Raids and Ambushes - Auxiliaries at Corofin

In March or April, 1921, the Auxiliaries came to Corofin. They had a big reputation as seasoned and ruthless soldiers. Our brigade staff was anxious to emulate the feat performed by the Corkmen at Kilmichael, and eagerly sought an opportunity to do so. The Auxiliaries soon provided the chance, by travelling in lorries between Corofin and Ennis.

About the middle of May, 1921, the brigade O/C, Frank Barrett, assembled upwards of seventy or eighty men, nearly all armed with rifles, at Kilnamona where they billeted for the night. Next morning, after having breakfast and getting conditional absolution from Father Hamilton, later Canon Hamilton, then on the staff of St. Flannan’s College and one of the leading lights in the Sinn Fein movement in Clare, the party marched to Toonagh, about four miles away and roughly midway on the main road between Ennis and Corofin, which are nine miles apart. Positions were taken at about seven o’clock in the morning, and one or two lorries were expected to come from Corofin some time before noon. It was the intention to attack them on their way to Ennis.

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There were about twenty-five men from the 5^th and 6^th battalions in the ambush positions.

Around four o’clock in the evening, the enemy was still without coming. A shot suddenly rang out which could be heard for miles throughout the country. This happened accidentally, but it caused the O/C to withdraw from the position. He had come to the conclusion that, owing to the lateness of the hour, the Auxiliaries were not going to travel to Ennis that day, and futhermore, he had a feeling that the shot, which had been discharged by one of the men, might have been heard either by the enemy or by someone who might warn them. Placed as we were between Ennis and Corofin, the party could be quickly surrounded by troops moving from these two points. On our withdrawal from Toonagh, the men were instructed to disperse to their home areas, and it was the last occasion before the Truce that I personally was connected with an operation planned by the Brigade staff.

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