Sheemore ambush

Sheemore Ambush
Part of the Irish War of Independence
Date 4 March 1921 Location Sheemore, County Leitrim 53°59′31″N 7°59′53″W / 53.992°N 7.998°W / 53.992; -7.998 Result IRA victory
Belligerents
Irish Republican Army (South Leitrim Brigade)	British Army Royal Irish Constabulary
Commanders and leaders
Seán Mitchel	unknown
Strength
7 volunteers	30–40 (although many RIC fled the scene)
Casualties and losses
none	1-7 killed, 4 soldiers and 2 RIC wounded
Location within island of Ireland

The Sheemore ambush was an ambush carried out by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) on 4 March 1921, during the Irish War of Independence. It took place at Sheemore near Carrick-on-Shannon, County Leitrim.

The ambush was carried out by the IRA's South Leitrim Brigade on a force of Black and Tans. The British suffered casualties and admitted one fatality, a captain in the Bedfordshire Regiment, although some local sources claimed several more were killed. The Black and Tans later ran amok in Carrick-on-Shannon, burning the Temperance Hall in Gowel.

As the congregation made their way out of the local parish church in Gowel from the First Friday Mass they were confronted by three lorries carrying 30–40 British troops and Royal Irish Constabulary. The men were lined up for searching on one side while a lady took care of the women. There was no panic and as nothing was found, there were no arrests. The church had been singled out that morning as a likely place for volunteers of the IRA's South Leitrim Brigade to attend. Father Edward O’Reilly (the church's curate) was openly friendly towards the volunteers. After they searched the church interior, the police and soldiers remounted their lorries and continued back to Carrick-on-Shannon. About 2km down the road, on the slopes of Sheemore, volunteers of the South Leitrim Brigade awaited them. The day before, the Brigade had received word from Joe Nangle (Drumshanbo) of the British operation. They took up position behind a low wall which ran on the brink of an eighty-foot-high rock face on the side of Sheemore. It was four hundred yards from the road. There were seven volunteers – Brigadier Seán Mitchel (who was in command), Charles E. McGoohan (from Ballinamore), Michael Geoghegan (from Aughacashel), Mattie Boylan (from Carrick-on-Shannon), Michael Martin (from Ballinamore), Joe Nangle and Harry McKeon.