Seán Hogan's (No.2) Flying Column, 3rd Tipperary Brigade, during the Irish War of Independence.

The 3rd Tipperary Brigade was one of approximately 80 such units that constituted the Irish Republican Army since the time of their formation from the Irish Volunteers, until after the Civil War. The Brigade was based in southern Tipperary and conducted its activities mainly in mid-Munster.

[edit] Establishment

The core of the unit from its earliest existence was the group known as 'The Big Four'. These were Seán Treacy, Dan Breen, Seamus Robinson and Seán Hogan.

[edit] War of Independence

Reward poster for Breen following imposition of martial law

The 3rd Tipperary Brigade was one of the most active during the War of Independence. The ambush led by Treacy and Breen at Soloheadbeg is generally acknowledged as the opening engagement of that war. Two members of the Royal Irish Constabulary, James McDonnell and Patrick O'Connell were killed in the attack. Breen has left apparently conflicting accounts of their intentions that day. One implies that the purpose of the confrontation was merely to capture explosives and detonators being escorted to a nearby quarry.^[1] The other, that the group intended killing the police escort in order to provoke a military response.

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]

As a result of the action, martial law was declared in South Tipperary. Tracey and Breen relocated to Dublin and were associated with a unit known as The Squad. Tracey was eventually killed in an exchange of fire with a British secret service agent in Talbot Street, while Breen would later alternate between Tipperary and Dublin as the conflict continued.

[edit] Civil War

Reservations about the Treaty caused division within the Brigade. Some members sided with the Provisional Government, (later the Irish Free State), while others remained neutral during the ensuing Civil War. The majority however, took the Republican side.

[edit] On-line sources

Ó Duibhir  : The Tipperary Volunteers in 1916: A Personal Account 75 Years On : from County Tipperary Historical Society :THJ : 1991
Aengus O Snodaigh (21 January 1999). "Gearing up for war: Soloheadbeg 1919". An Phoblacht. http://republican-news.org/archive/1999/January21/21hist.html. 
Brendan A. Creaner : The Rescue at Knocklong (8th Dec. 2003)
Lt Col. T. Ryan  : (a) : One Man's Flying Column Part I : THJ : 1991
Ryan : ...............(b) : One Man's Flying Column; Part II : THJ : 1992
Colmcille : (a) : The Third Tipperary Brigade (1921-1923); Part I- From Truce to Civil War  : THJ : 1990
Colmcille : (b) : The Third Tipperary Brigade (1921-1923); Part II- From Ambushes to Executions  : THJ : 1991
Colmcille : (c) : The Third Tipperary Brigade (1921-1923); Part III- The End of the Civil War: THJ : 1992
All preceding accessed on or after 2 Nov. 2008

[edit] Bibliography

Breen,Dan : My Fight for Irish Freedom : 1926 : ISBN 9780900068348
Ryan, Desmond : Sean Treacy and the 3rd. Tipperary Brigade : The Kerryman Limited, 1945
Augusteijn, Joost From Public Defiance to Guerrilla Warfare : 1996 : ISBN 9780716526070
Shelley, John R. A Short History of the 3rd Tipperary Brigade Published by (Phoenix) : 1996
South Tipperary Brigade Poblacht Na H-Eireann. Proclamation (explaining the Reasons why the Brigade Feel Impelled to Take Up Arms Against the Government)  : 1923
Berresford Ellis, Peter : Eyewitness to Irish History : ISBN 9780470053126
All preceding accessed 2 Nov. 2008

[edit] References