Kilmichael Ambush - "a story of a century"
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 พ.ย. 2020
- As we honour in song and in story... "Kilmichael Ambush - a story of a century" takes a fresh look at the story of the Kilmichael Ambush in West Cork 100 years later. We analyse the ambush in detail with expert views by historians and unique accounts by locals guests. Of particular note are the Fr Chisholm recordings with Jack O Sullivan (Section 2) and Ned Young (Section 3) - veterans of the ambush, which takes the viewer right into the heart of the ambush and what happened on that fateful day on the 28th of November 1920.
Some images © National Museum of Ireland
A film by Colum and Shane Cronin
Find out more at www.coppeenheritage.com
Film Guests:
Louis Whyte, Ballineen.
Joe Creedon, Inchigeela
John (Cookie) O’Callaghan, Castletownkinneigh
Eunan O'Halpin Professor of Contemporary Irish History at Trinity College Dublin.
Dr Eve Morrison - Canon Murray Fellow in Irish History St Catherine's College, Oxford.
Visiting Research Fellow Centre for Contemporary Irish History Trinity College, Dublin
Don Wood, Manchester.
Gerry White, Cork - Military Historian & author
Special and sincere thanks to the following for their contributions and support:
Tim Crowley, Michael Collins Centre, Clonakilty
Kilmurry Museum.
Marian O’Leary, Dúchas Clonakilty Heritage
Margaret O’Donovan, Ballineen.
Mary Harris, NUI Galway.
Dennie Healy, Kilmichael.
Dr Con Kelleher, Macroom.
Diarmuid Kingston, Timoleague.
Seán Crowley, Templemartin.
Con Downing, Southern Star
Tadg Sheehan, Macroom
Ann Murphy, Fermoy
C103, John Greene
C103, Patricia Messenger
96FM, PJ Coogan
‘The Wild Heather Glen -The Kilmichael Story of Grief and Glory’ (White.L, Tower Books, 1995)
Coppeen Archaeological, Historical & Cultural Society (CAHCS)
Music:
"An Chulainn" - original recording by Shane Cronin on Whistle
"The Boys of Kilmichael" - original recording by Colum Cronin
"The Tribe has Spoken" - Philip Ayers via Epidemic Sound
"Appeased Soundscape" - August Wilhelmsson via Epidemic Sounds
The numbing thing for me is that me Grandparents were named O'Sullivan and McCarthy. O'Donoghue pub in Castletownbere are relations of mine, though I never met them. They knew me Dad well enough. So if passing have a pint there in memory of the fallen. What a documentary, it really hit home, real close to home, though I live very far away.
Excellent documentary, brave selfless men,heroes God bless them.
Brave souls fought for lrelands freedom .may they rest in peace .🙏🙏🙏🙇🙇🙇❤❤❤
Well done to Colm and the Coppeen Heritage committee on a great documentary. God Bless all the people who took part in the fight for freedom
3
Great review, regards and respect to all from Australia.
A superb documentary ,recounting the events of 100 years ago.God be good to all those brave men of the Column,
Very well produced lads. Fair play. Great documentary
Wonderful documentary to mark the 100 anniversary. Thanks to all involved for keeping Local history alive
Living In these modern times it’s impossible to appreciate the conditions in which these brave men lived and fought. In the space of two years they achieved what other brave Irish people in the preceding centuries had tried and failed to win - self determination. As long as there’s a country called Ireland and a race called the Irish, their actions deeds and memories will be honoured. This film honours them .
Well done Colm and Shane..I grew up listening to all the stories of Kilmichael from my Dad, Dan Cahalane. He never missed a Kilmichael Commemoration. God rest all those brave men who fought for our freedom.
An excellent documentary tribute to The Boys of Kilmichael on the 100th anniversary. Thanks to all involved
For a dispassionate analysis of the events at Kilmichael read "Kilmichael-A Battlefield Study" by Sean Murphy. The author is a West Cork military man, marksman and a technical weapon expert .Hard going at times due to the amount of detail, but worth it to anyone wishing to have a complete picture of what was one of the pivotal events of the conflict.
Michael O'Dwyer
great documentary,they were brave courageous men,proud to say my uncles done their best here in mayo at the same time.
Fantastic work, thanks so much for this. God bless those gallant men.
Well produced, well narrated. A story worth the telling.
well done super video enjoyed every word spoken thanks
A fabulous portrayal of information that holds dear to our hearts locally
Well done, what a great documentary. The bravery and sacrifice of those great men must never be forgotten, and I'm sure it won't by all of us who value freedom.
That was an excellent documentary. Worth watching again!
definitely an excellent production!
A wonderful production. Congratulations.
A valuable insight to the history of Kilmichael
Fantastic documentary....I grew up with the memory and story of Kilmichael as my grandfather Dan Kelly was a young boy living at the site when the ambushed happened
superb, great detail, authentic.
Had the honour of having a pint with Tom Barry....
Sound out Brendan! What a privilege to have had a one to one over a pint with Barry. You'll have to share when we meet again! All the best, Shane
You are a lucky man.
as a small child in the 60s i knew tom as an old man i didn't know it at the time of his place in cork/Irish history he knew my grandfather who was from west cork its amazing to think of it now but when i see old photos of him in his 60s i know the face and his soft west cork accent this was in the coal quay on the benches next to the river i remember it like it was yesterday maybe he came to the city once a week all the country people did back then
My maternal grandfather was there. He was from West Cork.
A great story as told by Colm' he is doing what should be done in the schools. I should like to add that the first recording of this song The Boys of Kilmichael was by a band the " The Irish Freedom Fighters " 1967. The singer was me fein. In the first week of its release on Pitwick records it sold over a half a million copies. Years later 1980's I happened to be playing in the VFW club in Oak Square in Brighton 'Boston' where I met a man who asked me to sing a rebel song' so I sang The Boys for him' he began crying as I was singing it ' later I found out It was he who wrote the original song " The Boys of Klmichael " his name is John Hourihan from Bealnacarriga' near Dunmanway' He told me he wrote it in 1947' the year that Kerry played Cavan in the all Ireland football final which was held in the Bronx' New York Gaelic athletic grounds. Thanks Colum for the wonderful documentary. you do a service to the nation.
A very informative and well produced and narrated documentary. As an Englishman, I feel ashamed of the actions of those Tans, sent by Westminster to carry out disgusting acts of barbarism against the peoples of Ireland. I salute those brave men of Kilmichael for their fight for freedom from an oppressive British Empire.
Congrats Colm and crew, very interesting and well narrated
Very well done. Good work
Fantastic documentary Colum and Shane. Maith thú!
That was fantastic well researched and presented. Thanks
That was brilliant
excellent documentary well done all involved
Excellent stuff. I don't understand the "controversy". Its clear that Barry told his men - "take no prisoners". This was pretty regular stuff in the Great War and also from the likes of General Patton in WW2. What were the Flying Column expected to do - set up a little POW camp up the road?
Tom Barry was a great military tactician and strategist as he proved in the Irish War of Independence and Irish Civil War. However he is a controversial figure. He certainly romanticised his conversion to Republicanism. He applied to get a job in India from the British Foreign office in 1920 but was turned down. He did'nt tell the truth about Cecil Guthrie in his memoir. He also does not mention the Cadet Frederick Forde(MC) who survived the ambush. Barry knew he survived the ambush because the picture of Forde with his head bandaged is taken from the 17th January 1921 edition of the Irish Independent. I personally dont believe Barry's account of the ambush and I certainly dont believe the British version. The truth is alway's the first casualty in any war or conflict. He raised the Union Jack in Cork on Armistice Day in November 1919 which is confirmed in Meda Ryan's biography. He believed Irish veterans of WW1 should be the priority when it came to jobs when he returned to Cork. See my reply to Brian Payyerson below. Check out the book "Kilmichael-A Battlefield Study" by Sean Murphy.
Bravo ! Thank you
God Bless all these brave gallant men of Ireland 🇮🇪
Military experience shapes you and makes you. Bootneck for quite a number of years but Irish to the Bone.
To me, the “controversy” is absurd. They had to be killed, full stop. Had they took pity on them and let them live, they would have simply returned and killed them
Brilliant documentary, I wonder did the 5 ira men who were infront of the aux and went up the side road did they get involved in the Ambush??
Great documentary, Kilmichael and Warrenpoint are the two great operations the IRA are known for. Crossbarry is another amazing event as well. Well done to all involved!
To think me dad was a toddler in Castletown as history was happening. Johnny we hardly knew ye, rip dad. We never meant to laugh at your Irish history lessons...We were just american kids.
Tom Barry and his War Heroes at Kilmichael who 'laid all the Black and Tans low'. Wars in Ireland come from London's Westminster and Downing Street. We Irish fortunately produce military genius with the likes of Tom Barry. A great victory in Kilmichael, County Cork against Black and Tan atrocities in Ireland. Unfinished Business is 32 County Unity.
Watching this on Dec. 5, 2020. Here in the USA I am mortally ashamed of my fellow countrymen, mostly the very young people that have forgotten and forsaken the dead in Arlington National Cemetery. Those brave men fought for our liberty, that is now being stolen by fraudulent elections and socialists. I am a descendant of Kelley's from County Cork, maybe it's in my blood, to not want to lay down and take this farce from evil doers. May God help us all. Some things are worth fighting for, history proves this on every continent, time after time. When I visit Ireland, I want to visit the graves of those brave men.
Please explain what you think a socialist is? Most of those brave men were fighting against right wing oppression. Many of those brave men were very active union members with very socialist views.
Visit Mother Ireland 🇮🇪 soon. She needs her ppl badly.
Very interesting film - if a bit one-sided.
Personally I dont think we will ever know what happened at Kilmichael in terms of the false surrender. At the time the British claimed the IRA were disguised as British soldiers and Irish historians have vociferously denied this. However in this documentary an IRA veteran stated he was wearing a "tin helmet" which I presume was a British Brodie helmet more commonly known as the battle bowler. Maybe he was the only one. There is so much contradiction in terms of the veterans themselves. Another veteran stated he was walking a surrendered Auxiliary up the road and a shot rang out which killed the Auxiliary. By the way the Doctor who examined the dead Auxiliaries was named Kelleher and his son was killed by the IRA when he was serving with the RIC. Despite being the most famous engagement of the conflict historians get some facts wrong. Of the 18 policemen 17 were Auxiliaries and 1 was a Black & Tan named Arthur Poole who drove the first Crossley and had the rank of Constable. The survivor of the ambush was Cadet Frederick Forde who won the MC in WW1. The picture of him in hospital is from the 17th January 1921 edition of the Irish Independent. Historians erroneously state he was paralysed for the rest of his life which is ludicrous. He fathered 2 children with 2 different women and was married in May 1921 on the Isle of Wight. He would later emigrate to South Africa. He died in May 1941 in Southern Rhodesia(modern day Zimbabwe.) Kilmichael is the most famous engagement because it was against the elite Auxiliaries. Forgive me I dont mean to sound crude but if this was British soldiers or regular RIC it would not have the same impact. The Limerick IRA had a very successful ambush at Dromkeen in early February 1921 which killed 11 Black & Tans. The Longford IRA could have equaled the Kilmichael ambush at Clonfin in early February 1921. They also ambushed an Auxiliary patrol of 2 Crossley Tenders and they used an IED. They killed 4 Auxiliaries and wounded several. The Auxiliaries surrendered their weapons but it was later found out that each Auxiliary did not surrender a small calibre pistol in their tunics which they should have done. Mick Gormley who was a veteran of WW1(he served with the Irish Guards) wanted to execute the surviving Auxiliaries for this violation of a principle of war. Sean McEoin the IRA leader refused. Local Longford historians state it was Gormley who chose the ambush site at Clonfin and not McEoin which history books always state. As I stated it could have equaled Kilmichael and the latter would still be a great local victory but it would have to share the limelight! A lot of Irish historians take some IRA veterans statements as gospel which sometimes prevents a proper analysis. There is a bit of hero worship.
The British were also fighting an insurgency in Mesopotamia(Iraq) during this period. I like to share the following facts with Irish people. On 20th July 1920 the IRA ambushed a military lorry containing soldiers from the 1st Manchesters in Co.Cork and killed 2 soldiers. Just 4 days later on 24th July 1920 in Mesopotamia its sister regiment the 2nd Manchesters would have over 130 soldiers killed by Iraqi tribesmen in an engagement known as the Battle of Hillah. Check out the book "Kilmichael-A Battlefield Study" by Sean Murphy. I am a researcher by the way. I hope you find this interesting.