Clonbanin Ambush

Clonbanin ambush
Part of the Irish War of Independence
Date 5 March 1921 Location Clonbanin, County Cork Result IRA victory
Belligerents
Irish Republican Army	British Army
Commanders and leaders
Seán Moylan Tom McEllistrim Paddy O'Brien	Brigadier-General Hanway Robert Cumming †
Strength
almost 100 volunteers 1 machine gun	almost 40 soldiers 1 armoured car
Casualties and losses
none	13 dead (incl. Lt Harold De Maligny), 15 wounded(Lynch/O'Donoghue) 4 dead (Hopkinson)
Location within island of Ireland

The Clonbanin ambush was an ambush carried out by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) on 5 March 1921, during the Irish War of Independence. It took place in the townland of Clonbanin (a.k.a. Cloonbannin), County Cork.

The IRA force comprised almost 100 volunteers from counties Cork and Kerry, armed with rifles, hand grenades and a machine gun. Their target was a British Army convoy of three lorries, an armoured car and a touring car carrying Brigadier General Hanway Robert Cumming. The convoy was travelling from Killarney to Buttevant and comprised almost 40 soldiers of the East Lancashire Regiment.

When the convoy entered the ambush position, IRA volunteers opened fire from elevated positions on both sides of the road. The three lorries and touring car were disabled, and the armoured car became stuck in the roadside ditch (although those inside fired from its machine guns). As Cumming jumped from his car, he was shot in the head and died instantly.

The battle lasted slightly over an hour. As the IRA forces withdrew from one side of the road, a British officer and six soldiers attempted to flank the IRA on the other side. After a brief exchange of fire they retreated.

The IRA are not believed to have sustained any casualties.