Fighting the IRA-Douglas Duff

Douglas Duff a Black and Tan stationed in Galway witnessed one of the last I.R.A. sniping attacks on the Coastguard station at Ballyvaughan, led by Sean Mc Namara, on the 9th of July 1921: “One of our last operations from Galway before the truce of July 11th 1921 was the relief of an out post of the Royal Marines at Ballyvaughan on the Clare coast to Galway Bay. They occupied an abandoned Coastguard station, and sent for help as they were being attacked by an overwhelming force of ‘Shinners.’ All roads were reported trenched and impassable while at least two strong ‘flying columns’ of  ‘Shinners’ were believed to be in ambush awaiting the arrival of a relieving force. We decided to proceed by sea and commandeered two motor fishing vessels lying in the harbour. The crews resolutely refused to sail with us and in virtue of my seafaring experience; I was placed in command of one boat, whilst an Auxiliary cadet who had been an officer in the royal Indian marine was in command of the other. Solemnly we chugged over the short steep seas of Galway bay on the ten mile run across to the coast of County Clare and as an hour later we approached the small port of Ballyvaughan we came under fire from some woods on the shore. We sprayed the trees with a good dose of lead from our Lewis Guns and then stood off for a few minutes until the enemy’s fire had died down. I was then ordered to take my craft in and disembark the men while the other vessel acted as covering ship. As I placed her alongside the jetty firing broke out again from a small hill at the back of the coastguard station, but the concentrated fire of the marines and that of our consort subdued this, as the men from my craft landed and ran along the foreshore to the Coastguard station. As they did so I could see the ‘Shinners’ drawing off and escaping from the rear of the wood. There were no police casualties and we took some wounded Marines back with us to Galway hospital leaving half our force to reinforce the Marine garrison. On the way home one of the wounded Marines told us they had received a wireless message that a truce had been arranged between the Government and Sinn Féin to become operative within forty eight hours. We could not believe it , we knew only two well that the ‘Shinner’ resistance was almost finished, we had broken the back of armed rebellion, and that the desperate and defeated fugitives in the wild bogs and mountains of the West were ready to surrender in their hundreds , if their lives and liberties were promised to them. Of course we argued this talk of truce is all moonshine, not even Lloyd George would be fool enough to stop when victory is within his grasp. But it was so and at eleven o clock [noon] on the morning of July 11th we received orders not to interfere with any persons wearing Republican insignia or uniform, armed or otherwise and that the hunt for people mentioned in the ‘Hue and Cry’ sheet was to be suspended until further orders.”

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R.I.C. Constable Eugene Bratton BMH WS 467 Page 11

“When the Truce came, the officers of the R.I.C. were almost crying. They relaised that their good days were over and they had good days before the troubles began. They were kings in their own areas. The ordinary rank and file of the R.I.C. were generally pleased that Ireland at last had succeeded in getting somewhere. As far as the Black and Tans were concerned, they did not give a damn, they were soldiers of fortune.”

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Sean Kavanagh: Curious Journey K. Griffith and T.E. O Grady Page 234.

“I was in Mountjoy with a few hundred other chaps when I heard about the Truce. That was really the victory of the whole thing. Mulcahy always maintained that, that the Truce was the most significant thing in the war against the British at that time because it was they who asked for it, not us. They had called us murder gangs, and now they wanted to treat us like a legitimate army and government. I don’t think we could have carried on much longer without it. It gave us a kind of breathing space to train more Volunteers and purchase more arms for a resumption of hostilities, if necessary.

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Edward Halley Vice Commandant 7th Battalion. Kilkenny Brigade BMH WS 1642 Pages 20-21

“On the evening of 9th July 1921, there was a brief exchange of shots with two lorries of military at Friars Quarry on the Callan – Kilkenny road. The mail car had been held up earlier in the day and the mails taken. With five members of the Column and five or six members of the Callan company I waited for some time in a position at Friars Quarry in the hope that a police patrol would come out to investigate. The two lorries of military came along and the Callan man opened fire on them. There were no casualties on either side and, as far as I am aware, these were the last shots exchanged with enemy forces in the Battalion area prior to the truce which took place two days later.”

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They put the flag a flyin – Kathlene Heagerty Thorne. Page 110 – 112

Ambush at South park, Castlerea. News of a Unionist house in Tarmon having being destroyed by the Volunteers did not sit well with the R.I.C. and Black and Tans. They vowed revenge. Plans for reprisals reached the ears of the First Battallion South [Roscommon Brigade?] officers. Armed with shotguns (each man had only two cartridges for his gun), Volunteers from Lisliddy and Moor Companies took up positions at Southpark along the road the Black and Tans would likely travel. The Time: dusk on 9th of July. After waiting several hours, four to five cycles appeared on the road. They were the advance guard of a unit coning from Castlerea. The Volunteers opened fire, whereupon three of the four cyclists fell and did not move. A strong contingent of Crown forces (about fifty five) soon followed, too large for the meagre amount of ammunition the Volunteers had available. The Volunteers (Frank Flynn, Edward Kelly, Stephen Flattery, Hubert Betagh, Patrick Mulligan, Michael Cryan,James Durr, John Shannon, Michael Grady, James Hester, Andrew Hunt, Dominic Hunt, Michael Hussey, William Kehir, Tom Madden, John Mannion, William Mannion, Patrick Moran, Michael Noone, John Powell, Luke Raftery, John Ryan, Patrick Scahill,James Smith, John Beirne, Joe Conway, Patrick Dockery, Seamus Duffy, James Filan, Andy Finan and John Finan. From Gerald O Connor papers – private collection.) immediately began to retreat across the fields. None of the attacking party was injured. Two other men who arrived late after the ambush walked right into the crown forces, they were fired on and one of them was slightly wounded befort they were apprehended, and taken to Athlone. There were no British Casulties.

South Park House, a large estate house formerly owned by the Balfe Family. It was bought by the Keane Family after the Great War. The house was destroyed by the I.R.A. because they believed that the British forces were about to commandeer it as a barracks.

The petrol supply for the Burning was stolen from a train in Ballinlough some time previously as it had been destined for the British Army in Mayo. Pat Vaughan supplied two, gallon cans of petrol to the I.R.A. Volunteers who carried out the burning. South Park House was owned by Pat Vaughan’s in-laws.