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In Fermoy, Ireland |
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Liam LYNCH, IRA Leader and the FERMOY ATTACK , 1919.
Excerpts from the Papers of that time:
.......enraged that the IRA had held-up a British patrol in broad daylight
and taken their rifles , and angry that the locals in and around Fermoy refused
to help them , the Brits wanted revenge .......
 East Barracks, Fermoy At around Eight P M on Monday, 8th September, 1919, hundreds of British troops stationed in the area were sent into Fermoy town-centre to make the locals pay for their silence . People on the street were pistol-whipped, shops were broken in to and looted, and pubs were thrashed . The Brits spent at least two hours on the wrecking spree and then went back to base. The following day, Tuesday, 9th September, not one Irish person contacted the Brits with information. Not convinced that they had made their point, the Brit Officers sent the same number of troops out two nights later (Wednesday, 10th September, 1919) to terrorise the population again. But this time the IRA were waiting on them, as were hundreds of civilians, who had armed themselves with shovels and hammers, etc . The British troops returned early to base that night!
CAPTURE OF MILITARY ARMS AT FERMOY. On Sunday morning 7 September 1919, 14 men of the Kings Shropshire Light Infantry, with a corporal in charge, were fired upon by Volunteers outside the Wesleyan Church, Fermoy. In the course of the struggle Pte.William Jones of the Shropshire Light Infantry was killed.
 Wesleyan Church, ORahilly Road, Fermoy Later that day the soldiers retaliated by causing a disturbance at the Feis (music festival) being held in the grounds of St.Colmans College, Fermoy. The following day soldiers led by Officers smashed the windows of shops in Kings Square. They threatened to demolish the Church, College and Convents. The damage done amounted to £40,000.
 Houses and Shops Boarded Up The aftermath of the shooting of Pte. Jones Arrests followed, The local Battalion Commandant, Michael Fitzgerald, was amongst those arrested, The following August, Michael Fitzgerald with other untried prisoners commenced a hunger strike for release, which he endured for sixty seven days, ending in his death on October 17 1920. Michael Fitzgerald is buried alongside Liam Lynch in Kilcrumper Cemetery, Fermoy.
SACKING OF FERMOY BY AUXILIARY FORCES.
 Black and Tans On the 1st December, 1920, a company of Black and Tans were on their way to a funeral of one of their comrades, (a few days previously the Tans had suffered a severe defeat at Kilmichael). Their lorry broke down at Fermoy, and they were in an ugly mood. They commandeered another lorry, the property of a local merchant and ordered it to be ready for the next day. They then visited local Pubs, where they were supplied with drink, for which they did not pay,
 Royal Hotel, Fermoy They, eventually arrived drunk at the Royal Hotel around eleven o'clock, there they seized a local man Mr.Prendergast and pistol whipped him, he was then dragged across Kings Square to the corner of the bridge and thrown into the River Blackwater, which was in flood at the time. His corpse was found 3 miles down river a month later. The murderers then returned to the Hotel to demand more drink, and the frightened barmaid was forced to give it. Unaware of the tragedy, she asked them to lower their voices, lest Mr. Dooley might report them to the Police. ' Who is Dooley they enquired? '. Being told he was a saddler in the next house. They battered in his door, upstairs Mr. Dooley was found asleep with his wife. The dragged him also to the Blackwater and flung him in, more fortunate than Mr. Prendergast, he was thrown up on the mill weir, and made his way to the workhouse for shelter.
 Shops Boarded Up after Looting The Tans next set fire to the Dooley's house, and when the British Garrison turned out to quench the blaze, the Black and Tans cut the hoses, and vanished in their lorries from Fermoy. No one was arrested, or made punishable for these incidents.
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© Paudie McGrath Cork Ireland 2003 -