Mayo history: Holywell Ambush ‘backfired’ on IRA volunteers

By Tom Gillespie

IN the early hours of Monday, August 2, 1920, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) attacked a British military outpost near Holywell, between Ballyhaunis and Claremorris.

Approximately 20 local IRA volunteers, commanded by Patrick Kenny, attacked the outpost that was guarding a broken down lorry.

The large lorry transporting petrol, which was part of a British military convoy travelling from Claremorris towards Ballyhaunis, came off the road near Holywell two days earlier.

According to Wikipedia, the driver lost control and crashed off the road into the bog below. The vehicle had sunk somewhat and was stuck in the bog.

A military guard of between 12 and 20 British soldiers from the 2nd Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, who were garrisoned in the old workhouse in Claremorris, were assigned to protect the lorry while the rest of the convoy continued on their journey.

The soldiers set up camp in a little old abandoned house nearby, throwing a large tarpaulin over the roof for shelter.

They placed two sentries on the road while the rest of the guard retired to the dwelling where they lit a fire in the ruins of a fireplace.

Martin Forkan, a local IRA volunteer, happened upon the scene and immediately notified the Ballyhaunis Battalion Commandant, Patrick Kenny, of the situation. Kenny issued instructions to mobilise all officers in the Ballyhaunis Battalion area.

On that same night, according to Wikipedia, a train leaving Ballyhaunis towards Westport was held up by armed and masked men not far from the military encampment. A unit of 25 IRA men under the command of Capt. Martin Forde (Bekan Coy) took control of the train after firing a number of warning shots.

The IRA men removed steel shutters destined for Westport RIC Barracks and buried them in the bog nearby. The steel shutters were part of a programme of fortification of RIC barracks countrywide.

Some of these men then mobilised with the other IRA officers gathering at Holywell Wood, where arrangements were made for an attempt to overpower and disarm the soldiers guarding the crashed lorry.

The assembled IRA (approximately 40 strong) marched to the site of the military encampment where they took up positions. The volunteers were unsure of the size of the British force guarding the lorry, as all they could see was one sentry.

An IRA officer approached the sentry and asked for a light for a cigarette. The sentry sent him into the camp. As he lit his cigarette from the camp fire he looked around and counted 18 rifles present. It was then presumed that there were roughly 18 soldiers at the encampment.

Cmdt. Kenny made a plan and ordered an attack, but as the IRA volunteers were crawling through the fields towards their assigned positions to surround the encampment, a line of motorcars appeared on the Claremorris road.

Their headlights would have exposed the positions, so due to their poor positions, the delay in organising a plan and the coming dawn it was decided that the attack was to be postponed until the following night.

The next day, Sunday, August 1, a section of men under the command of Capt. Patrick McNieve (Logboy Coy) was positioned near the site of the encampment to keep it under observation while the officers mobilised the whole battalion.

On this day, there had been sports on in Aghamore and many of the battalion's volunteers had gathered in that area and so were easily located. Back at Holywell, scouts were posted on the surrounding roads to notify of any advancing British reinforcements and a trench had been cut in the road to delay any traffic from getting by.

On that night, with all available men in the battalion area mobilised, the IRA members assembled once more and organised a plan of attack.

The IRA officers decided that while the soldiers in the camp slept, some volunteers would attempt to sneak in and take their weapons.

Cmdt. Patrick Kenny led a small ambush party of about 20 men and crept into the camp at approximately 3 a.m. They were armed with shotguns and revolvers.

The ambush party successfully infiltrated the camp without alerting the sentries and Cmdt. Kenny managed to gather up five or six rifles that were stacked together.

But as he was leaving the camp, the alarm was raised and the British soldiers began to awaken. The IRA shouted a demand for the British military guard to surrender, but when no surrender came, the IRA officers opened fire.

Three British soldiers were badly wounded in the opening salvo. One took a full shotgun blast to his back, another had a portion of his arm blown off and the third was badly wounded in the leg. With three of their men knocked out, the British soldiers organised their defence and returned fire on the IRA.

The IRA ambush party retreated to positions behind a fence where they maintained constant fire on the camp.

A fierce gun battle ensued. In the darkness, as Cmdt. Kenny retreated with the rifles in his arms, he was caught in the crossfire and severely wounded by a shotgun blast from one of his own men. He had been shot in the left arm and face. He fell from his wounds and dropped the rifles he had been carrying.

Capt. Martin Forde (Bekan Coy) and several other officers ran to Kenny's aid. Forde and his comrades were able to carry Kenny to safety.

The battle continued on for about an hour and before dawn, just as the military guard seemed about to surrender, two lorries of British reinforcements came from Claremorris to their assistance.

With the IRA running low on ammunition and now out-gunned, Cmdt. Kenny issued an order for the IRA to retreat under fire. In total the ambush lasted for between one and two hours.

The IRA operation was deemed unsuccessful as they had not achieved their primary objective of disarming the British soldiers and their commanding officer was badly wounded in the attack.

After Cmdt. Kenny was safely extracted from the engagement he was carried by Volunteers Jack and William Caulfield along with others to a house nearby and then on to Pat Healy's house.

From there he was brought to be treated first by Dr. A Smyth, Ballyhaunis, who was the battalion's Medical Officer.

Kenny was moved to Mayo County Infirmary in Castlebar and treated by Dr. McBride.

However, it was deemed unsafe for him to stay there so after 24 hours he had to leave and was treated in the Union hospital for 10 days. Members of Cumann na mBan employed in the Union hospital had established an IRA ward in a disused portion of the hospital where numerous wounded volunteers were treated throughout the war.

When Kenny had recovered sufficiently, he was taken to Surgeon M. Ó Máille in Galway, where he received treatment for five weeks.