Leary’s Cross Ambush

(near Castlelyons) - Dec 10th, 1920

Friday, December 10th, 2020 is one hundred years to the day since a local ambush took place in the Irish War of Independence.

A Flying Column had recently been formed from the ranks of the IRA in the Fermoy area. Since the Soloheadbeg Ambush in Tipperary in early 1919 had signalled the beginning of the war, hostilities had greatly increased, especially in Munster.

The active IRA volunteers were far outnumbered by the English forces. The RIC, Black and Tans and Auxiliaries were well armed and trained military personnel. From the start of 1920 until the Truce in July 1921, the strength of the three combined forces increased by over 13,000 recruits. Around 1,500 of these were based in Cork city and county.

Faced with this military might, the IRA had to rely on a guerrilla warfare method of attack on the enemy. The one advantage the local IRA men 'on the ground' had was knowledge of the terrain of the countryside and a massive support network of 'safe houses'. The practise of ambushing military patrols and convoys became a very effective method of attack. After the confrontation, the IRA men would 'melt away' into the surrounding countryside to escape capture.

One of the leading figures in the IRA in this area was William 'Bronco' Buckley of Ballyhampshire, Castlelyons. Born in 1886 in Francistown, near Bawnard, he emigrated to New Zealand in 1912. Initially he worked at gold-mining - with little success, on the South Island. At the end of 1914 he moved to the North island where he stayed for three years. From 1917 until his return to Ireland in late 1919, William worked in San Francisco where he joined Clann Eireann and the Irish Volunteers in that city. He joined the Castlelyons IRA Company in January 1920 and in a few months, they increased their numbers from around twenty to nearly 80.

FIRST ENGAGEMENT

During the summer of that year, the local IRA collected as many guns as possible -including raiding houses which, in the words of William Buckley "were not sympathisers or supporters of ours". With many volunteers from the Fermoy area 'on the run', it was decided in October to form a Flying Column - the term used for a group of volunteers who would attack the enemy forces and then disperse rapidly. The members of this column were Michael Mansfield, Dan Cronin, David Kent, James Donovan, William Buckley (Castlelyons), Patrick Egan, John Egan, Martin Condon, Maurice O’Regan and Mick O'Connell (Bartlemy), Jim Brennock, Patrick Daly, Patrick Canavan, Tim Ring, Dan Daly (Rathcormac) and Con Leddy, Seán O'Mahony, Mick Hynes, Thomas Brennock, Batt Joyce, Maurice Hyland, Sean Hynes (Araglin). All of the volunteers were armed with rifles, mainly captured at the Fermoy Wesleyan church raid and the attack on Araglen RIC barracks.

The first engagement for the new Flying Column was planned for the church holiday, Wednesday, December 8th at Blackstone Bridge between Rathcormac and Watergrasshill. The IRA had intelligence that a convoy of three to five lorry loads of Auxiliaries regularly travelled this road, going from Fermoy to Cork. The plan was to lay in wait on high ground on either side of the road until the lorries came and then open fire. For this ambush, about thirty more volunteers with shotguns from the Bartlemy, Castlelyons, Clondulane and Watergrasshill IRA Companies assisted the Flying Column. Moss Twomey was in charge of the ambush. They took up their positions at dawn and waited for the military trucks to come along the road. It was getting duskish around 4 o’clock in the evening when a sentry signalled that the lorries were on their way. Everything was in readiness.

Then, when the first lorry approached Blackstone Bridge, a funeral party with horses and traps on the way to Ballinaltig Cemetery also appeared. As the military and the mourners were interspersed, it was impossible to shoot, so the ambush had to be called off. The column members stayed at houses in Bartlemy that night.

On the following day, they moved to the Barrafohona, Ballard, Firmount district. Early on the morning of

Friday, December 10th in anticipation of British troop movements on the Conna/Aghern to Rathcormac road, the column members took up ambush positions at the South West side of O’Leary's Cross, near Bridesbridge. A road up to Bartlemy forks off the Conna to Rathcormac road and here, at Kirby's Cross, the column members took up positions. The townlands of Deerpark and Kilawillin converge near this spot.

FATALITY

Three column members William Buckley, Jimmy Brennock (Rathcormac) and Dan Daly (Rathcormac) - all gave detailed Witness Statements years later, giving their account of what happened. It was close to noon when the signal came that a lorry was on the way from the Conna/Tallow direction. The IRA expected the lorry to keep coming, but it stopped at Leary's Cross and some of the soldiers went up the hill towards Kilcor. At this, Buckley, Moss Regan and a few others quickly had to change plans. They were going to cross the fields towards the Kilcor road, but the soldiers returned to their lorry and it drove on. The IRA party opened fire on the lorry from a distance of about 250 yards. It stopped and the military men took cover behind the road and field ditches and returned fire. The shooting went on for about fifteen minutes.

As Mick Mansfield and William Buckley went to join Jimmy Brennock and Martin Condon, they were fired upon by three soldiers in Morrison's field. They took cover and returned fire, wounding one of the soldiers. When the main group of soldiers near the lorry were called on to surrender, one soldier opened fire and he was shot dead. The others surrendered, but four were still in the lorry. The threat of a bomb being thrown brought them out. Nine rifles and 680 rounds of ammunition were captured.

The soldier who died was Gunner Robert Charles Cambridge of The Royal Field Artillery, two others were wounded and six more arrested. Those detained were searched and then marched by Tom Brennock and William Buckley to Leary's Cross where they were released. Other column members took the guns and ammunition to their arms 'dump' at Lanes of Monagown in Conna.

In a spate of attacks and reprisals after the ambush, the houses of Cotters and O’Mahonys, Ballinanelagh, Rathcormac and Colemans of Bridesbridge were burnt down and an attempt was made to burn Mulveys in Rathcormac. On the very day of the ambush, Martial Law was declared in most of Munster.

Those who took part in the ambush on December 10th, 1920 were Michael Mansfield, Dan Cronin, James Donovan, William Buckley, Patrick Egan, John Egan, Martin Condon, Maurice O’Regan, Mick O'Connell, Jim Brennock, Patrick Daly, Patrick Canavan, Tim Ring, Dan Daly, Seán O'Mahony, Mick Hynes, Thomas Brennock, Batt Joyce, Maurice Hyland and Sean Hynes.