Tag Archives: Glenwood Ambush

THE Bunratty Manor hotel was the venue for the official launch of the 170-page Centenary Book of the ambush at Glenwood which took place on January 20, 1921.  This launch, which had previously been deferred due to the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, was performed by the Mayor of Clare, Councillor PJ Ryan. The Council chairperson was assisted by Mr Flan McCarthy and Mr Mick Ryan, who are joint presidents of the Glenwood Ambush Memorial Committee.  The publication contains a number of different versions of what actually happened on ambush day in January 1921, and accounts of the later reprisals by the Black and Tans. There are some details too of a number of the participating volunteers, in as much as was possible for researchers to get the information. These include Martin ‘Neighbour’ McNamara, Joe Clancy, Tom McGrath, Mattie McGrath, James Hogan, Paddy McCarthy, Jackie Ryan, Jimmy McInerney, Miko Neville, Dinny Minogue, Mick Moloney, Mick Shaughnessy, Tom McInerney, Michael Cleary, Peter St Ledger, …

TO MARK the 100th anniversary of the Glenwood Ambush the local memorial committee have produced a Centenary Book, which is now on sale in the run up to Christmas.  The publication contains a number of versions of what actually happened on ambush day January 20, 1921, and the later reprisals by the Black and Tans. There are some details also of a number of the participating volunteers, in as much as was possible to get the information. These include Martin ‘Neighbour’ McNamara, Joe Clancy, Tom McGrath, Mattie McGrath, James Hogan, Paddy McCarthy, Jackie Ryan, Jimmy McInerney, Miko Neville, Dinny Minogue, Mick Moloney, Mick Shaughnessy, Tom McInerney, Michael Cleary, Peter St Ledger, Dan Lenihan, Joseph McNamara, Tadhg McGrath, Mick O’Dea, Paddy Quinn, Jack O’Grady. Jack Egan, Jack Curley, Tom McMahon, John Joe McNamara, Jack Quinn and Michael Quinn.  The publication also includes a number of very informative and readable articles, including ‘The Combatants in the War of Independence’ by Michael McNamara; …

THE centenary of the Glenwood Ambush will be celebrated on Sunday next (October 31). Proceedings will begin with a centenary mass in Kilkishen church at 1pm and this will be followed with the unveiling of a Sculptured Plaque at the ambush memorial site in Glenwood immediately after the Mass at around 2.15pm. Free bus transport will be provided from the church to Glenwood directly after mass. A Glenwood Centenary Book will also launched. This 150-page publication will provide detailed accounts of the ambush by different people and including the reprisals by British forces in its aftermath. The plan is to have it on sale over the weekend, after masses, and at the commemorative event in Glenwood The ambush marks the 100th year since the ambush in January of 1921. Because of the lockdown at the start of this year, ceremonies were deferred. Sunday’s events will mark the incident in which a motorised patrol of ten armed Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) …

A SECOND commemorative plaque has been installed at the site of the Glenwood Ambush in East Clare, remembering those who risked their lives by sheltering and feeding IRA volunteers on the run at the time. A new commemorative booklet is also being planned, with the Glenwood Memorial Committee appealing to the public to get in touch if they have details they would like included. Six RIC members were killed when a Flying Column from the East Clare Brigade attacked their lorry at Glenwood on January 20, 1921. The attack led to a series of reprisals and attacks on residents across the south-east of the county as the War of Independence raged. A scaled back commemoration event took place in January to mark the centenary and work to remember the anniversary continues. “Since then we have mounted a second plaque which was sculptured by our great friend Michael McTigue as part of the 100th year commemoration of the ambush at Glenwood,” …

ONE hundred years ago this month, members of the East Clare Brigade  of the IRA undertook one of the most daring ambushes undertaken in this county during the War of Independence. In the late afternoon of January 20, 1921, members of the East Clare Brigade led by Michael Brennan, ambushed a patrol of RIC and Black and Tans at Glenwood House on the road between Sixmilebridge and Broadford. Six members of the Crown Forces were killed in the ambush. The IRA suffered no casualties, but the reprisals that followed the ambush are remembered as an orgy of violence and resulted in the burning of up to 21 homes in the locality. The pandemic has forced centenary commemoration plans to go on hold and a memorial sculpture has been created for the site. This year, the ambush has been privately remembered by many of the family of the 37 IRA volunteers who were involved in the ambush, as well as the …

COVID-19 restrictions meant that significantly scaled-back commemorative event took place on Wednesday last to mark the centenary of The Glenwood Ambush – one of the most significant incidents in the War of Independence in Munster. The very short ceremony got underway at 3pm with just a few of the memorial committee in attendance and socially distanced. The laying of a wreath was performed by Mick Ryan whose father Jackie Ryan was one of the 37 IRA volunteers involved in the ambush. Earlier in the day, John Lyons, John Lenihan and Patsy Neville raised the tricolour and Paddy Carroll lit the memorial lamp. The committee have said that the actual official celebration of the 100th anniversary will take place post-Covid and at a date to be decided. This will include the official launch of a memorial plaque which is currently at the completion stage by Kilnamona-based sculptor. Michael McTigue. This plaque is being created to depict the safe house or ‘an baile sámháilte,’ to …

PLANS to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Glenwood ambush on Wednesday next, January 20, have now been deferred to later in the year in compliance with Covid-19 Level 5 restrictions. A very scaled down commemorative event will take place on the anniversary, however, with the lighting of a memorial lamp and the flying of a tricolour. The mounting of a commemoration plaque aptly named ‘An Teach Sábháilte,’ the Safe House, will go ahead as planned, but the unveiling has deferred to a future date. The wall plaque is being sculptured and fitted by Michael McTigue, and will take the shape of a 1920-style house. It will include revolutionary figures, facilitated by the bravery of women including members of Cumann na mBan. They provided support including food and shelter to the volunteers while on the run during the War of Independence. Other items on the plaque will include the rising sun and a semi-completed harp to signify the dawn of …

AS EVENTS in the War of Independence are commemorated across the country, communities in East Clare are preparing to mark the 100th anniversary of the Glenwood Ambush in the New Year. On January 20, 1921 at about 4pm, a motorised patrol of ten armed Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) and Black and Tans, travelling from Sixmilebridge to Broadford, approached the back gate of Glenwood House. Waiting for them, concealed behind the walls of the Glenwood estate was a group of approximately 37 armed volunteers, from the East Clare Brigade of the IRA, led by Michael Brennan of Meelick. As the patrol passed by the gates, a fusillade of gunshots struck the patrol. Six RIC and Black and Tans were killed, two were injured and two escaped unhurt. One IRA volunteer was injured. The ambush party then withdrew through the forest and mountains to the East of Glenwood, towards the village of Oatfield. The surviving members of the patrol made their way …