On This Day / April 7, 1921
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
19210407
Reference Date
19210407
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 7th April 1921, a wave of IRA attacks targeted police across Tyrone while church leaders in Britain condemned reprisals in Ireland and urged a truce. Edited by Éamon Phoenix
IRA Attacks | On This Day – 7th April 1921
OUR Omagh correspondent writes: Several attacks were made on parties of police throughout Tyrone on Tuesday night and yesterday morning.
While some members of the B class of the Special Constabulary were leaving the police barracks in the village of Dromore, a bomb was thrown at them from a gateway.
The bomb exploded and fragments of it struck Special Constable Thomas Hill, a native of nearby Drumlish. The police rushed towards the gateway but did not discover anybody.
When members of the B class of the Special Constabulary were passing the Presbyterian Manse in Dungannon on patrol, a volley of shots, apparently from sporting rifles, was fired at them and two Specials were wounded but not seriously.
Mountfield Police Barracks, five miles from Omagh which recently reopened, was attacked by rifle fire yesterday morning. The police returned fire and the attackers desisted.
A police patrol at Carrickmore, County Tyrone, consisting of Sergeant Hogan and three constables, was ambushed on the outskirts of the village on Tuesday night.
The police vigorously returned fire and managed to reach the village.
Constable Timothy O’Brien received severe injuries in the neck while Constable Gurry was wounded.
Churchmen Denounce Reprisals
THE following appeal for an Irish truce and a policy for conciliation, signed by the leaders of most of the Churches [in Britain], has been sent to the Prime Minister and the Chief Secretary for Ireland:
‘In the… House of Lords the Archbishop of Canterbury protested strongly against the deplorable practice of indiscriminate and unauthorised reprisals by the irregular forces of the Crown.
‘And we go further… We feel constrained to say we cannot regard the cruel and detestable outrages which have given rise to the whole reprisals policy, authorised and unauthorised alike, as a mere outbreak of wanton criminality.
‘Notoriously there lies behind them a long-cherished and deep-seated sense of political grievance… Hence Dail Eireann’s quarrel with Great Britain…
‘We plead with the Government to arrange, if possible, a genuine truce with a view to a deliberate effort to find an agreed solution to the Irish difficulty.
‘The present policy is causing grave unrest throughout the Empire and exposing us to misunderstanding and hostile criticism even of the most friendly of the nations of the world.’
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: While leading British Protestant churchmen denounced the British government’s ‘reprisals’ policy, the IRA launched a coordinated series of attacks in Tyrone.
These would provoke a horrific reprisal in Dromore, almost certainly carried out by Specials.)
On This Day – 7th April 1921
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19210407
Reference Date
19210407
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 7th April 1921, a wave of IRA attacks targeted police across Tyrone while church leaders in Britain condemned reprisals in Ireland and urged a truce. Edited by Éamon Phoenix
IRA Attacks | On This Day – 7th April 1921
OUR Omagh correspondent writes: Several attacks were made on parties of police throughout Tyrone on Tuesday night and yesterday morning.
While some members of the B class of the Special Constabulary were leaving the police barracks in the village of Dromore, a bomb was thrown at them from a gateway.
The bomb exploded and fragments of it struck Special Constable Thomas Hill, a native of nearby Drumlish. The police rushed towards the gateway but did not discover anybody.
When members of the B class of the Special Constabulary were passing the Presbyterian Manse in Dungannon on patrol, a volley of shots, apparently from sporting rifles, was fired at them and two Specials were wounded but not seriously.
Mountfield Police Barracks, five miles from Omagh which recently reopened, was attacked by rifle fire yesterday morning. The police returned fire and the attackers desisted.
A police patrol at Carrickmore, County Tyrone, consisting of Sergeant Hogan and three constables, was ambushed on the outskirts of the village on Tuesday night.
The police vigorously returned fire and managed to reach the village.
Constable Timothy O’Brien received severe injuries in the neck while Constable Gurry was wounded.
Churchmen Denounce Reprisals
THE following appeal for an Irish truce and a policy for conciliation, signed by the leaders of most of the Churches [in Britain], has been sent to the Prime Minister and the Chief Secretary for Ireland:
‘In the… House of Lords the Archbishop of Canterbury protested strongly against the deplorable practice of indiscriminate and unauthorised reprisals by the irregular forces of the Crown.
‘And we go further… We feel constrained to say we cannot regard the cruel and detestable outrages which have given rise to the whole reprisals policy, authorised and unauthorised alike, as a mere outbreak of wanton criminality.
‘Notoriously there lies behind them a long-cherished and deep-seated sense of political grievance… Hence Dail Eireann’s quarrel with Great Britain…
‘We plead with the Government to arrange, if possible, a genuine truce with a view to a deliberate effort to find an agreed solution to the Irish difficulty.
‘The present policy is causing grave unrest throughout the Empire and exposing us to misunderstanding and hostile criticism even of the most friendly of the nations of the world.’
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: While leading British Protestant churchmen denounced the British government’s ‘reprisals’ policy, the IRA launched a coordinated series of attacks in Tyrone.
These would provoke a horrific reprisal in Dromore, almost certainly carried out by Specials.)
On This Day – 7th April 1921
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19210407
Reference Date
April 7, 2021
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice *
Summary: On This Day – 7th April 1921, a wave of IRA attacks targeted police across Tyrone while church leaders in Britain condemned reprisals in Ireland and urged a truce. Edited by Éamon Phoenix
IRA Attacks | On This Day – 7th April 1921
OUR Omagh correspondent writes: Several attacks were made on parties of police throughout Tyrone on Tuesday night and yesterday morning.
While some members of the B class of the Special Constabulary were leaving the police barracks in the village of Dromore, a bomb was thrown at them from a gateway.
The bomb exploded and fragments of it struck Special Constable Thomas Hill, a native of nearby Drumlish. The police rushed towards the gateway but did not discover anybody.
When members of the B class of the Special Constabulary were passing the Presbyterian Manse in Dungannon on patrol, a volley of shots, apparently from sporting rifles, was fired at them and two Specials were wounded but not seriously.
Mountfield Police Barracks, five miles from Omagh which recently reopened, was attacked by rifle fire yesterday morning. The police returned fire and the attackers desisted.
A police patrol at Carrickmore, County Tyrone, consisting of Sergeant Hogan and three constables, was ambushed on the outskirts of the village on Tuesday night.
The police vigorously returned fire and managed to reach the village.
Constable Timothy O’Brien received severe injuries in the neck while Constable Gurry was wounded.
Churchmen Denounce Reprisals
THE following appeal for an Irish truce and a policy for conciliation, signed by the leaders of most of the Churches [in Britain], has been sent to the Prime Minister and the Chief Secretary for Ireland:
‘In the… House of Lords the Archbishop of Canterbury protested strongly against the deplorable practice of indiscriminate and unauthorised reprisals by the irregular forces of the Crown.
‘And we go further… We feel constrained to say we cannot regard the cruel and detestable outrages which have given rise to the whole reprisals policy, authorised and unauthorised alike, as a mere outbreak of wanton criminality.
‘Notoriously there lies behind them a long-cherished and deep-seated sense of political grievance… Hence Dail Eireann’s quarrel with Great Britain…
‘We plead with the Government to arrange, if possible, a genuine truce with a view to a deliberate effort to find an agreed solution to the Irish difficulty.
‘The present policy is causing grave unrest throughout the Empire and exposing us to misunderstanding and hostile criticism even of the most friendly of the nations of the world.’
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: While leading British Protestant churchmen denounced the British government’s ‘reprisals’ policy, the IRA launched a coordinated series of attacks in Tyrone.
These would provoke a horrific reprisal in Dromore, almost certainly carried out by Specials.)
On This Day – 7th April 1921
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
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.