.
After a period of firing, the coast guards surrender and the IRA take
away eleven revolvers, ammunition and some gelignite. |
Ó Duibhir (2009),
pgs 171-172 |
|
Sep-05 |
IRA man Liam
Hegarty killed by British forces outside Ballyvourney, Co Cork. Memorial to Liam Hegarty. Also M. Lynch from Ballyvourney, Macroom, Co. Cork dies. |
O’Farrell (1997), pg 109 &
111 |
|
Sep-05 |
IRA raid on Belleek
RIC barracks in Co. Fermanagh led by Frank Carney, O/C Fermanagh
Brigade. Carney gains entrance to the
barracks as he is dressed as a British officer, the IRA make away with a
quantity of weapons and the barracks is burnt down. |
Hutton (2019), pg
28; Ó Duibhir (2009), pgs 173-174; Ozseker (2019), pg 118 |
|
Sep-08 |
A four-man RIC
patrol is ambushed near Tullow, Co. Carlow resulting in the deaths of two RIC
men (Constable Timothy Delaney and Constable John Gaughan) and
another is seriously wounded. |
Abbott (2000), pg
119; Leeson (2012), pg 138 |
|
Sep-08 |
RIC driver,
Constable Edward Krumm, and IRA volunteer, Sean Mulvoy, are killed in
Galway Railway Station, Galway City.
This was not a planned attack.
A number of IRA men had gone to the station to collect some explosives
arriving on the Dublin train. However,
a melee develops, Krumn pulls his gun and shoots Mulvoy. He himself is subsequently shot with his
own gun. (This is one version of what
happened. Henry gave a number of
alternative versions.) In the aftermath of
the killing of Krumm, the RIC men from Eglington St barracks go on a rampage
through out Galway City. A 23-year old IRA volunteer, Seamus Quirke
(originally from Cork), is dragged from his bed, brought to the docks where
he is shot nine times – he dies shortly afterwards. Local IRA men, Sean Broderick and Joe
Cummins are also dragged from their beds and shot – both escape by feigning
death. The Broderick family home and another two houses are set on fire. The next day the offices of the Galway Express are ransacked. The terror continues for the next 15
nights. During this time, the RIC assaulted many people, looted shops and
burnt at least 13 homes and shops. For
example, on the night of the 22nd September, Thomas Nolan’s
drapery store was wrecked and looted. Before leaving, the RIC laid out a
shroud and left a note on it for Nolan saying “You are a doomed man”. The police again attacked the offices of
the Galway Express and smashed the
home of the editor. The British Army,
at times, acted as a restraining force on the RIC. Major Tudor, who was in Galway at this
time, speaks to the men in Eglington Barracks. According to an RIC man present (John Caddan), Tudor said “This country is ruled by gunmen, and
they must be put down” and he called on the RIC to put them down. Lesson
notes that no Black and Tans (i.e. British recruits to the RIC) were involved
in these reprisals. A Military Inquiry
of Enquiry is held, instead of a coroner’s inquest, for the first time under
ROIA – for details see Henry. Also,
see 18th September. Constable
Krumm was from Middlesex in England with less than a month’s service in the
RIC. |
Abbott (2000), pg
119; McNamara (2017), pg 615; McNamara (2018), pg 144; Henry (2012), pgs
88-109; Leeson (2012), pgs 45-46 & 163 & 195 |
|
Sep-08 |
Attempted ambush on
British Army cycle patrol by men from the Cork No. 3 brigade IRA (led by Liam
Deasy) at Manch on the Dunmanway-Ballineen road fails due to incorrect
information and one IRA man is captured. |
Deasy (1973), pgs
136-139 |
|
Sep-08 |
British ministers,
after meeting with a UUC delegation the previous day, decide to organise a
force of special constables made up of loyalists despite objections from
General Neville Macready who said that it would sow the seeds of civil
war. Hamar Greenwood, Chief Secretary for
Ireland, was given the task of setting up the Special Constabulary. Decision
made public on 22nd October. See September 27th
and October 22nd below. It was also decided
to appoint a Permanent Under-Secretary in Belfast (who was to be Sir Ernest
Clark) and to appoint Charles Wickham as divisional commissioner of the
RIC. The appointment of Clark and Wickham signalled de facto partition. September – See
September 15th |
McDermott (2001), pg 57; McCluskey (2014), pg 95; Lawlor (2009), pg 162; Abbott
(2019), pg 186 |
|
Sep-09 |
RIC Constable John
Denham is accidently shot dead. Also, Constable Edward Morley commits
suicide. |
Abbott (2019), pgs
404 & 410 |
|
Sep-10 |
The Irish
Bulletin issues captured British documents written on the 15th
January 1920 and the 8th April 1920 which were written on
Dáil notepaper. This calls into question the statement from the Chief
Commissioner of the DMP (issued on the 27th May) that no Dáil
notepaper had been seized by detectives in their raid on Dáil HQ the previous
November. More significantly,
the Bulletin also published a report from Capt F. Harper-Shove of the British
Army General staff and in charge of Intelligence in the Dublin district and
claimed that an expert was prepared to swear that the typewriter on which
this report was typed was the same typewriter on which the death notices were
typed which were sent to Dáil member the previous May. Finally, the Bulletin
published a letter from F. Harper-Stove from St. Andrew’s Hotel, Exchequer
St., Dublin to “Dear Hardy” saying that “Have been given a free hand to carry
on, and everyone has been charming. Re our little stunt, I see no
prospects until I have things on a firmer basis, but still hope and believe
there are possibilities”. The Bulletin claims that the little
stunt is the assassination of leaders of Sinn Féin. |
Gallagher (1953),
pgs 91-93 |
|
Sep-10 |
Bobby Bruce, a GNR
train driver from Donegall Road in Belfast, drove the normal morning train
from Belfast to Dublin. On arrival in
Dublin, he went to a public house. On
leaving the public house, he was accosted by three men carrying
revolvers. They tied him to a pole in
Talbot St with an iron chain and padlock.
A notice is placed on him saying; “SCAB. This is Robert Bruce who
continued to drive munitions trains on the GNR while his comrades are being
DISMISSED.” After being released by the DMP, Bruce is taken to Store St
barracks. After he leaves Store St, he
drives the 3pm Dublin train to Belfast where he is warmly greeted by his colleagues. |
Lawlor (2011), pgs 60-62 |
|
Sep-10 |
Pat Gill, a 60-year
old farmer from Corlara, Co. Roscommon is walking down the street in Drumsna,
Co. Leitrim with two female companions when he is fired on by an RIC man
sitting in a lorry nearby. He dies
immediately. The inquest returns a
verdict that his death was caused by a ‘shooting by persons unknown’. |
O’Callaghan (2012),
pg 102; O'Farrell P (1997), pg 108 & 114 |
|
Sep-11 |
John Toner (50), a
Catholic carter, is shot by a military patrol close to his home in Cable St.,
Belfast. The army say that he was in breach of curfew regulations and that he
failed to stop when requested. Mr Toner died in hospital the following
day. |
Parkinson (2004), pg 50 |
|
Sep-11 |
A number of men
with blackened faces enter the Kilkenny Post Office yard, they beat up a
driver and steal eleven post office bags.
It later transpires, after the resignation of the Commander of the
Auxiliaries (see February 9th 1921) that the men were Auxiliaries
based in Woodstock House, Inistioge and the motive was robbery. |
Walsh (2018), pg
267 |
|
Sep-12 |
A Brigade Council
of the 3rd South Tipperary Brigade was taking place at Blackcastle
(each battalion was represented three officers as well as all the brigade
officers) when he was raided a party of mounted Lancers. Three IRA men
were captured. The dispersion of the Brigade Council became known as
the "Blackcastle Races". |
Ryan (1945), pgs
144-146 |
|
Sep-14 |
Three IRA men are
killed in South Roscommon by the 9th Lancers. They are Michael
Glavey (Cloonan, Ballinlough), Patrick Glynn (Aughaderry, Loughglynn) and
Michael Keane (Ballinlough). The IRA men, along
with others, were in the act of burning Ballinlough barracks which had been
evacuated earlier in the day. What
they didn’t know was that the Lancers (who had been billeted in the barracks)
had laid a trap for them and hidden until the IRA men came back to burn the
barracks. Pat Glynn was O/C 1st
Battalion (Castlerea) of the South Roscommon Brigade. |
O’Farrell (1997), pg 84; O’Callaghan (2012), pgs 70-75 |
|
Sep-14 |
Members of the RIC
raid the home of James Connolly, captain of the IRA’s Kinlough Company in
Tullagahan, Kinlough, Co. Leitrim dies. When they do not find him at home,
they take his father outside and kill him.
First ‘extra-judicial’ killing by Crown Forces in Donegal area.
(Kinlough Company is attached to the South Donegal Brigade.) |
O’Farrell (1997), pg104; Ó Duibhir (2009), pg 177; Ozseker (2019), pgs 118-119 |
|
Sep-14 |
The London Times
reproduces most of the Irish Bulletin of the 10th but says
that it failed to prove an actual plot of assassination of public
representatives. |
Gallagher (1953),
pg 94 |
|
Sep-14 |
A meeting of Dublin
Corporation sets up a committee to put the Belfast Boycott into immediate
effect. |
Macardle (1999), pg 387 |
|
Sep-15 |
Ernie O'Malley (GHQ
Staff Captain) starts a two-week training course of 19 members of the Cork
No. 1 Brigade (and one member of the Waterford Brigade) at Badger's Hill,
Glenville. |
O’Donoghue
(1986), pg97 |
|
Sep-15 |
RIC man (Constable
Terence Wheatly) is shot in Market Sq., Dundalk - it is unclear as to what
happened but it would seem that the IRA were not involved. He died
three days later in Louth Hospital.
(Hall suggests that he may have been involved in a robbery on a shop
during which an accomplice shot him.
Abbott would seem to support this suggestion.) |
Abbott (2000), pgs
120-121; Lawlor (2011), pgs 58-59; Hall (2019), pg 76; Abbott (2019), pgs 152-153 |
|
Mid-Sep |
D Company of the
Auxiliaries arrive in Galway City.
They soon make their presence felt.
See 2nd October. |
Leeson (2012), pg
47 |
|
Sep-15 |
In an interview
given to a French newspaper, Macready says that “We have most of their names,
and the day may come when we shall be able to make a definite clearance of
them” |
|
|
Sep-15 |
Sir Ernest Clarke, a leading
civil servant, appointed as an additional Under-Secretary in Belfast in
anticipation of the changes that the setting up of a Northern Ireland
parliament would bring. His job was to provide a framework for the
forthcoming administration. Greenwood pushes him to work on the restoration
of expelled workers but this fails mainly due the insistence of the UULA and
Loyalist Vigilante Committee insisting that returning workers should sign a
declaration of loyalty to the Crown and renounce support for Sinn Féin. |
Phoenix (1994), pg 93;
Parkinson (2004), pg 40 |
|
Sep-15 |
In the United
States, on the initiative of Dr W. J. Maloney (and with the help of Frank P.
Walsh) a committee of prominent people was set up to investigate conditions
in Ireland. (It included 11 Senators, 13 Congressmen, 5 Governors,
prominent clergy from a number of denominations, college presidents,
etc.) It decided to hold hearings in Washington by five of its
members. |
Macardle (1999), pg 407 |
|
Sep-16 |
IRA man Joseph Athy
from Maree, Oranmore, Co. Galway is killed – eyewitnesses report seeing
gunmen in army fatigues fleeing the scene.
The killing was in retaliation for the ambush at Red Bridge on the 21st
August. (McNamara says 17th
September.) |
O’Farrell (1997), pg 102; McNamara (2018), pg 124 & pgs 148-149; Henry
(2012), pgs 114-115 |
|
Sep-16 |
Griffith assembles
a number of press correspondents at which he exposes a British spy.
(Full report contained in Irish Independent of the 17th
given in Brennan.) |
Brennan (1950), pgs
275-283 |
|
Sep-17 |
Dáil issues a
decree prohibiting the imposition of religious tests as a condition of
employment. |
Macardle (1999), pg 387 |
|
Sep-18 |
An East Clare
Brigade of the IRA attack on the Scariff RIC barracks (led by Michael
Brennan) has to be called off when the time bombs fail to explode. The
barracks is vacated two days later. |
Brennan (1980), pgs
56-58; Ó Ruairc (2009), pgs 148-152 |
|
Sep-18 |
A gang of young men
enter J. Redmond’s house near Gorey in Co. Wexford. He is badly beaten and his face and clothes
are tarred. His ‘crime’ was that he
had driven RIC men in his car. The
following night, another Wexford man, Patrick Cullen is taken to a grave yard
where he is tried for being friendly with the RIC. Despite a grave being dug
for him, he is not killed. |
Leeson (2012), pg
209 |
|
Sep-18 |
A woman called
Eileen Baker had given evidence to the Military Court of Inquiry held after
the events in Galway City on the 8th September – see above. On this morning, a number of IRA men
attacked Baker and cut off her hair.
In retaliation, that night RIC men and British soldiers attack and cut
off the hair of five Cumann na mBan women. |
Leeson (2012), pg
46 |
|
Sep-19 |
A joint
RIC/Military patrol is ambushed by the Flying Column of the West Limerick
Brigade at Mountmahon, Co. Limerick (between Abbeyfeale and Limerick City) -
two RIC men (Constable James Donohoe and Constable John Mahony)
later die from wounds received. Reprisals follow. Toomey says that the target of the ambush
was a Black and Tan called Constable Thomas Huckerby – see Sep-20. |
Abbott (2000), pg 121-122;
Harnett (2002), pgs 65-66; Toomey (2008), pg 64;
O’Callaghan (2018), pg 82 |
|
Sep-19 |
S. Doyle from 159
Emmet Rd., Inchicore, Dublin dies |
O’Farrell (1997),
pg 106 |
|
Sep-19 |
Two British army
officers – Captain McLean and Captain Connolly – who were travelling in mufti
in the north Clare area are captured by the East Clare Brigade of the
IRA. They were released after
interrogation on the assurance that they would leave Ireland immediately.
(McLean did not leave Ireland and he was killed on Bloody Sunday – see 21st
November.) |
Ó Ruairc (2009), pg
154-155 |
|
Sep-19 |
The IRA in
Pallaskenry, Co. Limerick take two revolvers from Peter Switzer as he is
going to church. See 18th
April 1920 and 10th January 1922. |
O’Callaghan (2018),
pg 117 |
|
Sep-20 |
RIC Head Constable Peter
Burke and his brother, Sgt Michael Burke are attacked by the IRA in Mrs
Smith's public house on The Square, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin. In
retaliation, the RIC men, who are based in Gormanstown, carry out reprisals
in Balbriggan killing two Sinn Féin supporters (James Lawless & John Gibbons), burning 54
houses, a hosiery factory and loot four public houses. 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.) Memorial Also, see September 9th
1921. |
O'Farrell P (1997),
pg, ;Townshend (1975), pg 115; Gleeson (1962), pg 84; Abbott (2000),
pgs 122-123 & Hopkinson (2002), pg 80 |
|
Sep-20 |
Kevin Barry is
arrested (with a loaded revolver) after taking part in an IRA hold up of a
ration party of British Army outside Monks’s Bakery
in Church St, Dublin at the junction of North King St. and Church St.
In the raid, three British soldiers were killed and a number injured, one of
whom later died from his wounds. Their names were Privates Washington,
Humphries and Whitehead from the Duke of Wellington's West Riding
Regiment. (Two of the soldiers killed were 19 years old and the other
20.) Barry had been on
holidays in Carlow and had come back to Dublin to do his repeat first year medical
examinations. (The raid took place in the morning at 11.00am and he was
due to sit his last exam in the afternoon.) See October 20th. |
Townshend (1975), pg
115; Carey (2001), pgs 15-17; Hopkinson (2002),pg 87; Townshend (2014), pgs
196-197 |
|
Sep-20 |
Pat Hartnett and
Jeremiah Healy from Abbeyfeale, Co. Limerick are shot dead by Constable
Thomas Huckerby (see 19th September) and that when the death
certificates were issued by a military court of inquiry, the cause of death
was put down as ‘Shot by revolver shots fired by T. D. Huckerby’. (This
was highly unusual.) Neither man killed by Huckerby had any involvement with
the IRA. Huckerby was transferred to
Limerick City. |
O’Farrell (1997), pg 109;
Toomey (2008), pg 64; O’Callaghan (2018), pg 83 |
|
Sep-20 |
British forces
wreck houses in Carrick-on-Shannon and Tuam |
Macardle (1999), pg
388 |
|
Sep-21 |
RIC reprisals in
Drumshambo and Galway |
Macardle (1999), pg
388 |
|
Sep-21 |
RIC Sgt Denis
Maguire is shot and killed during the search of a house in Ferbane, Co. Offaly. He was probably shot by a fellow member of
the Crown Forces. |
Abbott (2000), pg
123; Abbott (2019), pg 155 |
|
Sep-22 |
RIC tender ambushed
at Rineen, Co Clare (between Ennistymon and Milton Malbay) by Mid-Clare
Brigade IRA. The ambush leads to the deaths of six policemen.
Earlier Resident Magistrate Lendrum was shot by the IRA at Doonbeg, Co.
Clare. More Detail |
Townshend (1975),
pg 115; Abbott (2000), pgs 123-126 and pg 273 & Hopkinson (2002),pg
130; O'Malley (2001), pgs 64-90; Lynch in The Kerryman (1955),
pgs 67-77; O'Farrell (1997), pg 83; Ó Ruairc (2009), pgs 156-166;
Townshend (2014), pg 164 |
|
Sep-22/23 |
Immediately after
the Rinneen ambush, reprisals start.
Two houses in the vicinity of the ambush are set on fire by Crown
Forces and their occupants terrorised.
In addition, an elderly man, Sean Keane, is out working in his field –
he is shot at and wounded – he dies on the 1st October. That night Crown
Forces arrived at the home of Dan Lehane (two of whose sons took part in the
ambush). After interrogation, Dan
Lehane is shot dead in front of his wife and family and his house is burnt. Later, the RIC run
amok in Ennistymon, Lahinch and Miltown Malbay killing, at least, four more
people and burning 26 buildings, including Ennistymon and Lahinch
Townhalls. Terrorised local people escape to the countryside. The people killed were Tom Connole (who was
secretary of the local T&GWU) - he was dragged from his house in
Ennistymon, put up against a wall and shot through the head – his house is
then burnt. P J Linnane (12-year-old boy is also shot in Ennistymon), Joseph
Salmon or Samon (an East Clare farmer on holidays in Lahinch) and Pake Lehane
(son of Dan and who had been present at Rineen ambush). (O’Farrell says
that man from Milltown Malbay called Lynch was also killed.) Afterwards, General
Macready writes to Chief of the Imperial Staff, Henry Wilson saying “down in
Ennistymon, the Royal Scots carried out certain retaliations ‘by numbers’
under the control of the CO … if the CO had not done what he did, he would
probably not have held his men … As the regiment is a good one, I shall
merely tell him not to do it again”.
See September 28th. Hopkinson comments
that there was no follow up by the local IRA to the Rineen ambush and
"thereafter West Clare was quiet". |
Townshend (1975),
pg 115; O'Malley (2001), pgs 77-82; Hopkinson (2002), pg 130;
Lynch in The Kerryman (1955), pgs 74-77; O’Farrell
(1997), pg 92 & 111; Ó Ruairc (2009), pgs
166-170; Townshend (2014), pg 164 |
|
Sep-22 |
Councillor John
Aloysius Lynch from Kilmallock, Co Limerick was shot by British soldiers in
the Exchange Hotel, Parliament St., Dublin - O’Donoghue & Dalton indicate
that they may have thought they had shot Liam Lynch. Gallagher says
that John Lynch was a District Judge in the Republican Courts. |
O’Donoghue (1986),
pg 93; O’Farrell (1997), pg 56; Gallagher (1953), pgs 81 & 94 &
109-110; Dalton (1929), pg 101 |
|
Sep-23 |
Sir Henry Wilson
makes an entry in his diary saying that Sinn Féiners were being shot by local
police "without question or trial … Winston saw very little harm in this
but it horrifies me". He also noted that "Tudor made it very
clear that the police and the Black and Tans and the 100 Intell: officers are
all carrying out reprisal killings". |
Townshend (1975),
pg 116 |
|
Sep-25 |
A five man RIC
patrol is ambushed in the village of Broadford, Co. Clare resulting in the
death of one RIC man (Constable Michael Brogan) and the wounding of
another (Constable Brennan). The IRA party was led by Michael
Brennan and included James Hogan (later a professor in UCC). (Abbott says
there was a five man RIC patrol but Brennan says that there were only two men
in the patrol.) |
Abbott (2000), pg
126; Brennan (1980), pgs 59-60; Ó Ruairc (2009), pgs 172-173 |
|
Sep-25 |
Two RIC men
(Constable Thomas Leonard and Constable Carroll) are shot on the Falls Road
in Belfast. Constable Leonard later dies from his wounds. First
RIC man killed in Belfast (even though 54 people had died in Belfast since
July). Riots break out afterwards. |
Abbott (2000), pg
126; O’Farrell (1997), pg 98; Macardle (1999), pg 386 |
|
Sep-26 |
In what is taken as
a reprisal for the shooting of the two RIC men, early on the morning of the
26th, IRA and IRB man, Eamonn Trodden, is taken from his home
on the Falls Road and shot dead. Later two Sinn Féin members James (Sean)
Gaynor (24) and John (Sean) McFadden (24) are shot in their homes – both are
from Springfield Rd., Belfast. It is suspected that there was RIC
involvement in these killings – nationalists came to view them as the first
killings masterminded by RIC men District Inspector Nixon and Chief Inspector
Harrison. (It is claimed that Harrison and Head Constable Giff were
actually involved in the killings with other members of the gang such as Sgt
C. Clarke, Sgt Hicks and Sgt Glover and Constables Golding, Caldwell,
Sterrit, Gorden, Cooke, Packenham and Norton also likely to be
involved. This information comes from a confidential memo compiled by
the Belfast IRA with the help of sympathetic members of the RIC. It is
in the Blythe papers in UCD.) According to McDermott, Gaynor was the brother of IRA officer Liam Gaynor. |
O'Farrell P (1997),
pg 108 & 112; Parkinson (2004), pgs 70-71 & 331; McDermott (2001), pgs 46 & 60-61 |
|
Sep-26 |
Week long training
camp starts for 36 men of the Cork No. 3 Brigade (mostly Bandon Battalion) at
Clonbouig led by Tom Barry. |
Deasy (1973), pg
142 |
|
Sep-26 |
Possible meeting
between Arthur Griffith and Sir John Anderson in the offices of Corrigan's
Solicitors, St Andrew's St., Dublin. |
Townshend (1975),
pg 116 |
|
Sep-26 |
Notices put up in
Kilkee, Co. Clare that if Capt Lendrum (See September 22nd) was
not returned by 29th, then the villages of Kilkee, Kilrush,
Carrigaholt, Kilmill and Doonbeg would be burned. On October 1st,
Lendrum body is found in a coffin on the railway line near Craggknock
station. |
O'Malley (2001), pg
83; O’Farrell (1997), pg 111; Ó Ruairc (2009), pg |
|
Sep-27 |
Nationalists attack
returning shipyard workers in the Marrowbone district of Belfast, sniping
breaks out and two Protestants – Frederick Barr (44) and John Lawther (19) –
received fatal wounds. (McDermott
says Lawther shot by Catholic gunmen on the 29th.) |
Parkinson (2004), pg
71; McDermott (2001), pg 63 |
|
Sep-26 |
Following mass in
Moycullen, Co. Galway, the congregation is marched into a field by Crown
Forces. They are told that a local
land agent (Richard Abbott) is going to the brought back to the area and “if
a hair on his head was touched, six republicans would be killed”. (Henry says
27th) |
McNamara (2018), pg
142; Henry (2012), pg 111 |
|
Sep-27 |
RIC reprisals in
Trim, Co Meath for the killings in Balbriggan on the 20th. The RIC
mob “singled out the shops and business establishments of those residents
alleged to be in sympathy with Sinn Fein, and ransacked, pillaged, and burned
all” |
Hopkinson (2002),
pg 80; Hall (2019), pg 76; Leeson (2012), pg 174 |
|
Sep-27 |
Writing in his
diary, Fred Crawford (former UVF leader and now leader of the Specials in Co.
Tyrone – See September 8th) says “There is only one way to deal with the
current campaign of murder that the rebels are pursuing … where the murder of
a policeman or other official takes place, the leading rebel in the district
ought to be shot or done away with”. |
McCluskey (2014),
pg 93 |
|
Sep-28 |
Men from the Cork
No.2 Brigade, IRA, led by Liam Lynch and Ernie O'Malley, capture the only
military barracks captured during the War of Independence at Mallow, Co
Cork. More Detail |
O'Farrell P (1997),
pg xvii; O’Donoghue (1986), pg98-101 & Hopkinson (2002), pg 80; Lynch in
The Kerryman (1955), pgs 77-85; O’Malley (1990), pgs 183-187 |
|
Sep-28 |
At a time that
Greenwood was telling the House of Commons that British forces were not
carrying out reprisals, he is reporting to cabinet that the upsurge in
retaliation is “unfortunate” but that it needed “very delicate and
sympathetic handling in view of the provocation that the police have
received”. Macready writes to
Wilson outlining a plan for official reprisals saying that "Where
reprisals have taken place, the whole atmosphere of the surrounding district
has changed from one of hostility to one of cringing
submission." The attitude of
some members of the British Establishment is satirised by Lord Hugh Cecil as
"It seems to be agreed that there is no such thing as reprisals, but
they are having a good effect." |
Townshend (1975),
pgs 116 & 120; Abbott (2000), pg 176; Townshend (2014), pg 164 |
|
Sep-28 |
The Deputy
Inspector General of the RIC (C. A. Walsh) issues a circular on Alleged
Acts of Reprisals by Police and Soldiers saying that it deprecated the
destruction of buildings but that use of weapons when threatened was only
legitimate self-defence. It also states that it is the duty of the
police “to hunt down murderers by every means in their power”. It goes onto
say that "The police will be fully supported and protected in the discharge
of their duties by every means available". Townshend calls the RIC
order "positively ambiguous". |
Townshend (1975),
pg 120; Abbott (2000), pgs 173-174; Townshend (2014), pg 216 |
|
Sep-28 |
Francis O’Hara shot
by unionists in Carlisle Road in Derry City – not clear if he was killed. |
Gallagher (2003), pg 32 |
|
Sep-28 |
RIC reprisals in
Listowel, Co. Kerry. |
Townshend (2014),
pg 165 |
|
Sep-29 |
Wilson puts the
idea of official reprisals to Lloyd George who said that the British
Government could not take responsibility for burnings but that he still
favoured 'gunning'. |
Townshend (1975),
pg 120; Macardle (1999), pg 390 |
|
Sep-29 |
A four man RIC
patrol is ambushed at Killoskehan, Co. Tipperary (four miles from Templemore)
resulting in the deaths of two policemen (Constable Terence Flood and
Constable Edward Noonan) and the wounding of one other (Constable
Ferris). |
Abbott (2000), pg
127 |
|
Sep-29 |
Two policemen
(Constable John Downey and Constable John Keeffe) were in John Ryan's pub in
O'Brien's Bridge, Co Clare when they were shot and killed. They were
killed by Michael Brennan (O/C East Clare Brigade) and he was wounded in the
exchange of fire. Also, present were Alphie Rodgers, Michael ‘Brud’
McMahon and Martin Kildea - see 16th Nov 1920. |
Abbott (2000), pg
127; Brennan (1980), pgs 59-62 |
|
Sep-29 |
In riots following
the shootings of the three Sinn Féin men on the 26th, four
Catholics are shot dead by the British Army in the Falls Road area of
Belfast. The four men were Robert Gordon (18), Thomas Barkley (32),
James Shields (19) and William Teer (30). At the coroner’s inquest into
their deaths, it was stated that the army had been “justified in firing on
the crowd” |
Parkinson (2004),
pgs 71-72; McDermott (2001), pg 63 |
|
Sep-30? |
A notice appears on
the streets of Drogheda signed by The Black and Tans saying if a policeman is
shot, five Sinn Féin leaders would be shot without
trial. It goes on to state “It is not
coercion. It is an eye for an eye … we
have restrained ourselves too long.” |
Hall (2019), pg 76 |
|
Sep-30 |
W. Corbett from New
Rd., Tipperary dies. |
O’Farrell (1997), pg 104 |
|
Sep-30 |
Major reprisals by
Crown Forces, under RIC DI Russell, including the burning of two creameries
(Rathscanlon and Achonry) and at least fourteen shops and a number of houses,
in Tubbercurry, Co Sligo after District Inspector James Joseph Brady was
killed in an ambush by the IRA (led by Frank Carty) at Chaffpool between
Bunnadden and Tubbercurry on a nine-man RIC patrol in a Crossley
tender. Sgt O'Hara also seriously injured. It is alleged that the attackers used
‘dum-dum’ bullets. According to the
RIC County Inspector “The reason these particular houses were attacked
appears to have been because either the owner or the shop boys employed by
him were active Sinn Feiners”. Lesson
notes that, it would seem, no Black and Tans (i.e. British recruits to the
RIC) were involved in these reprisals. In an unprecedented
step, Dublin Castle issues a statement - See October 6th -
admitting that policemen had in engaged in reprisals which “continued till early
morning, despite the efforts of the officers”. (Farry notes that
“This pattern of unofficial reprisals in ’almost instantaneous response to
ambushes or shootings’ by Crown Forces had become commonplace throughout the
country during the second half of 1920”.) |
Townshend (1975),
pg 120; Abbott (2000), pgs 128-129; Breathnach (2017), pg 557; Farry (2012), pg 59; Lawlor (2011), pgs 67-71; Abbott (2019), pg 220; Leeson (2012), pg 160 & 166-170 & 174
& 195-195; Townshend (2014), pgs 166-167 |
|
Sep-30 |
Trim RIC barracks attacked and
captured by Meath Brigade IRA (including Sean Boylan) early on a Sunday
morning. Twenty rifles, twenty shotguns, six revolvers, a box of
grenades and ammunition for all arms taken. A large number of houses and
shops in Trim are subsequently burned and a number of people ill-treated by
the RIC. Kit Lynam, O/C 1st
(Dunboyne) Battalion, Mick Hynes and Patrick Mooney (V/C and O/C 2nd
(Trim) Battalion respectively) also involved in attack. |
Finn in The Kerryman (1955),
pgs 85-91; O’Farrell (1997), pg 8 & 31 & 70; Leeson
(2012), pg 171 |
|
Sep-30 |
‘Little Tommy’, a British spy
dressed as a tramp, is captured by the IRA and killed at Knockmore, Co.
Carlow. |
O’Farrell (1997),
pg 55 |
|
Sep |
Arva RIC barracks
attacked by Longford IRA under Sean MacEoin.
The police surrendered quickly and the IRA took away 10 rifles, one
rounds of 303 ammunition and one pistol with ammunition. One of the IRA men who took part (Seamus Conway)
said that the RIC Sergeant asked MacEoin to burn the barracks so that his
superiors would not see that he surrendered without a fight. |
Coleman (2003), pg
122 |
|
End-Sep |
The New Statesman states that, with regard
to ‘reprisals, there is a difference between the spontaneous outburst of
ordinary troops or policemen responding to provocation and the
Auxiliaries. With regard to the latter
“there is clear evidence that methods of terrorism are adopted less from
passion than from policy”. |
Townshend (2014),
pg 168 |
|
Sep |
IRA West Waterford
Brigade ASU formed with George Lennon as O/C, George Kiely as vice O/C and
Andrew Kirwan as Transport Officer. A
levy was imposed throughout the county to support the ASU, buy arms and
support prisoner families. “Most
people paid up whether through conviction or fear.” |
McCarthy (2015), pg
73 |