Clonfin Ambush

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Clonfin is a townland situated on the main road between Ballinalee and Granard. It was the site of an IRA ambush of two lorries on 1 February 1921 during the Irish War of Independence led by Gen Sean MacEoin. Two British lorries were halted by a bomb set at a bridge, which was then detonated by Jim Shearin, a Longford veteran of the Somme. The lorries then came under fire from members of the North Longford Flying Column.

Four Auxiliaries were killed and eight were wounded during the ambush, which lasted approximately two hours. The IRA captured rifles, ammunition and a Lewis gun. A memorial was erected at the site of the ambush; it can be seen a little more than a mile outside Ballinalee.