On the night of 27-28 August 1920 the military, acting in reprisal for the murder of Constable Hall (the driver) killed during an ambush at Castlemartyr, county Cork in which several members of the Cameron Highlanders were injured, sacked the town of Cobh smashing the windows in more than 100 shops and houses.   Soldiers of the Cameron Highlanders, numbering 25 to 30 men, broke out of the barracks and proceeded with...

One of the features of the Irish War of Independence was the ability of local communities to continue the movement to promote Irish games, language and customs despite the constant harassment from the military, which the organisers and attendees of these events faced.   While the GAA was prominent at promoting these events, in many areas the Gaelic League were drivers. Hosting concerts, or ‘Aeridheacht’ (an open...

The publication of the newspapers, The Weekly Summary, in August 1920 was an attempt by the British government and the Dublin Castle officials to take control of the propaganda war which was then perhaps the most influential part of the war of independence.   The IRA and Sinn Fein had shown that they could deftly report on any outrage, arrest or injustice to the benefit of their ideals and with this in mind Dublin C...

All across Ireland labour disputes rumbled on in August. Undeterred by the action of the military and their employers, workers continued to demand better working condition and rates of pay. It was a feature of the Irish War of Independence which dominated local communities. In Kells, county Meath it was bread van drivers who were demanding better wages; in Roscrea it was builders and tradesmen, as they were in Mullingar. I...

On 19 September 1920 more than forty IRA volunteers people were arrested on the Dublin Mountains as they drilled and carried out military maneuvers. Surrounded, the men were fired on by the military and one man, Sean Doyle aged 19 was shot dead when he was hit by a volley of bullets. All prisoners it was reported were to be tried before the courts including their leader, Capt Ryan who was described as a company commander. T...

Turning their attention and ire at the civilian population in an effort to terrify them into subservience, the military also realized that they were losing the propaganda war. It was not surprising then that they also turned their attention to newspapers and political pamphlets. On the 2 September 1920 an attempt was made to burn the Limerick Leader newspaper on O’Connell Street, Limerick. Three men returning from work i...

One of the favoured methods of enacting justice during the War of Independence was to publicly shame a person who was deemed to have committed a crime or ran foul of the IRA for some reason. It was also the IRA’s, or the Republican police’s way of dealing with petty criminals who were using the war as a pretext to carry out crimes. This public shaming was meant to embarrass a person before the community and also meant a...

In what the Westmeath Independent newspaper described as a ‘reign of terror’ several violent incidents occurred across the country during the third week of September. One of the prevailing stories throughout the month was the increased terror which the military were imposing on the civilian population. No one was safe from this terror which occurred during both isolated instances and reprisals following IRA attacks. As ...

Violent acts were committed all across the country and in some instances, old scores were being settled in the midst of the war. The violence and intimidation of people knew no bounds during September 1920 as was evident in counties Down and Armagh. In the village of Kilkeel, county Down six armed and masked men kidnapped a Protestant farmer, John McKee, from his house at night. Taken by force, McKee was bound in ropes and ...

In Charleville county Cork, yet another attack on a woman was carried out during a robbery on the home of a man named Bennett. The raiders knocking on the door claimed that there were military and requested that they be admitted at once. Sensing that they were military, Bennet refused to open the door. Kicking the door in, the raiders claimed that they had carried out a similar raid on a local judge some nights previous. De...