The wreck of the town Killmallock in county Limerick in July 1920 emphasised how violent the military response to IRA actions could be.

  During the night of the 23 July the military arrived in Killmallock, county Limerick in lorries and having alighted from them sprayed the towns houses and business premises with a volley of bullets. The attack on the village sent came as a terrifying surprise to its inhabitants. The military then began to set fire to a number of buildings, mainly business premises but in which a number of people were resident. At Lyons Hotel the military attempted to shoot two waitresses and wounded a man named Duggan during their attack. From there they went to Herlihy’s shop where they tried to shoot the owner, but he escaped. A Mr O’Rourke escaped his premises but broke his leg in the process, while a Mr O’Callaghan was violently beaten in his garden with rifle butts. The military then proceeded to burn the premises of William O’Carroll, Mr O’Keefe and John Cahill’s drapery business. The damage done to property was estimated at £6,000. On the same night the military burned the Carnegie Library in Newcastle West, a newly erected building. They also damaged the Creamery in the town and several homes belonging to prominent republicans. Organised to strike fear into the local population, it most cases it had the opposite effect.  

Source: Irish Bulletin, 31 July 1920, page 2.

  IrishBulletin_31July1920page2