Plans underway for Glenwood Ambush commemoration

PLANS are afoot to commemorate a piece of East Clare’s history as the 90th anniversary of the Glenwood Ambush approaches.
The ambush took place at Belvoir Kilkishen on January 20, 1921 and so with the passing of 90 years, local man Patsy Neville is organising an event that will see a suitable plaque erected at the site, which is near one of the entrance gates to Glenwood House.
It is understood that Patsy’s uncle was present at the ambush and it is hoped that more will be learned about the volunteers that participated in this historic event.
The Kilkishen man is proposing to include the names of all the 37 volunteers, who played a part in the ambush and the names of the eight Black and Tans or RIC men who either died or escaped on that fateful day on the plaque. To progress this forward by the January 20 deadline, a meeting is scheduled for Donnellan’s Hall, Kilkishen on Friday, November 5 at 10pm where those interested in helping out with the project is encouraged to attend.
A special invite to this meeting is also extended to all the relatives of those who were involved in the ambush who are from different parts of East Clare and beyond including Kilkishen, Sixmilebridge, Clonlara, Oatfield, Ogonnelloe, Mountshannon, O’Callaghan’s Mills, Tulla, Scariff and Feakle.
Patsy explained what occurred that fateful day.
“The background to the ambush is that the closing months of 1920 saw a series of encounters between the East Clare Brigade IRA who were a poorly armed but highly motivated band of young men determined to win freedom for their country and the British forces which comprised of Black and Tans and RIC. Many hundreds of RIC had resigned their posts that year and those who remained were under no illusion whose side they were on.
“Attacks against British rule took place in Feakle in October of that year and other attacks followed in Broadford and O’Briensbridge. On January 1, 1921 Martial Law was proclaimed in County Clare. Michael Brennan, commander of the Flying Column, decided that an immediate response from the IRA was called for. A suitable objective was identified by Jack Egan from Pullough, which was a police patrol car travelling frequently between Sixmilebridge and Broadford by various routes. It never used the same journey on its return journey. On Egan’s advice, an ambush was set at one of the entrance gates to Glenwood House,” Patsy outlined.
A total of 37 volunteers assembled before dawn on Tuesday, January 20, 1921 at Belvoir Cross led by Michael Brennan from Meelick with his brother, Austin and Tom McGrath acting as section leaders. Less than half the volunteers had rifles, others had revolvers and shotguns and those that were unarmed acted as scouts.
“Dan Lenihan is noted as having a Mills grenade and God only knows where he got this. The column was divided into three sections with Michael Brennan in command of the section that was armed with rifles and was to engage the enemy first along the curved wall on the north side entrance to Glenwood House. The lorry which was a Crossly Tender was expected around 11 o’clock but as the men waited in the cold, it looked as if their preparations were in vain. A scout was sent to Kilkishen to check if the lorry had taken this route to Broadford thus avoiding the ambush spot. It was fair day in Kilkishen and Brennan had deliberately selected that particular day as he figured that most local traffic would be in the village by mid-morning, which would reduce the risk of civilians being caught in the crossfire.
“The scouts reported back that the lorry had not taken the Kilkishen route so the volunteers settled back in wait. It was 3.35pm in the afternoon when the scouts signalled that the enemy was approaching. A lorry came into view and on a whistle blow, Michael Brennan’s section opened fire as it drew parallel with their positions behind the wall. It was close to Tom McGrath’s section at that particular moment and his men joined in with revolver fire. Dan Lenihan lobbed his Mills grenade into the back of the lorry as it veered out of control. The driver had lost control due to the bullet fire and the Crossly Tender struck the turn on the road throwing its occupants out onto the road making them easy targets for the volunteers,” Patsy revealed.
He added that the grenade failed to explode and amazingly, the driver of the lorry escaped injury by scaling the bonnet of the truck and making his escape into Belvoir wood. A second RIC man, who had been seriously wounded, left the rear of the Crossley Tender and escaped while the republicans had turned their attention from the lorry onto its fleeting driver, according to Patsy.
“Within minutes, the ambush had ended and Brennan ordered a ceasefire. Six of the RIC patrolmen were either dead or dying and two had escaped. Fr Daly and Fr O’Dea from Sixmilebridge were summoned to give spiritual aid to the dying. It was not long before reprisals were exacted on the neighbouring population. That night, lorries filled with Black and Tans, Auxiliaries and RIC converged on the area. They fired into houses as they passed and terrorised the inhabitants of Kilkishen village. One of the first houses they entered was Clancy’s. Joe Clancy and his neighbour, McNamara, had both served in the British Army in France and were then two of the most wanted men in Clare. Finding the house empty – Joe’s father had been brought to relative safety in Newmarket – they proceeded to smash the contents to smithereens,” he added.
However, Patsy noted that other houses under suspicion were not so lucky as Caseys of Sixmilebridge was set alight as was Fitzgerald’s of Belvoir, Duggan’s of Ahaclare and Macks of Knockatureen to mention a few. “Michael Brennan later wrote that his Flying Column while making its escape across the mountains counted upwards of 30 houses ablaze in a radius of eight or nine miles of Glenwood,” Patsy concluded.
A Glenwood Ambush account has been set up in Bank of Ireland, Tulla to fund the plaque or monument under the stewardship of Patsy Neville, JP Guinane and John Lenihan, where donations from the public and from those who had relatives in the ambush can be made. Anyone who would like more information can contact Patsy Neville on 087 9691415.