Police car ‘riddled with bullets’ in Flying Column’s first ambush
REGARDED as perhaps one of the most formative and vital periods in Irish History, we are currently in the midst of marking the centenary of the events of the War of Independence (1919 - 1921). Local archaeologist Barry Lacey from Ferns has been looking at some of the key events in Co Wexford, in particular ambushes, raids, the burning of police barracks and other activities.
On this occasion, Barry looks at Wexford Flying Column’s first ever ambush, which took place in Ballycarney 100 years ago this month. For more stories like this one, visit wexfordwarofindependence.com
On Tuesday afternoon, February 15, 1921, five police officers were travelling in their Ford motorcar from Bunclody to Enniscorthy when they were ambushed near Ballycarney by the North Wexford Brigade Flying Column. Reporting on the incident, The Irish Times stated that the car, being driven by a Sgt Torsney, was passing through Munfin, a short distance north of Ballycarney. Suddenly Torsney heard a noise, which he assumed was a burst tyre and decided to pull over and investigate.
Just as he was slowing down the sound of rifle and revolver shots rang out from behind a hedge on the left side of the road. The other officers in the car returned fire on their attackers while Sgt Torsney sped up and they made a narrow escape. While the bonnet of the car was reported to have been riddled with bullets, fortunately for the occupants, they escaped without injury.
First Ambush in the county
In a witness statement to the bureau of military history given years later, Thomas Dwyer, one of the men who took part in the attack, noted how the North Wexford Flying Column hadn’t had much luck in previous ambushes since its formation in 1920. While several attempts had been undertaken, each time they lay in wait while the enemy forces failed to show. The incident at Ballycarney was the first ambush where a shot was fired.
Dwyer recalled how Phil Lennon, then the columns officer commanding, afterwards remarked, ‘It is the first ambush in the county and I am proud to have been in it’.
Conflicting Circumstances
One would imagine, this being the first somewhat successful ambush by the column, that it would be well recorded and documented. However, the accounts relating to it vary. Thomas Dwyer stated that they were awaiting the arrival of an RIC cycle patrol that failed to show when instead a car turned up.
Michael Kirwan though, states the ambush was originally intended not for a cycle patrol but instead a lorry delivering supplies from Wexford town to Bunclody for the Devon Regiment stationed there.
The account of a Thomas Meagher also refers to the target being a lorry. James O Toole states they happened upon a police car unexpectedly while trenching the roads, with no previous plans for an ambush.
Despite these differences, the vehicle fired upon in the end was most certainly a car, as that is what was reported in the contemporary newspaper accounts. One commonality the accounts do share is that the targeted vehicle arrived later than expected, which caught the column by surprise and that there was a delay in engaging the target due to this fact. Reference is made to how they had planned to block the road by felling a tree across it. One half was cut and held by a rope, ready to drop when the order was given.
The Irish Times report on the incident is slightly biased and somewhat exaggerates the actions of the police. For example, the police estimated at least 50 people were involved in the attack, a number which is very unlikely, especially given the fact that the column never numbered near that many people during the period.
Also, the quick actions of the police are given particular focus. Additionally, they believed one of the attackers was badly wounded also, when in fact no casualties on either side were recorded.
The Ambush Site
The Irish Times reported that the incident took place on the main road between Bunclody and Enniscorthy at ‘Munfin’. It described the road at this point as being twelve feet wide and the attackers had taken position on the left side where they were sheltered by a high thick hedge. Thomas Meagher in his witness statement tells how it occurred about a mile outside Ballycarney, on the Bunclody road at a location known as ‘ the White Woman’s Hollow.’
The location was called so as it was supposedly haunted by a lady who wore white as referenced in the ‘Schools Folklore Collection’ from Bunclody school. This collection is made up of folklore and local traditions compiled by primary school pupils from all over the country between 1937 and 1939.
The precise location of the ‘white woman’s hollow’ in Munfin is not marked on any maps and alterations to the road (now the N80) in the last 100 years have left no such hollow obvious or visible. However, local knowledge and memory places it at the point in the road where there now exists a lay-by.
The Flying Policeman
The ambush at Munfin may have been the first such experience for many of the officers, but not for the driver of the car Sgt Torsney. Back in 1920, he had a lucky escape when he was ambushed by two men at gunpoint while out cycling with another constable near Ferrycarrig. Both were ordered to stop, but in fear fr their life, they kept cycling and were fired upon, Torsney receiving a bullet in the leg.
Torsney was an active member of Waterford RIC cycling club in the 1890s winning Ireland’s one-mile bicycle championship in May 1893, earning him the nickname ‘ The Flying Policeman’. Though injured he miraculously continued to cycle until they reached the safety of the barracks in Taghmon. Later in December of that year he was in the barracks in Bunclody when Constable William Jones was shot only a few doors up in Kelly’s pub.
The Ambush site today
Today the stretch of road at Munfin where the ambush took place forms part of the busy N80. It has changed drastically from what it would have looked like 100 years ago and many of those who use it on a regular basis may not even realise it was the site of the first ambush by the North Wexford Flying Column. No memorial or marker exists on the site and knowledge of the incident and its location has been confined to history.
Sites and landscapes like these form an important part of our more Revolutionary past and should be given the same consideration as other historical and archaeological sites within the county. But hopefully to those who have read this piece they will remember the events which took place along the roadside at Munfin 100 years ago this year.