On This Day / January 8, 1921
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
19210108
Reference Date
19210108
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 8th January 1921, an IRA ambush wounded police in South Armagh, an Auxiliary was ruled insane after killing a priest, and Specials faced riot charges amid widespread raids. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
South Armagh Ambush | On This Day – 8th January 1921
LAST afternoon, shortly after three, a patrol from the Camlough RIC barracks (South Armagh) was ambushed on the main road to Newry in the vicinity of the burned-out residence of Mr Frank Aiken [senior IRA commander] in the townland of Carrickbracken.
The patrol consisted of Constables Cawley and Durkin and Special Constable Spring, all of whom were wounded.
On approaching the spot in question, the patrol observed a couple of horsemen, evidently scouting.
The patrol was immediately fired at by individuals who had been hiding behind a wall and it is stated that the attackers numbered about forty.
Constables Cawley and Spring were seriously wounded while Constable Durkin was only slightly injured.
Auxiliary ‘Guilty but Insane’
IN THE case of Temporary Cadet Sergeant Harte, RIC, charged before a general Court-martial at Cork with murdering the Very Rev Canon Magner, PP, Dunmanway and Tadhg Crowley on December 15th, the court found that the accused was guilty of both offences but was insane at the time of their commission.
It is believed that Hart will be detained in a criminal lunatic asylum.
Specials Charged with Riot
AT the Ulster Winter Assizes yesterday, three members of the Special Constabulary who were enrolled for duty in Ballymacarrett were charged with riot at Mount Street on 28th August.
Mr J McGonigal, KC, prosecuting, stated that this was of a more serious class of riot than those with which juries had been engaged.
The reason was that the three accused men were members of the Special Constabulary which had been enrolled to protect the property of citizens and to preserve the peace of the city during the riots.
If the jury believed the evidence for the Crown, these men, instead of doing their duty, engaged in looting the premises of a man named Maguire at 112 Mount Street.
They were guilty of behaving in a disgraceful manner. At hearing.
Raids by Tyrone Specials
EXTENSIVE raids by RIC and Special Constables took place throughout the Edendork and Newmills districts, near Dungannon.
The raids were on a scale never previously attempted in that district and many farmhouses were thoroughly ransacked.
They first visited the dwelling of a man named Cavanagh of Old Engine, arresting his two sons.
(Eamon Phoenix editor’s note: The verdict in the case of the Auxiliary who murdered the parish priest recalled the case of Captain JC Bowen-Colthurst, charged with the murders of the pacifist, Francis Sheehy-Skeffington during the 1916 Rising. He was found guilty of murder but insane.
Meanwhile the Specials were making their presence felt in rural arms searches while members were charged with looting a Catholic-owned pub in Belfast.)
On This Day – 8th January 1921
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columnslisburnmuseum.com/…/4-the-special-constabulary
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19210108
Reference Date
19210108
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 8th January 1921, an IRA ambush wounded police in South Armagh, an Auxiliary was ruled insane after killing a priest, and Specials faced riot charges amid widespread raids. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
South Armagh Ambush | On This Day – 8th January 1921
LAST afternoon, shortly after three, a patrol from the Camlough RIC barracks (South Armagh) was ambushed on the main road to Newry in the vicinity of the burned-out residence of Mr Frank Aiken [senior IRA commander] in the townland of Carrickbracken.
The patrol consisted of Constables Cawley and Durkin and Special Constable Spring, all of whom were wounded.
On approaching the spot in question, the patrol observed a couple of horsemen, evidently scouting.
The patrol was immediately fired at by individuals who had been hiding behind a wall and it is stated that the attackers numbered about forty.
Constables Cawley and Spring were seriously wounded while Constable Durkin was only slightly injured.
Auxiliary ‘Guilty but Insane’
IN THE case of Temporary Cadet Sergeant Harte, RIC, charged before a general Court-martial at Cork with murdering the Very Rev Canon Magner, PP, Dunmanway and Tadhg Crowley on December 15th, the court found that the accused was guilty of both offences but was insane at the time of their commission.
It is believed that Hart will be detained in a criminal lunatic asylum.
Specials Charged with Riot
AT the Ulster Winter Assizes yesterday, three members of the Special Constabulary who were enrolled for duty in Ballymacarrett were charged with riot at Mount Street on 28th August.
Mr J McGonigal, KC, prosecuting, stated that this was of a more serious class of riot than those with which juries had been engaged.
The reason was that the three accused men were members of the Special Constabulary which had been enrolled to protect the property of citizens and to preserve the peace of the city during the riots.
If the jury believed the evidence for the Crown, these men, instead of doing their duty, engaged in looting the premises of a man named Maguire at 112 Mount Street.
They were guilty of behaving in a disgraceful manner. At hearing.
Raids by Tyrone Specials
EXTENSIVE raids by RIC and Special Constables took place throughout the Edendork and Newmills districts, near Dungannon.
The raids were on a scale never previously attempted in that district and many farmhouses were thoroughly ransacked.
They first visited the dwelling of a man named Cavanagh of Old Engine, arresting his two sons.
(Eamon Phoenix editor’s note: The verdict in the case of the Auxiliary who murdered the parish priest recalled the case of Captain JC Bowen-Colthurst, charged with the murders of the pacifist, Francis Sheehy-Skeffington during the 1916 Rising. He was found guilty of murder but insane.
Meanwhile the Specials were making their presence felt in rural arms searches while members were charged with looting a Catholic-owned pub in Belfast.)
On This Day – 8th January 1921
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columnslisburnmuseum.com/…/4-the-special-constabulary
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19210108
Reference Date
January 8, 2021
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice *
Summary: On This Day – 8th January 1921, an IRA ambush wounded police in South Armagh, an Auxiliary was ruled insane after killing a priest, and Specials faced riot charges amid widespread raids. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
South Armagh Ambush | On This Day – 8th January 1921
LAST afternoon, shortly after three, a patrol from the Camlough RIC barracks (South Armagh) was ambushed on the main road to Newry in the vicinity of the burned-out residence of Mr Frank Aiken [senior IRA commander] in the townland of Carrickbracken.
The patrol consisted of Constables Cawley and Durkin and Special Constable Spring, all of whom were wounded.
On approaching the spot in question, the patrol observed a couple of horsemen, evidently scouting.
The patrol was immediately fired at by individuals who had been hiding behind a wall and it is stated that the attackers numbered about forty.
Constables Cawley and Spring were seriously wounded while Constable Durkin was only slightly injured.
Auxiliary ‘Guilty but Insane’
IN THE case of Temporary Cadet Sergeant Harte, RIC, charged before a general Court-martial at Cork with murdering the Very Rev Canon Magner, PP, Dunmanway and Tadhg Crowley on December 15th, the court found that the accused was guilty of both offences but was insane at the time of their commission.
It is believed that Hart will be detained in a criminal lunatic asylum.
Specials Charged with Riot
AT the Ulster Winter Assizes yesterday, three members of the Special Constabulary who were enrolled for duty in Ballymacarrett were charged with riot at Mount Street on 28th August.
Mr J McGonigal, KC, prosecuting, stated that this was of a more serious class of riot than those with which juries had been engaged.
The reason was that the three accused men were members of the Special Constabulary which had been enrolled to protect the property of citizens and to preserve the peace of the city during the riots.
If the jury believed the evidence for the Crown, these men, instead of doing their duty, engaged in looting the premises of a man named Maguire at 112 Mount Street.
They were guilty of behaving in a disgraceful manner. At hearing.
Raids by Tyrone Specials
EXTENSIVE raids by RIC and Special Constables took place throughout the Edendork and Newmills districts, near Dungannon.
The raids were on a scale never previously attempted in that district and many farmhouses were thoroughly ransacked.
They first visited the dwelling of a man named Cavanagh of Old Engine, arresting his two sons.
(Eamon Phoenix editor’s note: The verdict in the case of the Auxiliary who murdered the parish priest recalled the case of Captain JC Bowen-Colthurst, charged with the murders of the pacifist, Francis Sheehy-Skeffington during the 1916 Rising. He was found guilty of murder but insane.
Meanwhile the Specials were making their presence felt in rural arms searches while members were charged with looting a Catholic-owned pub in Belfast.)
On This Day – 8th January 1921
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columnslisburnmuseum.com/…/4-the-special-constabulary
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
On This Day is a daily column in the Irish News looking back either 50 or 100 years. The column was compiled by Dr Éamon Phoenix from the mid 1980s until autumn, 2022. The Foundation is very grateful to the Irish News for giving permission to reproduce Eamon’s columns. Funding gratefully received from Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs and the Magill Trust.
* The Foundation has worked hard to recreate Eamon’s distinctive voice through AI. Since this is an emerging technology, occasional imperfections may be audible.