Attacks on barracks in Dublin and Clifden add to civil war casualties

Dublin, 9 November 1922 – A number of fatalities are being reported following an attack yesterday morning on Wellington Barracks on Dublin’s South Circular Road by anti-treaty forces.

The barracks have been occupied by the national army since its evacuation by the British administration and yesterday morning, at approximately 9.40am, 150 soldiers were on the parade ground when they were fired upon. As soon as the firing began, the soldiers quickly armed themselves and returned fire.

Initial reports indicate that 15 soldiers were wounded in the attack, one of them fatally: Private Thomas Murphy. Two of the attack party, James Spain and a man named Keane, are also reported to have been killed, while two prisoners and two civilians were wounded. The wounded are being treated at Meath Hospital and St Vincent’s Hospital.

Reinforcements were rushed from Portobello barracks and searches in all directions were started almost immediately. A statement issued by the Army Publicity Department notes that the attack was ‘directed from the opposite side of the canal. The main attack lasted about five minutes, but sniping continued for some time afterwards. The troops returned the fire, and several patrols on foot and in cars went out of the barracks and searched the district, taking several prisoners.’

Photograph of Clifden, County Galway (Image: National Library of Ireland, L_ROY_00369) 

Rifles and explosives were also used in an attack by anti-treaty forces on the military barracks in the town of Clifden, Co. Galway earlier this week. At least two men were killed in the fighting that continued for a full day in the area surrounding the barracks. Explosives were reportedly hurled at the barracks from an armoured car, which was then attacked by a group of soldiers who dashed from the barracks.

The Marconi station in the town was also targeted as part of this attack and again a fierce resistance was mounted by national troops.

The two men killed in the fighting around Clifden have been named as a national soldier, Private Tom Conneely and a man named Jameson of Ballina.

In Sligo, the army has claimed that on the night of 4 November two National Army Volunteers, James Hunt and James O’Connor were taken from their homes in Powellsborough, near Tubbercurry, by anti-treaty troops and shot dead on the side of the road. It is alleged that both men were mutilated before being shot, their heads severely battered. A portion of O’Connor’s ear was found on the road and Hunt’s eyes were missing.

It is understood the gruesome discovery of the two bodies was made by mass-goers the following morning.

The bodies were removed to Tubbercurry for an inquest to be held.

In the wake of the attacks on Hunt and O’Connor, national troops undertook searches of a number of houses. It is reported that in the course of one of these searches, a man named Frank Scanlon of Cloonacoole, was shot dead. Mr Scanlon, according to some reports, attempted to make an escape but was shot and killed as he ran.

The Irish Civil War: A Centenary Perspective by Prof. Michael Laffan, Address by Prof. Michael Laffan to the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society (April 2022)

[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]