Clonmult Ambush

Clonmult ambush
Part of Irish War of Independence
Date 20 February 1921 Location Clonmult (near Midleton), County Cork Result British victory
Belligerents
British Army (Hampshire Regiment) Royal Irish Constabulary (Auxiliary Division)	Irish Republican Army (1st Cork Brigade)
Commanders and leaders
Lieut. A. R. Koe	Jack O'Connell
Strength
Initially one infantry company, reinforcements arrived during the action	20 volunteers
Casualties and losses
2 killed (at least)	12 killed, 4 wounded, 4 captured, 2 later executed
6 suspected civilian informers executed by the IRA in the following week
Location within island of Ireland

The Clonmult ambush took place on 20 February 1921, during the Irish War of Independence.

Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteers occupying a farmhouse in Clonmult, County Cork were surrounded by a force of British Army, Royal Irish Constabulary and Auxiliaries. In the action that followed, twelve IRA volunteers were killed, four wounded and four captured. A total of 22 people died in the ambush and subsequent executions – 14 IRA members, 2 Black and Tans and 6 suspected informers.

The 4th battalion of the IRA First Cork Brigade, under Diarmuid O'Hurley and based around Midleton, Youghal and Cobh, had been a successful unit up until the Clonmult ambush. They had captured three RIC barracks and carried out an ambush in Midleton itself. In January 1921, the unit took possession of a disused farmhouse overlooking the village of Clonmult. O'Hurley planned to ambush a military train at Cobh Junction on Tuesday 22 February 1921 and at the time of the Clonmult action was scouting a suitable ambush site. However, according to historian Peter Hart, they "had become over-confident and fallen into a traceable routine". An intelligence officer of the British Army Hampshire Regiment traced them to their billet at a farmhouse in Clonmult.

British troops (a party of the 2nd Battalion, Hampshire Regiment under the command of Lieutenant A. R. Koe) surrounded the house. Two IRA volunteers noticed the advancing troops and opened fire. Both were killed, but the shooting had warned those sheltering inside the house, and a siege began. A sortie from the house was attempted in the hope of gaining reinforcements from the local IRA company.

The acting IRA commander, Captain Jack O'Connell, managed to get away but three other volunteers were killed in the attempt.] But O'Connell was unable to bring help in time. The Volunteers trapped inside made a desperate but unsuccessful attempt to escape through a narrow opening in the gable. Their hopes were dashed when British reinforcements arrived instead—regular RIC police, Black and Tans and Auxiliaries. The police had also brought petrol, which an Army officer used to set the thatched roof of the farmhouse alight. With the farmhouse burning around them, an attempt was then made by the IRA to surrender.