What happened at Kilmichael?

ACCORDING to Ennis-based historian and author Meda Ryan, there has been much controversy associated with Tom Barry recently, particularly centred on the Kilmichael Ambush and whether there was a false surrender during that battle.
As a result of questions being raised, Meda has reissued her publication Tom Barry: IRA Freedom Fighter, which outlines through interviews with those men that survived the ambush what went on at Kimichael, West Cork on November 28, 1920.
“It’s only in recent years that questions have arisen. Was there or wasn’t there a false surrender, because the Auxiliaries were killed, or died shortly after? One escaped through the fields but was captured by local men some fields away as he made his way to Macroom to alert the Macroom CastlE men. One other was found next, when the Auxiliaries came to the site, with a pulse. He survived for many years. I have gone into the ambush in great detail in the book because I knew many of the men who fought there and I had interviewed them over time,” she explained.
In her publication, she outlines what the volunteers remember of the day.
“What they say was that first of all, there were two lorries that came out at a place called Kilmichael, which was a lonely area, and two lorries came from Macroom. There was an ambush set up by Tom Barry who stood out in the road to meet them. When the ambush started, one lorry was wiped out fairly fast. There was quite an amount of fighting and some of it was hand-to-hand fighting. Then the second lorry was taken on and when that was taken on, the men were positioned in different sections. It was an extremely well-organised ambush and Tom Barry was a brilliant commander. He had men in different sections and there were men in section two and they were fighting considerably. Barry and three of his men went from the command post up behind them and when the Auxiliaries felt they were being sandwiched, they shouted, ‘We surrender’. They felt they had no way out and they threw down their rifles. Some of Barry’s men then who were facing them, stood up in recognition of the surrender and the Auxiliaries picked up their revolvers and they began firing again at the volunteers,” Meda explained.
When Tom Barry saw two of his men fall, he said for the men to keep firing and not stop until he told them to.
“Three of the volunteers died, two were fatally wounded on the spot and one was fatally wounded and died later. It seems one was shot before the false surrender but the other two had been fatally wounded due to the false surrender,” she outlined.
According to Meda and those she interviewed, there was a false surrender and she believes the reason questions have come up about this issue in recent times is that people don’t seem to understand what a false surrender means.
“What it means is if they shouted, ‘we surrender’ and threw down their rifles and then they picked up them again, it means they falsified their surrender call. The Auxiliaries in this case threw their rifles down and they had revolvers on their person. When they saw the volunteers were accepting the surrender, they saw the opportunity and shot at them and therefore Barry said, ‘It’s a fight to the finish’. It was an extremely bloody fight and was not pleasant. Now the Auxiliaries did try again to surrender and this is probably why there was a bit of controversy. Barry didn’t accept their second surrender because he said if he had done so that he couldn’t take the chance because if they broke their word once, they could do it again,” Meda continued.
Tom Barry was born in Kilorglin in County Kerry, his father was RIC man but resigned once the war broke out. The family moved to Rosscarbery then and Tom Barry came onto Bandon. There were 14 in the family and Tom Barry was the second eldest of 14. He was just 16 years of age when he joined the British Army in Bandon.
With the army, he became part of the Mesopotamian expeditionary force, fighting with them until 1916 and while there, he saw a notice, which detailed the rebellion in Dublin, what had happened and of the execution of its leaders.
According to Meda, “This really awakened in him a feeling for his own native country because he was there fighting for the British Army and they were fighting his own men back home”.
He continued fighting with the British Army in Russia, Egypt and France returning home in 1919 when he developed more of an interest in Irish history. He then got involved in the IRA volunteer intelligence movement.
“They saw potential in him and asked him, because of his war training, would he train some of the men, which he did. He wasn’t long training when they discovered he had a unique ability to command the men. Shortly after that, he started what was known as the Flying Column and was with the Third West Cork Brigade of the Flying Column,” Meda said.
The Kilmichael Ambush was a landmark ambush, coming at a time when the volunteer movement’s morale was low and according to Meda, it turned the tide in the War of Independence.
“It was known as a landmark. Because of that, they went on and there were several ambushes. Barry had a successful ambush at Rosscarbery, which was important because it was his home town; all he wanted was the barracks. It was one of the longest fights and it was about five hours long. The RIC were in the barracks and they surrendered and he accepted the surrender and not alone that but he allowed some of the wounded men to go to the local convent and to houses to be nursed and gave them bandages to show he had a humanitarian side to him,” she concluded.
Meda is working on her next publication but admits writing history is very difficult and takes a long time to research the material and ensure it is accurate. It took her seven years to complete Tom Barry: IRA Freedom Fighter so it may be some time yet before her new book hits the book shelves.