Qualla: Coolavokig ambush https://qualla.com/coolavokig-ambush en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:11 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/1/x/coolavokig-ambush-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Coolavokig ambush https://qualla.com/coolavokig-ambush Coolavokig ambush: Introduction https://qualla.com/coolavokig-ambush/ Photo credit Nilfanion, CC BY-SA 3.0. Around eight o'clock on the morning of 25 February 1921, an IRA scout above the Macroom-Ballyvourney road raised the signal. A convoy of British Auxiliaries was coming up the valley, eight lorries and two cars, seventy-seven men in total. Sixty-two IRA volunteers were waiting in carefully chosen positions on the slopes above. The men had been in the ground for several days, watching the road every morning, going home cold every evening. This was the third attempt. The previous two had failed because the convoys had not come at the expected time. Today the convoys had come. What followed was a four-hour battle in the hills west of Macroom that ended a campaign and reshaped a region of County Cork for the remainder of the war.

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Image: Nilfanion | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/1/x/coolavokig-ambush-wp/gc1x-coolavokig-ambush-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Coolavokig ambush: The Flying Column https://qualla.com/coolavokig-ambush/ Photo credit Nilfanion, CC BY-SA 3.0. Sean O'Hegarty commanded the IRA's 1st Cork Brigade, and the flying column at Coolavokig drew its men from the 1st, 7th, and 8th battalions. Dan Sandow O'Donovan and Dan Corkery were his principal officers. They had sixty rifles, two Lewis machine guns, a handful of shotguns and ...

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Image: Nilfanion | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/1/x/coolavokig-ambush-wp/gc1x-coolavokig-ambush-the-flying-column.mp3 0:06 2 full Coolavokig ambush: The First Volley https://qualla.com/coolavokig-ambush/ Photo credit Nilfanion, CC BY-SA 3.0. The plan depended on letting the lorries enter the killing zone before opening fire. An IRA volunteer left his position briefly and turned back too obviously, and the leading lorry crew spotted him. The British column was already on alert; now it was forewarned. They began approa...

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Image: Nilfanion | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/1/x/coolavokig-ambush-wp/gc1x-coolavokig-ambush-the-first-volley.mp3 0:06 3 full Coolavokig ambush: The Major https://qualla.com/coolavokig-ambush/ Photo credit Nilfanion, CC BY-SA 3.0. Major James Seafield-Grant commanded the Auxiliary convoy. He was at the front of the column when the firing started. As his men took casualties and ground gave way, he moved among them trying to rally their position. He was killed while doing so. The British retreated into two n...

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Image: Nilfanion | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/1/x/coolavokig-ambush-wp/gc1x-coolavokig-ambush-the-major.mp3 0:06 4 full Coolavokig ambush: The Numbers in Dispute https://qualla.com/coolavokig-ambush/ Photo credit Nilfanion, CC BY-SA 3.0. The IRA suffered no casualties. The British casualty count was disputed at the time and is still disputed. British authorities reported that Major Seafield-Grant was the only Auxiliary killed during the engagement itself, with two more dying later of wounds. The IRA claimed betwe...

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Image: Nilfanion | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/1/x/coolavokig-ambush-wp/gc1x-coolavokig-ambush-the-numbers-in-dispute.mp3 0:06 5 full Coolavokig ambush: After the Battle https://qualla.com/coolavokig-ambush/ Photo credit Nilfanion, CC BY-SA 3.0. British forces stopped raiding and patrolling the area west of Macroom. They were reluctant to enter the hills around Coolavokig and Ballyvourney at all, and when they finally returned it was with a force of 2,000 men. The Manchester Regiment recorded in its Digest of Service tha...

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Image: Nilfanion | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/1/x/coolavokig-ambush-wp/gc1x-coolavokig-ambush-after-the-battle.mp3 0:06 6 full