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The burning of Cork () by British forces took place on the night of 11–12 December 1920, during the
Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...
. It followed an
Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief th ...
(IRA) ambush of a British Auxiliary patrol in the city, which wounded twelve Auxiliaries, one fatally. In retaliation, the Auxiliaries,
Black and Tans Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have ...
and British soldiers burned homes near the ambush site, before looting and burning numerous buildings in the centre of
Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
, Ireland's third-biggest city. Many civilians reported being beaten, shot at, and robbed by British forces. Firefighters testified that British forces hindered their attempts to tackle the blazes by intimidation, cutting their hoses and shooting at them. Two unarmed IRA volunteers were also shot dead at their home in the north of the city. More than 40 business premises, 300 residential properties, the City Hall and Carnegie Library were destroyed by fires, many of which were started by incendiary bombs. The economic damage was estimated at over £3 million (equivalent to €155 million in 2019), while 2,000 were left jobless and many more became homeless. British forces carried out many similar reprisals on Irish civilians during the war, notably the
Sack of Balbriggan The sack of Balbriggan took place on the night of 20 September 1920, during the Irish War of Independence. Auxiliary members of the Royal Irish Constabulary known as "Black and Tans" went on a rampage in the small town of Balbriggan, County Dub ...
three months before, but the burning of Cork was one of the most substantial. The British government at first denied that its forces had started the fires, and only agreed to hold a military inquiry. This concluded that a company of Auxiliaries were responsible, but the government refused to publish the report at the time. No one was held accountable for the burning.


Background

The Irish War of Independence began in 1919, following the declaration of an
Irish Republic The Irish Republic ( ga, Poblacht na hÉireann or ) was an unrecognised revolutionary state that declared its independence from the United Kingdom in January 1919. The Republic claimed jurisdiction over the whole island of Ireland, but by ...
and founding of its parliament,
Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland rea ...
. The Irish Republican Army (IRA), waged guerrilla warfare against British forces: the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...
and the
Royal Irish Constabulary The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ga, Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the country was part of the United Kingdom. A separate ...
(RIC). In response, the RIC began recruiting reinforcements from Britain, mostly unemployed former soldiers who fought in the First World War. Some were recruited into the RIC as regular police constables who became known as '
Black and Tans Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have ...
'. Other former army officers were recruited into the new
Auxiliary Division The Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary (ADRIC), generally known as the Auxiliaries or Auxies, was a paramilitary unit of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) during the Irish War of Independence. It was founded in July 1920 by Major ...
, a
counter-insurgency Counterinsurgency (COIN) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces". The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the activities of guerrillas or revolutionar ...
unit of the RIC. The Auxiliaries and the 'Black and Tans' became infamous for carrying out numerous reprisals for IRA attacks, which included
extrajudicial killing An extrajudicial killing (also known as extrajudicial execution or extralegal killing) is the deliberate killing of a person without the lawful authority granted by a judicial proceeding. It typically refers to government authorities, whethe ...
s and burning property. In March 1920, the republican Lord Mayor of Cork,
Tomás Mac Curtain Tomás Mac Curtain (20 March 1884 – 20 March 1920) was an Irish Sinn Féin politician who served as the Lord Mayor of Cork until he was assassinated by the Royal Irish Constabulary. He was elected in January 1920. Background Tomás Mac Curt ...
, was shot dead at his home by police with blackened faces. In reprisal for an IRA attack in
Balbriggan Balbriggan (; , IPA: �bˠalʲəˈbʲɾʲɪɟiːnʲ is a coastal town in Fingal, in the northern part of County Dublin, Ireland, approximately 34 km from Dublin City. The 2016 census population was 21,722 for Balbriggan and its environs. ...
on 20 September 1920, 'Black and Tans' burnt more than fifty homes and businesses in the village and killed two local republicans in their custody. This drew international attention and became known as the
Sack of Balbriggan The sack of Balbriggan took place on the night of 20 September 1920, during the Irish War of Independence. Auxiliary members of the Royal Irish Constabulary known as "Black and Tans" went on a rampage in the small town of Balbriggan, County Dub ...
. Two days later, following the Rineen ambush in which six RIC officers were killed, police burnt many homes in the surrounding villages and killed five civilians. Several other villages suffered similar reprisals over the following months. IRA intelligence officer Florence O'Donoghue said the subsequent burning and looting of Cork was "not an isolated incident, but rather the large-scale application of a policy initiated and approved, implicitly or explicitly, by the British government".
County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns a ...
was an epicentre of the war. On 23 November 1920, a non-uniformed 'Black and Tan' threw a grenade into a group of IRA volunteers who had just left a brigade meeting on St Patrick's Street, Cork's main street. Three IRA volunteers of the 1st Cork Brigade were killed: Paddy Trahey, Patrick Donohue and Seamus Mehigan. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' reported that sixteen people were injured. On 28 November 1920, the IRA's 3rd Cork Brigade ambushed an Auxiliary patrol at Kilmichael, killing 17 Auxiliaries; the biggest loss of life for the British in the war. On 10 December, the British authorities declared
martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Martia ...
in counties Cork (including the city), Kerry,
Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2 ...
, and Tipperary. It imposed a military curfew on Cork city, which began at 10 pm each night. IRA volunteer Seán Healy recalled that "at least 1,000 troops would pour out of Victoria Barracks at this hour and take over complete control of the city".


Ambush at Dillon's Cross

IRA intelligence established that an Auxiliary patrol usually left Victoria Barracks (in the north of the city) each night at 8 pm and made its way to the city centre via Dillon's Cross. On 11 December, IRA commander Seán O'Donoghue received intelligence that two lorries of Auxiliaries would be leaving the barracks that night and travelling with them would be British Army Intelligence Corps Captain James Kelly. That evening, a unit of six IRA volunteers commanded by O'Donoghue took up position between the barracks and Dillon's Cross. Their goal was to destroy the patrol and capture or kill Captain Kelly. Five of the volunteers hid behind a stone wall while one, Michael Kenny, stood across the road dressed as an off-duty British officer. When the lorries neared he was to beckon the driver of the first lorry to slow down or stop. The ambush position was a "couple of hundred yards" from the barracks. At 8 pm, two lorries each carrying 13 Auxiliaries emerged from the barracks. The first lorry slowed when the driver spotted Kenny and, as it did so, the IRA unit attacked with grenades and revolvers. The official British report said that 12 Auxiliaries were wounded and that one, Spencer Chapman—a former Officer in the 4th Battalion London Regiment (
Royal Fusiliers The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many wars ...
)—died from his wounds shortly after. As the IRA unit made its escape, some of the Auxiliaries fired on them while others dragged the wounded to the nearest cover: O'Sullivan's pub. The Auxiliaries broke into the pub with weapons drawn. They ordered everyone to put their hands over their heads to be searched. Backup and an ambulance were sent from the nearby barracks. One witness described young men being rounded up and forced to lie on the ground. The Auxiliaries dragged one of them to the middle of the crossroads, stripped him naked and forced him to sing "
God Save the King "God Save the King" is the national and/or royal anthem of the United Kingdom, most of the Commonwealth realms, their territories, and the British Crown Dependencies. The author of the tune is unknown and it may originate in plainchant, ...
" until he collapsed on the road.


Burning and looting

Angered by an attack so near their headquarters and seeking retribution for the deaths of their colleagues at Kilmichael, the Auxiliaries gathered to wreak their revenge. Charles Schulze, an Auxiliary and a former British Army Captain in the Dorsetshire Regiment during the First World War, organized a group of Auxiliaries to burn the centre of Cork. At 9:30 pm, lorries of Auxiliaries and British soldiers left the barracks and alighted at Dillon's Cross, where they broke into houses and herded the occupants on to the street. They then set the houses on fire and stood guard as they were razed to the ground. Those who tried to intervene were fired upon and some were badly beaten. Seven buildings were set alight at the crossroads. When one was found to be owned by
Protestants Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
, the Auxiliaries quickly doused the fire. British forces began driving around the city firing at random, as people rushed to get home before the 10 pm curfew. A group of armed and uniformed Auxiliaries surrounded a tram at Summerhill, smashed its windows, and forced all the passengers out. Some of the passengers (including at least three women) were repeatedly kicked, hit with rifle butts, threatened, and verbally abused. The Auxiliaries then forced the passengers to line-up against a wall and searched them, while continuing the physical and verbal abuse. Some had their money and belongings stolen. One of those attacked was a Catholic priest, who was singled out for
sectarian Sectarianism is a political or cultural conflict between two groups which are often related to the form of government which they live under. Prejudice, discrimination, or hatred can arise in these conflicts, depending on the political status quo ...
abuse. Another tram was set on fire near
Father Mathew Theobald Mathew (10 October 1790 – 8 December 1856) was an Irish Catholic priest and teetotalist reformer, popularly known as Father Mathew. He was born at Thomastown, near Golden, County Tipperary, on 10 October 1790, to James Mathew and his ...
's statue. Meanwhile, witnesses reported seeing a group of 14–18 Black and Tans firing wildly for upwards of 20 minutes on nearby MacCurtain Street. Soon after, witnesses reported groups of armed men on and around St Patrick's Street, the city's main shopping area. Most were uniformed or partially-uniformed Auxiliaries and some were British soldiers, while others wore no uniforms. They were seen firing into the air, smashing shop windows and setting buildings alight. Many reported hearing bombs exploding. A group of Auxiliaries were seen throwing a bomb into the ground floor of the Munster Arcade, which housed both shops and flats. It exploded under the residential quarters while people were inside the building. They managed to escape unharmed but were detained by the Auxiliaries. The city's fire brigade was informed of the fire at Dillon's Cross shortly before 10 pm and were sent to deal with it at once. On finding that Grant's department store on St Patrick's Street was ablaze, they decided to tackle it first. The fire brigade's Superintendent, Alfred Hutson, called Victoria Barracks and asked them to tackle the fire at Dillon's Cross so that he could focus on the city centre; the barracks took no heed of his request. As he did not have enough resources to deal with all the fires at once, "he would have to make choices – some fires he would fight, others he could not". Hutson oversaw the operation on St Patrick's Street, and met '' Cork Examiner'' reporter Alan Ellis. He told Ellis "that all the fires were being deliberately started by
incendiary bombs Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using fire (and sometimes used as anti-personnel weaponry), that use materials such as napalm, th ...
, and in several cases he had seen soldiers pouring cans of petrol into buildings and setting them alight". Firemen later testified that British forces hindered their attempts to tackle the blazes by intimidating them and cutting or driving over their hoses. Firemen were also shot at, and at least two were wounded by gunfire. Shortly after 3 am, reporter Alan Ellis came upon a unit of the fire brigade pinned down by gunfire near City Hall. The firemen said that they were being shot at by Black and Tans who had broken into the building. They also claimed to have seen uniformed men carrying cans of petrol into the building from nearby Union Quay barracks. At about 4 am there was a large explosion and City Hall and the neighbouring Carnegie Library went up in flames, resulting in the loss of many of the city's public records. According to Ellis, the Black and Tans had detonated high explosives inside City Hall. When more firefighters arrived, British forces shot at them and refused them access to water. The last act of arson took place at about 6 am when a group of policemen looted and burnt the Murphy Brothers' clothes shop on Washington Street.


Dublin Hill shooting

After the ambush at Dillon's Cross, IRA commander Seán O'Donoghue and volunteer James O'Mahony made their way to the farmhouse of the Delany (often spelled Delaney) family at Dublin Hill on the northern outskirts of the city, not far from the ambush site. Brothers Cornelius and Jeremiah Delany were members of F Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Cork Brigade IRA. O'Donoghue hid some grenades on the farm and the two men went their separate ways. At about 2 am, at least eight armed men entered the house and went upstairs into the brothers' bedroom. The brothers got up and stood at the bedside and were asked their names. When they answered, the gunmen opened fire. Jeremiah was killed outright and Cornelius died of his wounds on 18 December. Their elderly relative, William Dunlea, was wounded by gunfire. The brothers' father said the gunmen wore long overcoats and spoke with English accents. It is thought that, while searching the ambush site, Auxiliaries had found a cap belonging to one of the volunteers and had used
bloodhound The bloodhound is a large scent hound, originally bred for hunting deer, wild boar and, since the Middle Ages, for tracking people. Believed to be descended from hounds once kept at the Abbey of Saint-Hubert, Belgium, in French it is called, ...
s to follow the scent to the family's home.


Aftermath

Over 40 business premises and 300 residential properties were destroyed, amounting to over five acres of the city. Over £3 million worth of damage (1920 value) was caused, although the value of property looted by British forces is not clear. Many people became homeless and 2,000 were left jobless. Fatalities included an Auxiliary killed by the IRA, two IRA volunteers killed by Auxiliaries, and a woman who died from a heart attack when Auxiliaries burst into her house. Several people, including firefighters, had reportedly been assaulted or otherwise wounded. Florence O'Donoghue, intelligence officer of the 1st Cork Brigade IRA at the time, described the scene in Cork on the morning of the 12th: The fire brigade, over-worked and over-stretched, had to continue pouring water on the smoldering buildings to prevent fires re-igniting. Early in the morning, Lord Mayor
Donal O'Callaghan Donal O'Callaghan (23 June 1891 – 12 September 1962) was an Irish Sinn Féin politician and Lord Mayor of Cork from 1920 to 1924. He was born in Peacock Lane, Cork in 1891, and was educated at Eason's Hill primary school and the North Mona ...
requested help from other fire brigades. A motor fire-engine and crew were immediately sent by train from Dublin, and a horse-drawn engine was sent from Limerick. At midday mass in the North Cathedral the
Bishop of Cork The Bishop of Cork was a separate episcopal title which took its name after the city of Cork in Ireland. The title is now united with other bishoprics. In the Church of Ireland it is held by the Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, and in the Roman ...
, Daniel Cohalan, condemned the arson but said the burning of the city was a result of the "murderous ambush at Dillon's Cross" and vowed, "I will certainly issue a decree of
excommunication Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...
against anyone who, after this notice, shall take part in an ambush or a kidnapping or attempted murder or arson". No excommunications were issued, and the bishop's edict was largely ignored by pro-republican priests and chaplains. A meeting of Cork Corporation was held that afternoon at the Corn Exchange. Councillor J. J. Walsh condemned the bishop for his comments, which he claimed held the Irish people up as the "evil-doers". Walsh said that while the people of Cork had been suffering, "not a single word of protest was uttered y the bishop and today, after the city has been decimated, he saw no better course than to add insult to injury". Councillor Michael Ó Cuill, alderman Tadhg Barry and the Lord Mayor, Donal O'Callaghan, agreed with Walsh's sentiments. The members resolved that the Lord Mayor should send a telegram asking for the intervention of the European governments and the United States. Three days after the burning, on 15 December, two lorry-loads of Auxiliaries were travelling from Dunmanway to Cork for the funeral of Spencer Chapman, their comrade killed at Dillon's Cross. They met an elderly priest (Fr Thomas Magner) and a young man (Tadhg O'Crowley) helping another man fix his car. The Auxiliary commander, Vernon Anwyl Hart, got out and began questioning them. He beat and shot Crowley, then forced the priest to his knees and shot him also. Both were killed. A military court of inquiry heard that Hart had been a friend of Chapman and had been "drinking steadily" since his death. Hart was found guilty of murder, but insane. At a subsequent investigation, one of the reasons given for killing the priest was that he refused to have the parish church bells tolled after the
Kilmichael ambush The Kilmichael Ambush ( ga, Luíochán Chill Mhichíl) was an ambush near the village of Kilmichael in County Cork on 28 November 1920 carried out by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) during the Irish War of Independence. Thirty-six local IRA ...
, in which 17 Auxiliaries were killed.


Investigation

Irish nationalists called for an open and impartial inquiry. In the British
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
, Sir Hamar Greenwood, the
Chief Secretary for Ireland The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant, and officially the "Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant", from the early 19th century u ...
, refused demands for such an inquiry. He denied that British forces had any involvement and suggested the IRA started the fires in the city centre, although he said that several houses at Dillon's Cross "were destroyed because from these houses bombs were thrown at the police". When asked about reports of firefighters being attacked by British forces he said "Every available policeman and soldier in Cork was turned out at once and without their assistance the fire brigade could not have gone through the crowds and did the work that they tried to do".
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
leader
Bonar Law Andrew Bonar Law ( ; 16 September 1858 – 30 October 1923) was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1922 to May 1923. Law was born in the British colony of New Brunswick (now ...
said "in the present condition of Ireland, we are much more likely to get an impartial inquiry in a military court than in any other". Greenwood announced that a military inquiry would be carried out by General Peter Strickland. This resulted in the "Strickland Report","Greenwood heckled on Strickland Report"
''The New York Times'', 17 February 1921.
but Cork Corporation instructed its employees and other corporate officials to take no part. The report blamed members of the Auxiliaries' K Company, based at Victoria Barracks. The Auxiliaries, it was claimed, burnt the city centre in reprisal for the IRA attack at Dillon's Cross. The British Government refused to publish the report. The Irish Labour Party and Trades Union Congress published a pamphlet in January 1921 entitled ''Who burned Cork City?'' The work drew on evidence from hundreds of eyewitness which suggested that the fires had been set by British forces and that British forces had prevented firefighters from tackling the blazes. The material was compiled by the President of
University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one o ...
, Alfred O'Rahilly. K Company Auxiliary Charles Schulze, a former British Army captain,Charles Schulze profile
theauxiliaries.com; accessed 17 February 2018.
wrote in a letter to his girlfriend in England calling the burning of Cork "sweet revenge", while in a letter to his mother he wrote: "Many who had witnessed scenes in France and Flanders say that nothing they had experienced was comparable with the punishment meted out in Cork". After the burning, K Company was moved to Dunmanway and began wearing burnt corks in their caps in reference to the burning of the city. For their part in the arson and looting, K Company was disbanded on 31 March 1921. There has been debate over whether British forces at Victoria Barracks had planned to burn the city before the ambush at Dillon's Cross, whether the British Army itself was involved, and whether those who set the fires were being commanded by superior officers. Florence O'Donoghue, who was intelligence officer of the 1st Cork Brigade IRA at the time, wrote:


References


Notes


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cork, Burning of 1920 fires in the United Kingdom 1920 in Ireland 1920 disasters in Ireland Arson in Ireland Arson in the 1920s Attacks on buildings and structures in the 1920s Attacks on buildings and structures in the United Kingdom British Army in the Irish War of Independence British war crimes during the Irish War of Independence Conflicts in 1920 December 1920 events Fires in the Republic of Ireland
Burning Combustion, or burning, is a high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction between a fuel (the reductant) and an oxidant, usually atmospheric oxygen, that produces oxidized, often gaseous products, in a mixture termed as smoke. Combustion ...
History of Ireland (1801–1923) Looting in Europe Military actions and engagements during the Irish War of Independence Military scandals Royal Irish Constabulary Police misconduct during the Irish War of Independence Buildings and structures in the United Kingdom destroyed by arson 1920 murders in the United Kingdom 1920s murders in Ireland