Remembering Commandant Sean O’Donoghue
The Avondhu region was home to many brave and conscientious young men and women during the War of Independence and in the Civil War, and each has their own remarkable story to be remembered and told. In the near future, it is hoped that a local committee may be formed to remember the contributions of these brave souls. This is the story of just one of them: Sean O’Donoghue.
Sean O’Donoghue, baptised as John, was born in Gurteenabowl, Mitchelstown in 1898. He was the 5th child born to his parents William and Nano (nee O’Mahony) O’Donoghue.
His siblings were: Catherine O’Keeffe, Ballykearney, Mitchelstown, Co Cork; James O’Donoghue, Gurteenabowl, Mitchelstown, Co Cork; Maryanne Condon, Glenroe, Co Limerick; Rev. Father Terence O’Donoghue OP, Dublin; Rev. Sister Kevin (Margaret), Presentation Convent, Doneraile, Co Cork and Maurice O’Donoghue, Dublin.
On completion of his education he was employed in the warehouse of Messrs. Dwyer, Cork and he lived with his aunt in Roches Buildings. He was murdered outside the Delaney Brothers house, Dublin Hill, Cork on September 28th, 1922.
Sean was a member of the Gaelic League, the Lee GAA Club and the Lee Rowing Club. At an early age he joined A Company, 1st Battalion, Cork No 1 Brigade, becoming Quartermaster of the company. He was subsequently promoted to Quartermaster of the Cork Brigade. At the beginning of 1921, he was appointed Commandant of the 1st Battalion.
A loyal and courageous officer, Sean was involved in several engagements with the Black and Tans in Cork and at the signing of the Treaty, he took the Republican side in the Civil War.
On the night of December 8th 1920, members of the Cork City Active Service Unit under the command of Captain Sean O’Donoghue took up position behind an old stone wall close to Balmoral Terrace, Cork. Behind it was an area of open ground known as O’Callaghan’s Field which led down to the Glen and would provide an excellent escape route for the ambush party.
A scout was posted on the road, whose task was to let the ambush party know that the Auxiliaries were approaching by blowing a whistle. Because of the proximity of the barracks, the ambush would have to be short and sharp. The IRA planned to halt the lorries, attack them with grenades and revolvers, then make their escape. However, that night their scout never showed up.
Sean Healy, a member of the ambush party, later told the Bureau of Military History: “We heard numerous military lorries passing to and fro, but the Auxiliaries made no appearance that night. They probably went in the opposite direction, as the city could be reached by another route. After what appeared to be an interminable hour of waiting and watching, we had to disperse, in order to reach home before curfew house – 10pm. At least 1,000 troops would pour out of Victoria Barracks at this hour and take over complete control of the city.”
The ambush party took their revolvers with them but before they dispersed Anne Barry, a member of Cumann na mBan, collected the grenades and stored them in her home at 8 Windsor Cottages on the Ballyhooley Road.
A large loyalist population lived in the area of Dillon’s Cross at that time and it is possible that the presence of the ambush party had been reported to the police or military as the British Army maintained a large presence in the area for the next two nights. In view of this, IRA headquarters in Cork felt it would be prudent to reduce the number of men taking part in the ambush in order to avoid detection.
On the afternoon of Saturday, December 11, the day after Martial Law had been declared in the south of Ireland, Sean O’Donoghue received word that a party of Auxiliaries travelling in two lorries would depart Victoria Barracks that night at 8pm. The report also mentioned the possibility that Captain Campbell Kelly, a British Army intelligence officer based at Victoria Barracks who was known to torture IRA prisoners, would be travelling with them. The IRA considered Captain Kelly a major threat and was anxious to eliminate him.
Armed with this information, O’Donoghue decided to act. Though time was short he managed to muster the following Volunteers: Michael Baylor, Sean Healy, Michael Kenny, Augustine O’Leary and James O’Mahony. He also sent word to Anne Barry to have the grenades ready. As darkness fell, she took them from her home and hid them in the front garden of a house owned by the Lennox family at Mount View on the Ballyhooley Road.
Under the cover of darkness, the men took up their positions behind the wall between Balmoral Terrace and the houses at the corner of Dillons Cross. Michael Kenny took up position at Harrington Square, on the opposite side of the road to the ambush party and within braking distance of the ambush position. Kenny wore a mackintosh overcoat, scarf and cap to give the impression that he was an off-duty British soldier. His task was to act as a lookout and to slow down the lorries as they approached the ambush position. At approximately 8pm, the two lorries each containing 13 Auxiliaries, left the barracks and drove towards Dillon’s Cross. As the leading lorry approached Harrington Square, Michael Kenny stepped out to the edge of the footpath, put up his hand and signalled the driver to stop. As he slowed down, the second lorry passed, Kenny gave the signal to the men behind the wall. He then made his escape to the IRA hideout in Rathcooney.
At the signal, the ambush stood up and hurled bombs at their target. As the bombs exploded, they each drew their revolvers and fired at the Auxiliaries, before making their escape. Sean O’Donoghue and James O’Mahony made their way to the Delaney farm at Dublin Hill. Sean was carrying the unused bombs and he hid these on Delaney’s land. The two men split up and went ‘on the run’.
This ambush heralded a night of arson and terror for the citizens of Cork, culminating in the burning of a large part of the city centre. The Auxiliaries were enraged by the IRA’s action. Once their wounded comrades were brought back to Victoria Barracks they decided to exact their revenge. Heavily armed, they made their way to Dillon’s Cross and forced the occupants of the houses onto the street. The troops set fire to these houses, one of which was the home of Brian Dillon, the prominent Cork Fenian after whom the crossroads was named.
STEAMSHIP CAPTURED
Another daring engagement occurred in Ballycotton in March 1922. The steamship Upnor was a small British Army stores carrier of about 500 tonnes deadweight. She was loading at the ordnance stores on Rocky Island with arms and ammunition from the recently disbanded Royal Irish Constabulary for Plymouth when Sean O’Donoghue and his comrades of the 1st Brigade, 1st Southern Division of the IRA, got to hear of it. A well organised and executed operation followed in what is probably the only marine action carried out by the IRA, apart from the disarming of a naval motor launch in Bantry in 1919.
On March 29, the Upnor sailed. This was reported by intelligence sources in Cobh and the plan swung into action. The Admiralty tug Warrior, crewed mostly by local men, was at the Deepwater Quay in Cobh. Her master was enticed ashore and Captain Jeremiah Collins, a master mariner, IRA officers Sean O’Donoghue, Dan Donovan, Michael Murphy and Sean O’Hegarty, boarded with some volunteers and took the ship to sea some hours after the Upnor.
By means of a ruse, they caused the Upnor to heave to and even though the Upnor’s master was suspicious, he let them come alongside. Sean O’Donoghue and his contingent boarded and captured the ship and she was brought to Ballycotton at 4am on 30th March.
Meanwhile, a large number of lorries and cars had been commandeered and brought to Ballycotton. The town had been sealed off and when the Upnor arrived she was quickly unloaded and her contents dispersed inland.
DELANEY CAPTURED & MURDERED
On 28 September 1922, a party of Provisional Government forces consisting of one officer and ten soldiers had been operating in the Carrignavar, Whitechurch and White’s Cross districts, carrying out searches. At White’s Cross they discovered two motor cars known to belong to the IRA and these cars were seized.
The party set out for Cork after 3pm bringing the captured cars with them. At approximately 3.45pm when they reached a point some two miles beyond Dublin Hill, Blackpool, and about a mile from the place where the motors were seized, they were ambushed by Sean O’Donoghue and his comrades, who were in occupation of strong positions and poured a hail of bullets in the direction of the Provisional Government troops, who were forced to halt their cars and alight, proceeding to engage with Sean and company. A brief fight was sufficient to rout them and the soldiers pursued them across country for a considerable distance.
Sadly, Acting O.C. of the 1st Cork Brigade, Sean O’Donoghue, was located, removed from the Delaney family home and murdered by the Provisional Government troops in a field nearby. His body was brought to Cork by the troops.
A Celtic Cross memorial now stands near the Delaney family home at Dublin Hill, Cork. Commandant Sean O’Donoghue’s name is inscribed on this memorial.
A dear friend of his, Mr P.F. Quinlan, a lieutenant in the pro-Treaty forces, happened upon Sean’s grave at Shanrahan Graveyard, Clogheen, Co Tipperary and sadly recalled the young man that Sean was and how much he admired him. Quinlan himself became secretary of Ireland’s first Young Farmers’ Club, which was formed in Mitchelstown in the 1920s.
Sean O’Donoghue, a brave and competent young man yielded up his life for the Republic.