Headford Ambush

Headford Ambush
Part of the Irish War of Independence
Date 21 March 1921 Location Headford Junction railway station (near Killarney), County Kerry Result Successful IRA ambush and getaway
Belligerents
Irish Republican Army (Second Kerry Brigade)	British Army (First Royal Fusiliers)
Commanders and leaders
Danny Allman†	Lt. C.F. Adams†
Strength
32 volunteers	30 soldiers in first train, more arrive in a second train
Casualties and losses
2 dead	7 dead, 2 fatally wounded, 12 injured (at least)
3 civilians dead, 2 wounded in ambush, 1 alleged informer killed in the aftermath
Location within island of Ireland

The Headford Ambush took place on 21 March 1921, during the Irish War of Independence.

The Second Kerry Brigade (South Kerry) of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) ambushed a train carrying British troops at Headford Junction railway station (near Killarney, County Kerry). At least 14 people died in the incident – 9 British soldiers, 2 IRA volunteers and 3 civilians.

The guerrilla war in Kerry escalated rapidly in the spring of 1921. The county was occupied by the British Army, Auxiliary Division and Black and Tan paramilitary police, as well as the Royal Irish Constabulary. From the autumn of 1920, they had been burning suspected Republicans' property and shooting suspected IRA sympathisers. By early 1921, they had begun rounding up male inhabitants of nearby towns and villages and searching for IRA suspects. This began in Tralee on 11 January.

On 23 January, in response to the assassination by the IRA of RIC District Inspector Sullivan (who was shot while walking with his five-year-old son), 1,000 soldiers and armed police surrounded Ballymacelligott, arrested 240 men and marched them to Tralee for questioning. British forces, especially the Auxiliaries, also carried out a number of reprisal shootings on local civilians. In response to the Crown Forces initiatives, the IRA set up full-time guerrilla units (known as flying columns), to avoid arrest and to assemble units capable of taking on British patrols. IRA GHQ in Dublin also sent an organizer Andy Cooney to Kerry to supervise the setting up of flying columns. On 2 March, under Cooney's direction, the Second Kerry Brigade set up its own flying column under Dan Allman and Tom McEllistrim. On 5 March, McEllistrim led 20 volunteers from the column to a successful ambush at Clonbanin, in which they co-operated with Cork IRA units, killing four British soldiers (including Brigadier General Cumming).