World One War: Kilmichael Ambush!
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The Kilmichael Ambush of 1920 was the greatest IRA victory over the British authorities during the Anglo-Irish War which tore Ireland apart between 1919 and 1921. Thirty-six ‘Flying Column’ IRA volunteers led by Tom Barry, killed seventeen members of the ADRIC (Auxiliary Division of Royal Irish Constabulary). The ambush and victory of the IRA would have severe military and political effects throughout war-torn Ireland.
In 1920, in an attempt to crush the IRA, the ADRIC and ‘Black and Tans’ were set up in order to make Ireland ‘a hell for the IRA to live in’. The auxiliaries were commissioned officers, often veteran officers of the First World War, and were considered an elite force by both sides.
It is common knowledge that the Auxiliaries and the Black and Tans earned a violent and brutal reputation which lasts to this day. The ambush took place one week after the Croke Park Massacre, where Auxiliaries fired into a football crowd in reprisal for ‘Bloody Sunday’.
In looking at the situation in and around Cork, the auxiliaries were based in the town of Macroom, and in 1920, they carried out a number of raids on the local population. In his memoirs, Tom Barry noted that up until the ambush, the local IRA had hardly fired a shot at the British, which in his opinion, had a degrading effect on the IRA’s morale.
On November 21st, Barry assembled a ‘Flying Column’ of 23 riflemen at Clogher. The column was equipped with 35 rounds per rifle, a number of revolvers and two grenades. Knowing the land, Barry scouted possible ambush points and selected a section between Kilmichael and Gleann. The ‘Flying Column’ reached the site on the 27th and took up their positions.
The ambush took place on the light evening of the 28th November.
Just before the Auxiliaries came into view, two IRA volunteers, responding late to Barry’s mobilisation, drove into the ambush area, nearly shielding the British forces. The IRA managed to get the first British lorry to slow down by placing Barry on the road who wore an IRA’s officer tunic.
The lorry slowed to nearly 35 yards from the position, when Barry gave the order to fire. Barry threw a hand grenade into the first lorry claiming British casualties. Following this a close quarter fire fight ensued as the British from the first lorry were killed.
In particular, the British would later claim that all the dead had been mutilated, but Barry dismissed this as sheer atrocious propaganda. All nine auxiliaries form the first lorry were killed.
At the same time the first lorry was being raked with gunfire, a second lorry, also containing nine Auxiliaries drove into the ambush ground and exchanged fire with the IRA squad who had not engaged the first lorry. When Barry brought the men who had fired on the first lorry to fire on the second, Barry claimed that the Auxiliaries had called out to surrender and then shot the emerging IRA fighters.
Barry brutally ordered
“Rapid fire and do not stop until I tell you!”
Two Auxiliaries had survived the ambush, but were badly wounded. Two IRA volunteers, Michael McCarthy and Jim O’Sullivan were killed and Pat Deasy was mortally wounded.
Many of the IRA members were badly shaken by the action, as many had no previous military experience. Barry himself, an experienced soldier, restored discipline by making the volunteers perform drill before marching the column away. Barry suffered from the attack as well, he collapsed on the 3rd of December with severe chest pains and had to be secretly hospitalised in Cork. The reasons for Barry’s exhaustion were accredited to the stress of leading a unit and being on the run, poor diet and severe psychological combat.
The political ramifications of the action outweighed the military significance. The fact that the IRA had managed to kill 18 casualties, was deeply shocking. The British forces brutally took out reprisal action against the local population.
The British government, from the attack, realised that the violence was escalating and there would be no quick win. Shortly after the ambush and the events of Bloody Sunday, barriers were placed at either end of Downing Street to protect the Prime Minister. Those gates are still there. On the 10th December, martial law was imposed on the counties of Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Tipperary.
The attack featured in Ken Loach’s award winning film “The Wind that Shakes the Barley” is based on the Kilmichael Ambush.
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Depiction of an IRA 'Flying Column' Ambush
