Burgery ambush

Burgery Ambush
Part of the Irish War of Independence
Date 18 March 1921 Location near Dungarvan, County Waterford Result IRA victory
Belligerents
Irish Republican Army (Déise Brigade)	Royal Irish Constabulary (Reserve Force)
Commanders and leaders
George Oliver Plunkett	Captain DV Thomas
Strength
~20	14 (initially) 50 (subsequently)
Casualties and losses
2 dead	2 dead 2 captured

v t e Irish War of Independence Timeline Declaration of Independence Soloheadbeg Listowel mutiny Rineen Tooreen Ballinalee Bloody Sunday (Dublin) Kilmichael Burning of Cork Clonfin Dromkeen Upton Clonmult Coolavokig Sheemore Clonbanin Seltan Hill Burgery Crossbarry Headford Scramoge Kilmeena Custom House Carrowkennedy Coolacrease Bloody Sunday (Belfast) McMahon killings Arnon St killings Dunmanway killings

The Burgery Ambush was an ambush carried out by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) on 18–19 March 1921, during the Irish War of Independence.^[1] It took place near the town of Dungarvan, County Waterford.

Ambush

On the night of 18–19 March 1921, IRA volunteers of the West Waterford flying column ambushed a British military convoy at the Burgery, about a mile and a half northeast of Dungarvan. The convoy included Black and Tans and Royal Irish Constabulary Sergeant Michael Hickey. In overall command of the IRA unit was IRA GHQ Officer George Plunkett, brother of Easter Rising martyr Joseph Mary Plunkett. Also present were West Waterford Brigade Commandant Pax Whelan, ASU leader George Lennon and Mick Mansfield of Old Parish. A British Crossley tender was set on fire and prisoners taken by the IRA, including Sergeant Hickey. Hickey was later executed by an IRA firing squad^[2] with a sign reading "police spy" affixed to his tunic.^[3] The other prisoners including Captain DV Thomas, the commander of the British garrison, were released.

After the ambush, a group of volunteers under Plunkett returned to search for any armaments left behind by the British forces. Crown forces who were now searching the area engaged the IRA party, and Volunteers Sean Fitzgerald and Pat Keating were shot dead. A Black and Tan, Constable Sydney R. Redman^[2] was shot dead in the return fire.

Aftermath

British forces carried out reprisals in the area. Hickey's body was eventually interred at Saint Mary's Church in Dungarvan. Gravediggers initially refused to dig the grave. It was only at the instigation of the parish priest that the unmarked grave was dug. In 2008 it was revealed that his body lies in a plot belonging to his fiancee's family. Both IRA volunteers are interred at the Republican burial plot in nearby Kilrossanty. Subsequent to the clandestine burial of Volunteer Pat Keating, members of the burial party, including the Cullinane sisters, George Lennon and Mick Mansfield, were ambushed near Faha Bridge in Grawn.

References

1. ↑ Edmond Keohan (2001-07-26). "The Irish War of Independence 1919 - 21". Waterford County Museum. Retrieved 2008-05-25. 
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 RIC Memorial
3. ↑ Unmarked Dungarvan grave pushes man to act as his father’s son The Munster Express, March 17, 2006

Sources

Gunfire and Civil War Sean and Sile Murphy Clonmel 2005

Rebel Heart: George Lennon: Flying Column Commander Mercier 2009, ISBN 1-85635-649-3