Rineen committee urges family involvement

THE Rineen Ambush Commemoration Committee is appealing to relations of people who took part in the Rineen ambush to attend their next meeting, which will be held on Tuesday, August 17 at 8.30pm in the Armada Hotel, Spanish Point.
The 90th anniversary of the ambush, which took place on September 22, 1920, will be marked on September 26 next.
In the meantime, organisers want to hear from descendants of anybody who participated, while they are also looking for photographs, memorabilia or artefacts connected to the ambush.
Events on September 26 will commence with mass in Moy church followed by a guard of honour, which will be inspected by Minister for Defence Tony Killeen. All who attend will then gather at the Rineen ambush monument, where the national flag will be raised. The group will then adjourn to the Armada Hotel, where an exhibition of memorabilia will be staged, followed by lunch.
Anybody with relevant information or who would like to attend the lunch should contact 085 1603132 for more details.
On September 22, 1920, one of the most remarkable encounters of the War of Independence took place at Dromin Hill, Rineen. The purpose was to get revenge for the murder of Martin Devitt, an Irish soldier who was shot dead in an ambush in February of that year in the locality. A secondary function was to get arms for the poorly equipped volunteers in the area.
Men from several battalions took part in the ambush. The companies in question were Ennistymon, Lahinch, Inagh, Moy, Glendline, Miltown Malbay and Letterkelly. Most of these, however, were unarmed because of the lack of ammunition. Their entire lot of arms consisted of 60 rounds of ammunition, eight rifles, two bombs, two revolvers and 16 shotguns.
All the RIC men in the tender were killed. The RIC men killed were one RIC Sergeant (Michael Hynes) along with five other constables (Reginald Hardman, Michael Harte, John Hodnett, Michael Kelly and John Maguire). The ambush was carried out by men from the 4th Battalion, Mid-Clare Brigade led by Ignatius O’Neill (Battalion O/C and ex-soldier with the Irish Guards, British Army). There were about 60 in the ambushing party – only nine had rifles. Among the men who took part were Seamus Hennessy, Peter Vaughan, Dan Kennelly, Steve Gallagher, Michael O’Dwyer, Michael Curtin, Pat Lehane, Seán Burke, Pake Lehane, Dan Lehane, Patso Kerin, Anthony Malone, John Joe Neylon, Owen Nestor, Tom Burke, Alphonsus O’Neill and Ned Hynes. Thomas Moroney was in charge of the scouts, one of whom was John Clune (who cycled into Miltown-Malbay to check when the tender would return). After the attack on the tender, the IRA had not fully withdrawn when the British military, consisting of about 150 soldiers, arrived on the scene. They were on their way to the site of the capture of RM Lendrum. A running pursuit followed with no deaths on either side but O’Neill and Curtin were wounded.