Battle of Ballinalee | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Irish War of Independence | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Irish Republican Army | United Kingdom | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Seán Mac Eoin | ? | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
~4 [1] | ~100 [1] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
None | Unknown (perhaps 20) [2] |
The Battle of Ballinalee took place during the Irish War of Independence on 4 November 1920. Members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), led by Seán Mac Eoin, [3] drove a mixed group of Crown forces consisting of Black and Tans and Auxiliary Division personnel from the village of Ballinalee in County Longford. [4]
Crown forces hoped to burn the town as a reprisal for the deaths of several RIC personnel in the preceding days. [5] This included the killing of an RIC inspector, Philip St Johnstone Howlett Kelleher, the previous week and an RIC Constable, Peter Cooney, the previous day. [1] Cooney had been suspected of being a spy and his execution was reputedly ordered by Michael Collins. At the time of his killing, Cooney was allegedly carrying coded dispatches with the names of Longford IRA men. [6]
The Crown forces (numbering 100 men in 11 trucks) were defeated by about 25 IRA members, of which 4 were involved in the main battle. [1] Mac Eoin had placed several groups at the roads leading into the village, including one at a house, Rose Cottage, on the approach to the village centre. [1] This group, referred to in some sources as the "Rose Cottage Four", engaged the much larger RIC force using rifle fire and grenades, and forced their retreat. [1]
Rose Cottage, the building from which Mac Eoin coordinated the defence of the village, was developed into an exhibition centre and opened to the public in November 2023. [7]
Battle of Ballinalee | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Irish War of Independence | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Irish Republican Army | United Kingdom | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Seán Mac Eoin | ? | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
~4 [1] | ~100 [1] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
None | Unknown (perhaps 20) [2] |
The Battle of Ballinalee took place during the Irish War of Independence on 4 November 1920. Members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), led by Seán Mac Eoin, [3] drove a mixed group of Crown forces consisting of Black and Tans and Auxiliary Division personnel from the village of Ballinalee in County Longford. [4]
Crown forces hoped to burn the town as a reprisal for the deaths of several RIC personnel in the preceding days. [5] This included the killing of an RIC inspector, Philip St Johnstone Howlett Kelleher, the previous week and an RIC Constable, Peter Cooney, the previous day. [1] Cooney had been suspected of being a spy and his execution was reputedly ordered by Michael Collins. At the time of his killing, Cooney was allegedly carrying coded dispatches with the names of Longford IRA men. [6]
The Crown forces (numbering 100 men in 11 trucks) were defeated by about 25 IRA members, of which 4 were involved in the main battle. [1] Mac Eoin had placed several groups at the roads leading into the village, including one at a house, Rose Cottage, on the approach to the village centre. [1] This group, referred to in some sources as the "Rose Cottage Four", engaged the much larger RIC force using rifle fire and grenades, and forced their retreat. [1]
Rose Cottage, the building from which Mac Eoin coordinated the defence of the village, was developed into an exhibition centre and opened to the public in November 2023. [7]