Soloheadbeg (pronounced /ˌsɒləˈhɛdbɛɡ/; Irish: Solchaid Beag) is a small townland, some two miles outside Tipperary Town, near Limerick Junction railway station.

The place is steeped in Irish history, for it was here that King Mahon of Thomond and his brother Brian Ború defeated the vikings at the Battle of Solohead in 968. It was also a stopping point by Dónal Cam O'Sullivan Bere, during his epic march from Dunboy Castle in west Cork to O'Rourke's Castle in Leitrim in 1603.

[edit] Soloheadbeg Ambush

[edit] Background and preparation

In the Irish general election of December 1918, Sinn Féin won a landslide victory, gaining 73 out of 105 seats (25 of these unopposed) in the British Parliament. However, in its election manifesto the party had vowed to set up a separate government in Ireland rather than join in the British Parliament. At a meeting in Dublin on 21 January 1919, Sinn Féin established an independent parliament called Dáil Éireann and declared independence from the United Kingdom.

On that same day, an ambush was carried out by Irish Volunteers Seán Treacy, Dan Breen, Seán Hogan, Séamus Robinson, Tadhg Crowe, Paddy McCormack, Paddy O'Dwyer, Michael Ryan and Seán O'Meara (the latter two being cycle scouts). Robinson (who participated in the Easter Rising) was the organiser and Treacy (a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood since 1911) was the logistics expert.

Dáil Éireann and Sinn Féin had not been informed or consulted about the attack beforehand.

[edit] Attack

They attacked two Royal Irish Constables –Patrick MacDonnell and James O’Connell^[1]– who were guarding two workmen transporting explosive gelignite to a quarry. The two constables were shot dead almost immediately. The gelignite was seized by the volunteers, but there are no records of any large explosions around that time. Dan Breen claimed the constables attacked first, but this is unlikely given the odds against them. Furthermore, Breen's comments suggest that the volunteers had intended to kill as many policemen as possible:

...we took the action deliberately, having thought over the matter and talked it over between us. Treacy had stated to me that the only way of starting a war was to kill someone, and we wanted to start a war, so we intended to kill some of the police whom we looked upon as the foremost and most important branch of the enemy forces ... The only regret that we had following the ambush was that there were only two policemen in it, instead of the six we had expected...^[2]

[edit] Aftermath

This is widely regarded as the beginning of the Irish War of Independence, and the men acted on their own initiative to try to start a war.^[3][4][5][6] The British government declared South Tipperary a Special Military Area under the Defence of the Realm Act two days later.^[7][8]

A meeting of the Executive of the Irish Volunteers took place shortly thereafter. On 31 January, An t-Óglach (the official publication of the Irish Volunteers) stated that the formation of Dáil Éireann "justifies Irish Volunteers in treating the armed forces of the enemy – whether soldiers or policemen – exactly as a National Army would treat the members of an invading army".^[9]

A monument was erected at the site of the ambush, and each year a ceremony of remembrance is held there.

[edit] Footnotes and References

v • d • e Irish War of Independence Timeline Declaration of Independence – Soloheadbeg – Listowel mutiny – Toureen – Ballinalee – Bloody Sunday – Kilmichael – Burning of Cork – Clonfin – Upton – Clonmult – Coolavokig – Sheemore – Clonbanin – Selton Hill – Burgery – Crossbarry – Headford – Scramogue – Carrowkennedy – Coolacrease – McMahon Murders – Arnon St Massacre – Dunmanway killings

Notes

Sources

• Richard Abbot’s “Police Casualties in Ireland (1919-1922)” (Pages 30–32) (ISBN 1856353141)