The siege of Tralee was an event that took place between 1 and 9 November 1920 in
Tralee
Tralee ( ; ga, Trá Lí, ; formerly , meaning 'strand of the Lee River') is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in Count ...
,
County Kerry, Ireland.
History
Patrick Cahill
Patrick Joseph Cahill (11 September 1884 – 12 November 1946) was an Irish Sinn Féin politician and newspaper editor.
Early life
He was born in Caherina, Tralee, County Kerry, to Timothy Cahill of Glenbeigh, and Mary Cahill (née Tangney) ...
, the Officer Commanding Kerry No. 1 Brigade,
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 ...
instructed the Tralee Battalion to carry out reprisal attacks for the death (on hunger strike) of Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Cork
Terence MacSwiney
Terence James MacSwiney (; ga, Toirdhealbhach Mac Suibhne; 28 March 1879 – 25 October 1920) was an Irish playwright, author and politician. He was elected as Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Cork during the Irish War of Independence in 1920. He ...
. On the night of 31 October 1920,
RIC Constable Patrick Waters and RIC Constable Ernest Bright had been kidnapped, shot and killed by IRA volunteers in
Tralee
Tralee ( ; ga, Trá Lí, ; formerly , meaning 'strand of the Lee River') is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in Count ...
. In response to the seizure of two of their colleagues and in an attempt to recover the bodies, British
temporary constables (Black and Tans) imposed a curfew on the town, shot local people who appeared on the streets, insisted that the local businesses close and stopped all food and drink from entering the town.
Tralee Town Hall and several shops were burned down and two civilians were shot dead (John Conway and Tommy Wall).
[O'Halpin, pg 208.]
Hamar Greenwood, the
Chief Secretary for Ireland, ordered that the siege be lifted on 9 November 1920.
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References
{{reflist
Military actions and engagements during the Irish War of Independence