Dripsey Ambush Memorial, Dripsey, County Cork, Eire - June 2000
There is a monument erected on the road from Dripsey to Coachford to the men who died after a failed ambush against the British Army during the War of Independence.
On 28 January 1921, in an area known as Godfrey's Cross, approximately half-way between the villages of Coachford and Dripsey, an Irish Republican Army (IRA) ambush party lay in wait for a convoy of British troops that regularly used the road when travelling between Ballincollig Barracks and Macroom.
News of the planned ambush became common knowledge in the area, and one resident - a Mrs Mary Lindsay - travelled to the barracks at Ballincollig and advised of what she knew.
The commanding officer, Colonel Dowling, decided to launch an attack against the IRA.
Between 3pm and 4pm, a column of British troops left the barracks, and dismounted from their lorries at Dripsey before dividing into groups to surround the ambush party. The IRA had scouts posted, and one raised the alarm.
The IRA officer in charge of the ambush ordered a withdrawal, but firing broke out. Eight members of the IRA (five of whom were wounded) and two civilians were captured and brought to Ballincollig barracks. Two of the more seriously wounded IRA men were subsequently moved to the military hospital in Victoria Barracks. Others were later transferred to the military detention barracks in Cork city, where they awaited trial by military court.
On 8 February 1921, the trial of eight of the ten captured men opened in the military detention barracks. The defendants included IRA Volunteers Thomas O'Brien, Patrick O'Mahoney, Timothy McCarthy, John Lyons, Jeremiah O'Callaghan and Daniel O'Callaghan. As well as two civilians, Eugene Langtry and Denis Sheehan.
When the trial opened, the accused pleaded not guilty to the charges. The proceedings lasted two days. Volunteer Jeremiah O'Callaghan together with civilians Eugene Langtry and Denis Sheehan (both of whom had no connection with the IRA) were found not guilty and released. The remaining defendants were found guilty and sentenced to death.
Of the two men still detained in the military hospital, Captain James Barrett died while still a prisoner on 22 March 1922. Volunteer Denis Murphy stood trial in Victoria Barracks on 9 March. He was found guilty and sentenced to death, but this sentence was later commuted to one of 25 years' imprisonment.
Mrs. Lindsay, the woman who alerted the military to the ambush, and a member of her household, James Clarke, were subsequently taken hostage by the IRA in an unsuccessful effort to obtain reprieves for the convicted Volunteers. In mid-March, upon the executions of the Volunteers, Lindsay and Clarke were killed by their captors.