On July 9 1921, the British Government entered talks with Sinn Féin resulting in the Truce coming into effect on July 11 at midday.
As a result IRA Chief of Staff Richard Mulcahy dispatched the following message to all operational IRA Battalions: “In view of the conversations now being entered into by our Government with the Government of Great Britain, and in pursuance of mutual conversations, active operations by our forces will be suspended as from noon, Monday, 11 July.”
However, on the evening of July 10, two off-duty RAF men, out socialising with their girlfriends at Ballycottage just outside Oranmore, were arrested and taken prisoner by local IRA men. The women raised the alarm and a mix of Crown Forces searched the houses of prominent Republicans in the area to no avail. Fortunately for the two airmen they were released unharmed on the morning of July 11 as the Truce came into effect.
RIC brutality
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In East Galway the RIC feared the IRA would use the days coming up to the Truce to settle old scores. Many in the IRA had witnessed firsthand the wanton brutality used by the RIC on their fellow country men and women. To them, the RIC were “men who could not be readily controlled by their supervisors”, and “who let their hostile impulses override the detachment necessary for intense field operations”. Police who attacked Loyalists or civilians could be dismissed, prosecuted, and, in some cases, sentenced to death. Those who confined their violence to known or suspected ‘enemies’, by contrast, were “commended and rewarded.”
On the morning of July 11 men from the East Clare Flying Column, along with local IRA men from the South East Brigade, ambushed an RIC patrol in Roxborough, Kilchreest. Records show this ambush had been planned for some time along with several others in the area, but the Roxborough ambush was the only one that was realised.
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Volunteer Thomas Ó Mahoney, from Loughrea, described in his witness statement how the men were in position from before dawn just one mile outside Kilchreest on the Kilchreest - Gort road. At 9am, four RIC men arrived at the ambush point as expected. The ambush began but, due to the fact the IRA picked a poor spot with little or no advantage, the RIC managed to take cover behind an adjacent wall which ran for some distance in the direction away from the ambush spot.
'In the six counties on July 12, 23 people were killed and more than 200 Catholics were burned out of their homes'
One RIC man was wounded and one managed to make his way behind the wall, commandeer a horse and ride the short distance back to Kilchreest to raise the alarm. It was deemed the IRA should vacate the area before Crown Forces reinforcements arrived.
The RIC District Inspector was appalled by the actions of the IRA and stated that this was... “a particularly disgraceful affair...the Truce had been announced in all the chapels in the locality on the day before, and it was thought by the police that on Monday morning nothing would be done...Very considerable activity was shown by Sinn Féin and IRA organising up to the morning of the Truce”.
It was foolish to think that your enemy would just stop fighting because a clear time was given to end the conflict. For example, at the end of World War I, up until 11am on the morning of November 11 1918, the fighting continued on the killing fields of Europe right up until the dying seconds. So why would Roxborough Kilchreest County Galway be any different?
Discussions in London
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As the first bell of the angelus rang out across Galway on July 11 The Irish War of Independence 1919 - 1921 came to an end and the gun was temporarily taken out of Anglo-Irish politics. Sinn Féin saw “the Truce itself as a validation that their military and political campaigns were legitimate...For the IRA, the Truce meant that what the English termed a ‘gang of murders’ was now an Army”.
'Special IRA camps, three of which were located in south Galway, were set up for training in weapons, bomb-making, and signalling'
In the six counties on July 12, 23 people were killed and more than 200 Catholics were burned out of their homes. That same day Éamon de Valera [pictured above] along with Erskin Childers, Arthur Griffith, and Austin Stack made their way to meet David Lloyd George [pictured below] in London to discuss the possibility of a permanent end to the conflict. However, all that was offered was dominion status.
The Irish delegation returned to Dublin where Sinn Féin and the Dáil rejected Britain’s offer. After a deluge of diplomatic exchanges between Dublin and London an agreement was reached to hold a conference in London beginning on October 11 “to ascertain how the association of Ireland with the community of nations known as the British Empire might best be reconciled with Irish national aspirations.” This conference concluded on December 6 with an “agreement for a Treaty”.
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Throughout this time, from the Truce right up until the Treaty was signed in December 1921, the IRA drew breath and conducted a major overhaul of its key structures. An inventory was drawn up of all battalions and a stock take compiled of its munitions. Special camps, three of which were located in south Galway, were set up for training in weapons, bomb-making, and signalling. New recruits flooded in and it is estimated that from the Truce to the Treaty, 75,000 men had joined the IRA.
Divisions
It was also during this time that the first cracks were starting to appear in the Republican façade and “the strains between staff officers who, in their role as politicians, were preoccupied with the business of settlement, and the units in the country “whose activities seemed to undermine the prospect of peace.”
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The IRA knew only too well that if the demands of the Irish Republic were not met in their entirety the war with Britain would continue. Therefore, it was wise to use this time to prepare regardless of what staff officers believed, and in doing so they had the support of de Valera.
In the final analysis, when examine some of the key events that unfolded in July 1921, we witness the beginning of a dangerous trajectory whereby division would trigger a civil war. There can be no doubt that little peace came out of the glimmer of hope that was July 1921. The Irish War of Independence can be seen as the first act of an Irish tragedy with The Irish Civil War now about to take centre stage.
Damien Quinn is a military historian specialising in Irishmen in the service of the British Crown Forces. He studied politics and history as an undergraduate, and gained a Masters of Literature in History from NUI Galway.
