The Carrowkennedy Ambush was an incident in Ireland's War of Independence. On 2 June1921, Major General Michael Kilroy, later Commandant of the 4th Western Battalion of the IRA, led a flying column of 33 men. They took up position between Widow Sammon’s House and that of Widow McGreal in Carrowkennedy, near Westport in County Mayo. A group of Black and Tans arrived. 13 of the British side were killed and 13 surrendered. A large quantity of arms were seized. Many of the local people went into hiding to avoid the retribution of the Tans. The Irish fighters went on the run throughout the region sheltering in safe houses. An Irish War of Independence memorial in Dublin The Anglo-Irish War (also known as the Irish War of Independence) was a guerrilla campaign mounted against the British government in Ireland by the Irish Republican Army under the proclaimed legitimacy of the First Dáil, the extra-legal Irish parliament... June 2 is the 153rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (154th in leap years), with 212 days remaining. ... 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... The West Cork Flying Column during the War of Independence. ... A Flying column, in military organization pre-dating World War I, is an independent corps of troops usually composed of all arms, to which a particular task is assigned. ... Westport is the name of several communities around the world. ... Statistics Province: Connacht County Town: Castlebar Code: MO Area: 5,397 km² Population (2006) 123,648 Website: www. ... Black and Tans For other senses, see Black and tan (disambiguation). ... A safe house is a location placed in the neighbourhood where a trusted adult or family or charity organisation has agreed to provide a safe place for battered wives and abused children to go to, when they feel that their life is threatened by domestic abuse. ...
This ambush had been a tremendous success for the local IRA and it boosted their confidence immensely.
While most areas of the country saw some violence in 1919-1921, the brunt of the war was fought in Dublin and the southern province of Munster.
In Munster, the IRA carried out a significant number of successful actions against British troops, for instance the ambushing and killing of 18 Auxiliaries by Tom Barry's column at Kilmicheal in West Cork in November 1920, or Liam Lynch's men killing 13 British soldiers near Millstreet early in the next year.
For instance, the County Longford IRA under Sean MacEoin carried out a number of well planned ambushes and successfully defended the village of Ballinalee in a three hour gun battle against Black and Tan reprisals.
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