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{{Campaignbox Irish War of Independence}} |
{{Campaignbox Irish War of Independence}} |
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The '''Burning of [[Cork (city)|Cork]]''' took place on the night of 11–12 December 1920, during the [[Irish War of Independence]]. Following an [[Irish Republican Army]] (IRA) ambush of a British [[Auxiliary Division|Auxiliary]] patrol in the city, Auxiliaries, [[Black and Tans]] and [[British Army|British]] soldiers set fire to a number of houses and then looted and burnt numerous buildings in the city center. Many civilians also reported being beaten, shot at, robbed and verbally abused by British forces. Firefighters later testified that British forces hindered their attempts to tackle the blazes by intimidating them, shooting at them and/or cutting their hoses. Over 40 business premises, 300 residential properties, City Hall and the Carnegie Library were destroyed by fire. Over £3 million worth of damage (1920 value) was done, 2,000 were left jobless and many were left homeless. Two unarmed IRA volunteers were also shot dead in their home in the north of the city, and a woman died of a heart-attack when Auxiliaries burst into her house. |
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'''The Burning of Cork''' is the name commonly given to a devastating series of fires that swept through the centre of [[Cork City]] on the night of 11 December 1920. The burning and the subsequent controversy is one of the most significant events of the [[Irish War of Independence]]. |
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The British government initially denied that its forces had started the fires and blamed them on the IRA. However, a British Army enquiry (which resulted in the "Strickland Report") concluded that a company of Auxiliaries was responsible. Although many witnesses described the burnings as systematic and organized, there is debate over whether they had been planned before the ambush. |
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==Fire== |
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During the War of Independence, Cork was one of the main centres of [[Irish Republican Army|IRA]] activity. On 11 December 1920 a soldier was killed in an attack on British forces at Dillon's Cross, on the northside of the city. Later that day [[Black and Tans]] opened fire on a group of civilians near the corner of Summerhill North and what is now MacCurtain Street. |
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==Background== |
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Charles Schulze, a member of the RIC Auxiliaries and a former British Army Captain in the Dorsetshire Regiment during [[World War I]], organised a group of [[Auxiliaries]] to deliberately set alight numerous buildings in [[Cork City]].<ref name="irishexaminer.com">{{cite news |title=Culprit who led burning of Cork finally identified |url=http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/culprit-who-led-burning-of-cork-finally-identified-139188.html |newspaper=Irish Examiner |date=11 December 2010 |accessdate=27 July 2011}}</ref> At 10 pm that night fire engines responding to reports of a fire at Dillon's Cross encountered a fire in a department store on Saint Patrick's Street. Several other fires had been lit in the vicinity, and the fire service was unable to control the conflagrations. By the next morning numerous buildings on Saint Patrick’s Street were completely destroyed by fires that had been set in buildings along its east and south sides. The City Hall and the Carnegie Library were also completely destroyed by fire, resulting in the loss of many of the city's public records.<ref name="coco">[http://www.corkcity.ie/aboutcork/historyofcork/theburningofcork/ Cork City Council - History of Cork - Burning of Cork]</ref> Over five acres of the city were destroyed and an estimated £20 million worth of damage was done.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rte.ie/tv/hiddenhistory/theburningofcork.html |title=Hidden History - The Burning of Cork |publisher=RTÉ |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080329042659/http://www.rte.ie/tv/hiddenhistory/theburningofcork.html |archivedate=March 2008}}</ref> |
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The War of Independence had begun in 1919, following the formation of a [[Irish Declaration of Independence|unilaterally declared]] [[Irish Republic]] and its parliament, [[Dáil Éireann]]. The army of the new republic, the Irish Republican Army (IRA), waged a guerrilla war against British forces in Ireland: the [[British Army]] and the [[Royal Irish Constabulary]] (RIC). To help fight the IRA, the British Government formed the Auxiliary Division. This was a [[paramilitary]] unit composed of ex-soldiers from Britain which specialized in [[counter-insurgency]]. It also recruited thousands of British ex-soldiers into the RIC, who became known as "[[Black and Tans]]". Both groups became infamous for their reprisals against Irish civilians for IRA attacks. Many villages were sacked and burnt. IRA intelligence officer Florence O'Donoghue wrote that the subsequent burning and looting of Cork was "not an isolated incident, but rather the large-scale application of a policy initiated and approved, implicitly or explicitly, by the [British government]".<ref>O'Donoghue, F. "The Sacking of Cork" in ''Rebel Cork's Fighting Story, 1916-21, Told by the Men Who Made It''. Mercier Press, 2009. pp.88-89</ref> |
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For most of the war, [[County Cork]] was where the IRA was most active. On 28 November 1920, the IRA's 3rd Cork Brigade [[Kilmichael Ambush|ambushed an Auxiliary patrol at Kilmichael]], killing 17 Auxiliaries. This was the biggest loss of life for the British in County Cork since the beginning of the war. |
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Also that night two IRA men were killed in their beds by the Auxiliaries <ref>{{cite book |title=The Burning of Cork |last=White |first=Gerry |coauthors=O'Shea, Brendan |year=2006 |publisher=Mercier Press |isbn=1-85635-522-5 |page=9}}</ref> |
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On 10 December, British forces declared [[martial law]] in counties Cork (including the city), Kerry, Limerick, and Tipperary. It also imposed a military [[curfew]] on Cork city, which began at 10<small>PM</small> each night. IRA volunteer Seán Healy later recalled that "at least 1,000 troops would pour out of Victoria Barracks at this hour and take over complete control of the city".<ref name=white-dillons>{{cite book |title=The Burning of Cork |last=White |first=Gerry |coauthors=O'Shea, Brendan |year=2006 |publisher=Mercier Press |isbn=1-85635-522-5 |pages=104-110}}</ref> |
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==Controversy== |
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Sir [[Hamar Greenwood]], the Chief Secretary for Ireland, denied that Crown forces had any involvement in the fire and refused all demands for an enquiry.<ref name="coco"/> Instead it was suggested that the acts of arson had been carried out by civilians. |
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==Ambush at Dillon's Cross== |
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⚫ | The Irish Labour Party and Trades Union Congress published a pamphlet in January 1921 entitled ''Who burned Cork City?''. The work drew on |
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The IRA had found that an Auxiliary patrol usually left Victoria Barracks (in the north of Cork city) every night at 8<small>PM</small> and made its way to the city center via Dillon's Cross. On 11 December, IRA commander [[Seán O'Donoghue]] received intelligence that two lorries of Auxiliaries would be leaving the barracks that night and traveling with them would be British intelligence officer Captain James Kelly.<ref name=white-dillons/> That evening, a unit of six IRA volunteers commanded by O'Donoghue took up position between the barracks and Dillon's Cross. Their goal was to destroy the patrol and capture or kill Captain Kelly. Five of the volunteers hid behind a stone wall while one, Michael Kenny, stood across the road dressed like an off-duty British officer. When the lorries neared he was to beckon the driver of the first lorry to slow down or stop. The neighborhood was mainly [[Unionism in Ireland|loyalist]] and there were many British servicemen and their relatives living there.<ref name=white-dillons/> At 8<small>PM</small>, two lorries carrying 13 Auxiliaries emerged from the barracks. The first lorry slowed when the driver spotted Kenny and, as it did so, the IRA unit attacked with grenades and revolvers. As the IRA unit made its escape, some of the Auxiliaries managed to fire their rifles in the direction of the volunteers while others dragged the wounded to the nearest cover: O'Sullivan's pub.<ref name=white-dillons/> |
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The Auxiliaries charged into the pub with weapons drawn and ordered everyone to put their hands over their heads to be searched. Backup and an ambulance were sent from the nearby barracks. One witness described seeing a number of young men being rounded-up and forced to lie on the ground. The Auxiliaries dragged one of them to the middle of the crossroads, stripped him naked and forced him to sing "[[God Save the King]]" until he collapsed on the road.<ref name=white-dillons/> |
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A subsequent [[British Army]] enquiry (which resulted in the "Strickland Report")<ref>[http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=940DEFD9123CE533A25754C1A9649C946095D6CF New York Times - February 1921 - GREENWOOD HECKLED ON STRICKLAND REPORT]</ref> pointed the finger of blame at members of a company of [[Auxiliary Division|Auxiliaries]]. The Auxiliaries, it was claimed, set the fires in reprisal for the IRA attack at Dillon's Cross.<ref name="coco"/> The Temporary Cadet (officer) in question was later identified as Charles Schulze, a former British Army Captain, who in a letter to his mistress in England described the act as "sweet revenge".<ref name="irishexaminer.com"/> |
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The official British report on the ambush said that 12 Auxiliaries were wounded and that one died from his wounds shortly after.<ref name=white-dillons/> |
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==Burning and looting== |
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Angered by an attack so near their headquarters and still seeking retribution for the deaths of their colleagues at Kilmichael, the Auxiliaries in Victoria Barracks gathered to wreak their revenge.<ref name=white111-112>White, pp.111-112</ref> Charles Schulze, a member of the Auxiliaries and a former British Army Captain in the Dorsetshire Regiment during [[World War I]], organized a group of Auxiliaries to burn the center of Cork.<ref name=irishexaminer>{{cite news |title=Culprit who led burning of Cork finally identified |url=http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/culprit-who-led-burning-of-cork-finally-identified-139188.html |newspaper=Irish Examiner |date=11 December 2010 |accessdate=27 July 2011}}</ref> At 9:30<small>PM</small>, lorries of Auxiliaries and British soldiers left the barracks and alighted at Dillon's Cross where broke into a number of houses and herded the occupants on to the street. They then set the houses on fire and stood guard as they were razed to the ground. Those who tried to intervene were fired upon and some were badly beaten.<ref name=white111-112/> Seven buildings were set alight at the crossroads. When one was found to be owned by Protestants the Auxiliaries quickly doused the fire.<ref>White, p.114</ref> |
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At about the same time, a group of armed and uniformed Auxiliaries surrounded a tram at Summerhill, smashed its windows, and forced all the passengers out. According to witnesses, a number of the passengers (including at least three women) were repeatedly kicked and hit with rifle butts, threatened, and verbally abused.<ref name=white115-17>White, pp.115-117</ref> The Auxiliaries then forced the passengers to line-up against a wall and searched them, while continuing the physical and verbal abuse. Some had their money and belongings stolen.<ref name=white115-17/> Another tram was set alight near Fr Mathew's statue.<ref>White, p.120</ref> Meanwhile, witnesses reported seeing a group of 14–18 [[Black and Tans]] firing wildly for upwards of 20 minutes on nearby MacCurtain Street.<ref>White, p.118</ref> |
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[[File:Patrick Street Cork2.jpg|thumb|250px|Patrick's Street, Cork, c.1900]] |
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Not long after, witnesses reported seeing groups of armed men on St Patrick's Street, the city's main shopping street. Some were uniformed or partially uniformed members of the Auxiliaries and British Army while others wore no uniforms.<ref name=white121-25>White, pp.121-125</ref> They were seen firing into the air, smashing shop windows and setting buildings alight. Many reported hearing bombs exploding.<ref name=white121-25/> A group of Auxiliaries were seen throwing a bomb into the ground floor of the Munster Arcade, which housed both shops and flats. It exploded under the residential quarters while people were inside the building. They managed to escape unharmed but were then detained by the Auxiliaries.<ref name=white121-25/> |
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The fire brigade was informed of the fire at Dillon's Cross shortly before 10<small>PM</small> and was sent to deal with it at once. However, on finding that Grant's department store on St Patrick's Street was ablaze, they decided to tackle it first.<ref>White, p.125</ref> Superintendent Alfred Hutson called Victoria Barracks and asked them to tackle the fire at Dillon's Cross so that he could focus on the city center. However, the barracks took no heed of his asking. As he did not have enough resources to deal with all the fires at once, "he would have to make choices – some fires he would fight, others he could not".<ref>White, p.126</ref> |
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Hutson went to oversee the operation on St Patrick's Street and there he met ''[[Cork Examiner]]'' reporter Alan Ellis. Hutson told Ellis "that all the fires were being deliberately started by incendiary bombs, and in several cases he had seen soldiers pouring cans of petrol into buildings and setting them alight".<ref>White, p.128</ref> A number of firemen later testified that British forces hindered their attempts to tackle the blazes by intimidating them, cutting their hoses and/or driving lorries over the hoses.<ref>White, p.126</ref> They also said that firemen were shot at and that at least two were wounded by gunfire.<ref>White, p.127</ref> |
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[[File:Cork City Hall01 2009-04-30.jpg|thumb|left|250px|The re-built Cork City Hall]] |
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Shortly after 3<small>AM</small>, Alan Ellis came upon a unit of the fire brigade pinned down by gunfire near City Hall. The firemen said that they were being shot at by Black and Tans who had broken into the building. They also claimed to have seen uniformed men carrying cans of petrol into the building from nearby Union Quay barracks.<ref name=white135-36>White, pp.135-136</ref> At about 4<small>AM</small> a large explosion was heard and City Hall and the neighboring Carnegie Library went up in flames, resulting in the loss of many of the city's public records.<ref name=white135-36/><ref name="coco">[http://www.corkcity.ie/aboutcork/historyofcork/theburningofcork/ Cork City Council - History of Cork - Burning of Cork]</ref> When more firefighters arrived, British forces fired at them and refused them access to water.<ref name=white135-36/> |
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The last act of arson took place at about 6<small>AM</small> when a group of policemen looted and burnt the Murphy Brothers' clothes shop on Washington Street.<ref name=white135-36/> |
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==Shooting of the Delany brothers== |
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After the ambush at Dillon's Cross, IRA commander Seán O'Donoghue and volunteer James O'Mahony had made their way to the Delany (or Delaney) farmhouse at Dublin Hill in the north of the city. Brothers Cornelius ("Con") and Jeremiah ("Jerh") Delany were members of F Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Cork Brigade IRA.<ref name=delaney>[http://homepage.eircom.net/~corkcounty/brothers.html "Murder of Delaney brothers at Dublin Hill"]. Retrieved 14 August 2012.</ref> O'Donoghue hid a number of unused grenades on the farm and the two men went their separate ways.<ref>White, p.109</ref> At about 2<small>AM</small> a number of armed men arrived at the house and demanded to be let in. At least eight men entered the house and went upstairs into the brothers' bedroom. The brothers got up and stood at the bedside. They were then asked their names. When they answered, the gunmen opened-fire.<ref name=delaney/> Both were shot dead and their elderly relative, William Dunlea, was wounded by gunfire.<ref>White, p.9</ref> According to Daniel Delany, the father of the brothers, the gunmen wore long overcoats and spoke with English accents.<ref name=delaney/> It is thought that, while searching the site of the ambush, the Auxiliaries had found a cap belonging to one of the volunteers and had used [[bloodhound]]s to follow the scent to the Delany home.<ref>White, p.134</ref> |
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==Aftermath== |
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Over 40 business premises and 300 residential properties had been destroyed.<ref name=ellis244>Ellis, Peter. ''Eyewitness to Irish History''. John Wiley & Sons, 2004. p.244</ref> This amounted to over five acres of the city.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rte.ie/tv/hiddenhistory/theburningofcork.html |title=Hidden History - The Burning of Cork |publisher=RTÉ |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080329042659/http://www.rte.ie/tv/hiddenhistory/theburningofcork.html |archivedate=March 2008}}</ref> Over £3 million worth of damage (1920 value) had been done, although the value of property looted by British forces was not assessable. Many were left homeless and 2,000<ref name=irishexaminer/> were left jobless. Two IRA volunteers had been shot dead, one woman had died of a heart-attack when Auxiliaries burst into her house, and a number of people (including firefighters) had been assaulted or otherwise wounded.<ref name=ellis244/> Florrie O'Donoghue described the scene in Cork on the morning of the 12th:<blockquote>Many familiar landmarks were gone forever – where whole buildings had collapsed here and there a solitary wall leaned at some crazy angle from its foundation. The streets ran with sooty water, the footpaths were strewn with broken glass and debris, ruins smoked and smoldered and over everything was the all-pervasive smell of burning.<ref>White, p.139</ref></blockquote> |
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At midday mass in the [[Cathedral of St Mary and St Anne|North Cathedral]] the [[Bishop of Cork]], [[Daniel Cohalan (bishop of Cork)|Daniel Cohalan]], condemned the arson but spent much of his speech berating the IRA. He said that the burning of the city was a result of the "murderous ambush at Dillon's Cross" and vowed "I will certainly issue a decree of [[excommunication]] against anyone who, after this notice, shall take part in an ambush or a kidnapping or attempted murder or arson".<ref>White, pp.140-142</ref> A meeting of Cork Corporation was held that afternoon at the Corn Exchange. Councillor J.J. Walsh condemned the bishop for his comments, which he claimed held the Irish people up as the "evil-doers". He said that while the people of Cork had been suffering, "not a single word of protest was uttered [by the bishop], and today, after the city has been decimated, he saw no better course than to add insult to injury". Councillor Michael Ó Cuill, alderman Tadhg Barry and the Lord Mayor agreed with Walsh's sentiments. The members resolved that the Lord Mayor should send a telegram asking for the intervention of the European governments and the USA.<ref>White, p.143</ref> |
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Three days after the fire, on 15 December, two lorry-loads of Auxiliaries were traveling from [[Dunmanway]] to Cork for the funeral of their comrade killed at Dillon's Cross. When they met two men (an elderly priest and a farmer's son) helping a resident magistrate fix his car, an Auxiliary got out and began questioning them. He then shot them both dead. A military court of inquiry heard that he had been a friend of the dead Auxiliary and had been "drinking steadily" since his death. He was found guilty of murder, but insane.<ref>Leeson, D. M. ''The Black and Tans: British Police and Auxiliaries in the Irish War of Independence''. Oxford University Press, 2011. p.204</ref> |
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===Investigation=== |
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Cork Corporation and other public bodies, together with nationalist politicians, called for an open and impartial inquiry.<ref name=rebel102>O'Donoghue, p.102</ref> In the British [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]], Sir [[Hamar Greenwood]], the [[Chief Secretary for Ireland]], refused demands for such an inquiry. He denied that British forces had any involvement and accused the IRA of starting the fires.<ref name=white148>White, p.148</ref><ref name="coco"/> When asked about reports of firefighters being hampered by British forces he said "Every available policeman and soldier in Cork was turned out at once and without their assistance the fire brigade could not have gone through the crowds and did the work that they tried to do".<ref name=white148/> [[Bonar Law]] said "in the present condition of Ireland, we are much more likely to get an impartial inquiry in a military court than in any other".<ref name=rebel102/> The British military then launched its own inquiry, which became knwn as the "Strickland Report",<ref name=nyt>[http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=940DEFD9123CE533A25754C1A9649C946095D6CF "Greenwood heckled on Strickland Report"]. ''The New York Times'', 17 February 1921</ref> but Cork Corporation instructed its employees and other corporate officials to take no part in it.<ref>O'Donoghue, p.103</ref> The "Strickland Report" pointed the finger of blame at members of the Auxiliaries' K Company, based at Victoria Barracks. The Auxiliaries, it was claimed, set the fires in reprisal for the IRA attack at Dillon's Cross.<ref name="coco"/> However, the British Government refused to publish the report.<ref name=nyt/> |
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⚫ | The Irish Labour Party and Trades Union Congress published a pamphlet in January 1921 entitled ''Who burned Cork City?''. The work drew on evidence from hundreds of eyewitness, gathered by Seamus Fitzgerald, which suggested that the fires had been set by British forces and that British forces had prevented firefighters from tackling the blaze.<ref>[http://homepage.eircom.net/~corkcounty/Timeline/Cork%20burning.htm Cork's War of Independence - Burning of Cork]</ref> The material was collated by the President of [[University College Cork]], [[Alfred O'Rahilly]].<ref name="coco"/> |
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K Company Auxiliary Charles Schulze, a former British Army Captain, was later identified as the main organizer of the burning. In a letter to his girlfriend in England he described it as "sweet revenge" while in a letter to his mother he wrote: "Many who had witnessed [[World War I|scenes in France and Flanders]] say that nothing they had experienced was comparable with the punishment meted out in Cork".<ref name=irishexaminer/> After the fire, K Company was moved to Dunmanway and began wearing burnt corks in their caps in reference to the burning of the city.<ref>O'Malley, Ernie. ''Raids and Rallies''. Mercier Press, 2011. pp.127-128</ref> For their part in the arson and looting, K Company was disbanded on 31 March 1921.<ref>Leeson, p.101</ref> |
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There has been debate over whether British forces at Victoria Barracks had planned to burn the city before the ambush at Dillon's Cross, whether the British Army itself was involved, and whether those who set the fires were being commanded by superior officers.<!--NOTE: we should include quotes here from the British military and others who disagree with this conclusion--> Florence ("Florrie") O'Donoghue, who was intelligence officer of the 1st Cork Brigade IRA at the time, wrote:<blockquote>What appears more probable is that the ambush provided the excuse for an act which was long premeditated and for which all arrangements had been made. The rapidity with which supplies of petrol and Verey lights were brought from Cork barracks to the centre of the city, and the deliberate manner in which the work of firing the various premises was divided amongst groups under the control of officers, gives evidence of organisation and pre-arrangement. Moreover, the selection of certain premises for destruction and the attempt made by an Auxiliary officer to prevent the looting of one shop by Black and Tans: "You are in the wrong shop; that man is a Loyalist," and the reply, "We don't give a damn; this is the shop that was pointed out to us", is additional proof that the matter had been carefully planned beforehand.<ref>O'Donoghue, pp.93-94</ref></blockquote> |
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==References== |
==References== |
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[[Category:History of Ireland 1801–1923]] |
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[[Category:History of Cork (city)]] |
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[[Category:British Army in the Irish War of Independence]] |
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[[Category:Police misconduct in Ireland]] |
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[[Category:Looting]] |
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Revision as of 04:22, 28 August 2012
The Burning of Cork took place on the night of 11–12 December 1920, during the Irish War of Independence. Following an Irish Republican Army (IRA) ambush of a British Auxiliary patrol in the city, Auxiliaries, Black and Tans and British soldiers set fire to a number of houses and then looted and burnt numerous buildings in the city center. Many civilians also reported being beaten, shot at, robbed and verbally abused by British forces. Firefighters later testified that British forces hindered their attempts to tackle the blazes by intimidating them, shooting at them and/or cutting their hoses. Over 40 business premises, 300 residential properties, City Hall and the Carnegie Library were destroyed by fire. Over £3 million worth of damage (1920 value) was done, 2,000 were left jobless and many were left homeless. Two unarmed IRA volunteers were also shot dead in their home in the north of the city, and a woman died of a heart-attack when Auxiliaries burst into her house.
The British government initially denied that its forces had started the fires and blamed them on the IRA. However, a British Army enquiry (which resulted in the "Strickland Report") concluded that a company of Auxiliaries was responsible. Although many witnesses described the burnings as systematic and organized, there is debate over whether they had been planned before the ambush.
Background
The War of Independence had begun in 1919, following the formation of a unilaterally declared Irish Republic and its parliament, Dáil Éireann. The army of the new republic, the Irish Republican Army (IRA), waged a guerrilla war against British forces in Ireland: the British Army and the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC). To help fight the IRA, the British Government formed the Auxiliary Division. This was a paramilitary unit composed of ex-soldiers from Britain which specialized in counter-insurgency. It also recruited thousands of British ex-soldiers into the RIC, who became known as "Black and Tans". Both groups became infamous for their reprisals against Irish civilians for IRA attacks. Many villages were sacked and burnt. IRA intelligence officer Florence O'Donoghue wrote that the subsequent burning and looting of Cork was "not an isolated incident, but rather the large-scale application of a policy initiated and approved, implicitly or explicitly, by the [British government]".[1]
For most of the war, County Cork was where the IRA was most active. On 28 November 1920, the IRA's 3rd Cork Brigade ambushed an Auxiliary patrol at Kilmichael, killing 17 Auxiliaries. This was the biggest loss of life for the British in County Cork since the beginning of the war.
On 10 December, British forces declared martial law in counties Cork (including the city), Kerry, Limerick, and Tipperary. It also imposed a military curfew on Cork city, which began at 10PM each night. IRA volunteer Seán Healy later recalled that "at least 1,000 troops would pour out of Victoria Barracks at this hour and take over complete control of the city".[2]
Ambush at Dillon's Cross
The IRA had found that an Auxiliary patrol usually left Victoria Barracks (in the north of Cork city) every night at 8PM and made its way to the city center via Dillon's Cross. On 11 December, IRA commander Seán O'Donoghue received intelligence that two lorries of Auxiliaries would be leaving the barracks that night and traveling with them would be British intelligence officer Captain James Kelly.[2] That evening, a unit of six IRA volunteers commanded by O'Donoghue took up position between the barracks and Dillon's Cross. Their goal was to destroy the patrol and capture or kill Captain Kelly. Five of the volunteers hid behind a stone wall while one, Michael Kenny, stood across the road dressed like an off-duty British officer. When the lorries neared he was to beckon the driver of the first lorry to slow down or stop. The neighborhood was mainly loyalist and there were many British servicemen and their relatives living there.[2] At 8PM, two lorries carrying 13 Auxiliaries emerged from the barracks. The first lorry slowed when the driver spotted Kenny and, as it did so, the IRA unit attacked with grenades and revolvers. As the IRA unit made its escape, some of the Auxiliaries managed to fire their rifles in the direction of the volunteers while others dragged the wounded to the nearest cover: O'Sullivan's pub.[2]
The Auxiliaries charged into the pub with weapons drawn and ordered everyone to put their hands over their heads to be searched. Backup and an ambulance were sent from the nearby barracks. One witness described seeing a number of young men being rounded-up and forced to lie on the ground. The Auxiliaries dragged one of them to the middle of the crossroads, stripped him naked and forced him to sing "God Save the King" until he collapsed on the road.[2]
The official British report on the ambush said that 12 Auxiliaries were wounded and that one died from his wounds shortly after.[2]
Burning and looting
Angered by an attack so near their headquarters and still seeking retribution for the deaths of their colleagues at Kilmichael, the Auxiliaries in Victoria Barracks gathered to wreak their revenge.[3] Charles Schulze, a member of the Auxiliaries and a former British Army Captain in the Dorsetshire Regiment during World War I, organized a group of Auxiliaries to burn the center of Cork.[4] At 9:30PM, lorries of Auxiliaries and British soldiers left the barracks and alighted at Dillon's Cross where broke into a number of houses and herded the occupants on to the street. They then set the houses on fire and stood guard as they were razed to the ground. Those who tried to intervene were fired upon and some were badly beaten.[3] Seven buildings were set alight at the crossroads. When one was found to be owned by Protestants the Auxiliaries quickly doused the fire.[5]
At about the same time, a group of armed and uniformed Auxiliaries surrounded a tram at Summerhill, smashed its windows, and forced all the passengers out. According to witnesses, a number of the passengers (including at least three women) were repeatedly kicked and hit with rifle butts, threatened, and verbally abused.[6] The Auxiliaries then forced the passengers to line-up against a wall and searched them, while continuing the physical and verbal abuse. Some had their money and belongings stolen.[6] Another tram was set alight near Fr Mathew's statue.[7] Meanwhile, witnesses reported seeing a group of 14–18 Black and Tans firing wildly for upwards of 20 minutes on nearby MacCurtain Street.[8]
Not long after, witnesses reported seeing groups of armed men on St Patrick's Street, the city's main shopping street. Some were uniformed or partially uniformed members of the Auxiliaries and British Army while others wore no uniforms.[9] They were seen firing into the air, smashing shop windows and setting buildings alight. Many reported hearing bombs exploding.[9] A group of Auxiliaries were seen throwing a bomb into the ground floor of the Munster Arcade, which housed both shops and flats. It exploded under the residential quarters while people were inside the building. They managed to escape unharmed but were then detained by the Auxiliaries.[9]
The fire brigade was informed of the fire at Dillon's Cross shortly before 10PM and was sent to deal with it at once. However, on finding that Grant's department store on St Patrick's Street was ablaze, they decided to tackle it first.[10] Superintendent Alfred Hutson called Victoria Barracks and asked them to tackle the fire at Dillon's Cross so that he could focus on the city center. However, the barracks took no heed of his asking. As he did not have enough resources to deal with all the fires at once, "he would have to make choices – some fires he would fight, others he could not".[11]
Hutson went to oversee the operation on St Patrick's Street and there he met Cork Examiner reporter Alan Ellis. Hutson told Ellis "that all the fires were being deliberately started by incendiary bombs, and in several cases he had seen soldiers pouring cans of petrol into buildings and setting them alight".[12] A number of firemen later testified that British forces hindered their attempts to tackle the blazes by intimidating them, cutting their hoses and/or driving lorries over the hoses.[13] They also said that firemen were shot at and that at least two were wounded by gunfire.[14]
Shortly after 3AM, Alan Ellis came upon a unit of the fire brigade pinned down by gunfire near City Hall. The firemen said that they were being shot at by Black and Tans who had broken into the building. They also claimed to have seen uniformed men carrying cans of petrol into the building from nearby Union Quay barracks.[15] At about 4AM a large explosion was heard and City Hall and the neighboring Carnegie Library went up in flames, resulting in the loss of many of the city's public records.[15][16] When more firefighters arrived, British forces fired at them and refused them access to water.[15]
The last act of arson took place at about 6AM when a group of policemen looted and burnt the Murphy Brothers' clothes shop on Washington Street.[15]
Shooting of the Delany brothers
After the ambush at Dillon's Cross, IRA commander Seán O'Donoghue and volunteer James O'Mahony had made their way to the Delany (or Delaney) farmhouse at Dublin Hill in the north of the city. Brothers Cornelius ("Con") and Jeremiah ("Jerh") Delany were members of F Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Cork Brigade IRA.[17] O'Donoghue hid a number of unused grenades on the farm and the two men went their separate ways.[18] At about 2AM a number of armed men arrived at the house and demanded to be let in. At least eight men entered the house and went upstairs into the brothers' bedroom. The brothers got up and stood at the bedside. They were then asked their names. When they answered, the gunmen opened-fire.[17] Both were shot dead and their elderly relative, William Dunlea, was wounded by gunfire.[19] According to Daniel Delany, the father of the brothers, the gunmen wore long overcoats and spoke with English accents.[17] It is thought that, while searching the site of the ambush, the Auxiliaries had found a cap belonging to one of the volunteers and had used bloodhounds to follow the scent to the Delany home.[20]
Aftermath
Over 40 business premises and 300 residential properties had been destroyed.[21] This amounted to over five acres of the city.[22] Over £3 million worth of damage (1920 value) had been done, although the value of property looted by British forces was not assessable. Many were left homeless and 2,000[4] were left jobless. Two IRA volunteers had been shot dead, one woman had died of a heart-attack when Auxiliaries burst into her house, and a number of people (including firefighters) had been assaulted or otherwise wounded.[21] Florrie O'Donoghue described the scene in Cork on the morning of the 12th:
Many familiar landmarks were gone forever – where whole buildings had collapsed here and there a solitary wall leaned at some crazy angle from its foundation. The streets ran with sooty water, the footpaths were strewn with broken glass and debris, ruins smoked and smoldered and over everything was the all-pervasive smell of burning.[23]
At midday mass in the North Cathedral the Bishop of Cork, Daniel Cohalan, condemned the arson but spent much of his speech berating the IRA. He said that the burning of the city was a result of the "murderous ambush at Dillon's Cross" and vowed "I will certainly issue a decree of excommunication against anyone who, after this notice, shall take part in an ambush or a kidnapping or attempted murder or arson".[24] A meeting of Cork Corporation was held that afternoon at the Corn Exchange. Councillor J.J. Walsh condemned the bishop for his comments, which he claimed held the Irish people up as the "evil-doers". He said that while the people of Cork had been suffering, "not a single word of protest was uttered [by the bishop], and today, after the city has been decimated, he saw no better course than to add insult to injury". Councillor Michael Ó Cuill, alderman Tadhg Barry and the Lord Mayor agreed with Walsh's sentiments. The members resolved that the Lord Mayor should send a telegram asking for the intervention of the European governments and the USA.[25]
Three days after the fire, on 15 December, two lorry-loads of Auxiliaries were traveling from Dunmanway to Cork for the funeral of their comrade killed at Dillon's Cross. When they met two men (an elderly priest and a farmer's son) helping a resident magistrate fix his car, an Auxiliary got out and began questioning them. He then shot them both dead. A military court of inquiry heard that he had been a friend of the dead Auxiliary and had been "drinking steadily" since his death. He was found guilty of murder, but insane.[26]
Investigation
Cork Corporation and other public bodies, together with nationalist politicians, called for an open and impartial inquiry.[27] In the British House of Commons, Sir Hamar Greenwood, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, refused demands for such an inquiry. He denied that British forces had any involvement and accused the IRA of starting the fires.[28][16] When asked about reports of firefighters being hampered by British forces he said "Every available policeman and soldier in Cork was turned out at once and without their assistance the fire brigade could not have gone through the crowds and did the work that they tried to do".[28] Bonar Law said "in the present condition of Ireland, we are much more likely to get an impartial inquiry in a military court than in any other".[27] The British military then launched its own inquiry, which became knwn as the "Strickland Report",[29] but Cork Corporation instructed its employees and other corporate officials to take no part in it.[30] The "Strickland Report" pointed the finger of blame at members of the Auxiliaries' K Company, based at Victoria Barracks. The Auxiliaries, it was claimed, set the fires in reprisal for the IRA attack at Dillon's Cross.[16] However, the British Government refused to publish the report.[29]
The Irish Labour Party and Trades Union Congress published a pamphlet in January 1921 entitled Who burned Cork City?. The work drew on evidence from hundreds of eyewitness, gathered by Seamus Fitzgerald, which suggested that the fires had been set by British forces and that British forces had prevented firefighters from tackling the blaze.[31] The material was collated by the President of University College Cork, Alfred O'Rahilly.[16]
K Company Auxiliary Charles Schulze, a former British Army Captain, was later identified as the main organizer of the burning. In a letter to his girlfriend in England he described it as "sweet revenge" while in a letter to his mother he wrote: "Many who had witnessed scenes in France and Flanders say that nothing they had experienced was comparable with the punishment meted out in Cork".[4] After the fire, K Company was moved to Dunmanway and began wearing burnt corks in their caps in reference to the burning of the city.[32] For their part in the arson and looting, K Company was disbanded on 31 March 1921.[33]
There has been debate over whether British forces at Victoria Barracks had planned to burn the city before the ambush at Dillon's Cross, whether the British Army itself was involved, and whether those who set the fires were being commanded by superior officers. Florence ("Florrie") O'Donoghue, who was intelligence officer of the 1st Cork Brigade IRA at the time, wrote:
What appears more probable is that the ambush provided the excuse for an act which was long premeditated and for which all arrangements had been made. The rapidity with which supplies of petrol and Verey lights were brought from Cork barracks to the centre of the city, and the deliberate manner in which the work of firing the various premises was divided amongst groups under the control of officers, gives evidence of organisation and pre-arrangement. Moreover, the selection of certain premises for destruction and the attempt made by an Auxiliary officer to prevent the looting of one shop by Black and Tans: "You are in the wrong shop; that man is a Loyalist," and the reply, "We don't give a damn; this is the shop that was pointed out to us", is additional proof that the matter had been carefully planned beforehand.[34]
References
- ^ O'Donoghue, F. "The Sacking of Cork" in Rebel Cork's Fighting Story, 1916-21, Told by the Men Who Made It. Mercier Press, 2009. pp.88-89
- ^ a b c d e f White, Gerry (2006). The Burning of Cork. Mercier Press. pp. 104–110. ISBN 1-85635-522-5.
{{cite book}}
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suggested) (help) - ^ a b White, pp.111-112
- ^ a b c "Culprit who led burning of Cork finally identified". Irish Examiner. 11 December 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2011.
- ^ White, p.114
- ^ a b White, pp.115-117
- ^ White, p.120
- ^ White, p.118
- ^ a b c White, pp.121-125
- ^ White, p.125
- ^ White, p.126
- ^ White, p.128
- ^ White, p.126
- ^ White, p.127
- ^ a b c d White, pp.135-136
- ^ a b c d Cork City Council - History of Cork - Burning of Cork
- ^ a b c "Murder of Delaney brothers at Dublin Hill". Retrieved 14 August 2012.
- ^ White, p.109
- ^ White, p.9
- ^ White, p.134
- ^ a b Ellis, Peter. Eyewitness to Irish History. John Wiley & Sons, 2004. p.244
- ^ "Hidden History - The Burning of Cork". RTÉ. Archived from the original on March 2008.
{{cite web}}
: Check date values in:|archivedate=
(help) - ^ White, p.139
- ^ White, pp.140-142
- ^ White, p.143
- ^ Leeson, D. M. The Black and Tans: British Police and Auxiliaries in the Irish War of Independence. Oxford University Press, 2011. p.204
- ^ a b O'Donoghue, p.102
- ^ a b White, p.148
- ^ a b "Greenwood heckled on Strickland Report". The New York Times, 17 February 1921
- ^ O'Donoghue, p.103
- ^ Cork's War of Independence - Burning of Cork
- ^ O'Malley, Ernie. Raids and Rallies. Mercier Press, 2011. pp.127-128
- ^ Leeson, p.101
- ^ O'Donoghue, pp.93-94