Qualla: Headford Ambush https://qualla.com/headford-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/3/2/headford-ambush-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Headford Ambush https://qualla.com/headford-ambush Headford Ambush: Introduction https://qualla.com/headford-ambush/ Photo credit Nilfanion, CC BY-SA 3.0. The train from Kenmare was full of soldiers, but it was also full of farmers. They were coming home from the cattle and pig market on a quiet Monday in March 1921, sharing carriages with men of the Royal Fusiliers heading back to barracks in Tralee. At Headford Junction railway station near Killarney, the train pulled in. Passengers got off to change trains. Most of the farmers had already stepped onto the platform when a man stood up and tried to disarm one of the soldiers. The soldier resisted. He was shot. From the surrounding cover, thirty men of the IRA's 2nd Kerry Brigade opened fire on the carriage doors. The firefight that followed lasted nearly an hour, at ranges as close as twenty yards, and killed nine British soldiers, two IRA volunteers, and three local civilians who never asked to be in it.

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]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/3/2/headford-ambush-wp/gc32-headford-ambush-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Headford Ambush: Kerry in March 1921 https://qualla.com/headford-ambush/ Photo credit Nilfanion, CC BY-SA 3.0. By the spring of 1921, the Irish War of Independence had been grinding on for two years. The IRA was waging a guerrilla campaign against British rule; the British were responding with reprisals carried out by the Royal Irish Constabulary, the regular army, and a force of British ...

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]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/3/2/headford-ambush-wp/gc32-headford-ambush-kerry-in-march-1921.mp3 0:06 2 full Headford Ambush: Twelve Minutes https://qualla.com/headford-ambush/ Photo credit Nilfanion, CC BY-SA 3.0. The intelligence reached the Kerry No. 2 Brigade on the morning of 21 March: British troops were coming back by train from Kenmare to Tralee, and because there was no direct route, they would have to change trains at Headford Junction. Dan Allman, in joint command with Tom McElli...

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]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/3/2/headford-ambush-wp/gc32-headford-ambush-twelve-minutes.mp3 0:06 3 full Headford Ambush: The Firefight https://qualla.com/headford-ambush/ Photo credit Nilfanion, CC BY-SA 3.0. Allman approached one Fusilier on the platform and tried to disarm him. The soldier resisted. Allman shot him. That was the signal. From cover, the IRA opened fire on the carriage doors as more soldiers began to disembark. Lieutenant C.E. Adams, who held the Distinguished Conduct...

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]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/3/2/headford-ambush-wp/gc32-headford-ambush-the-firefight.mp3 0:06 4 full Headford Ambush: The Second Train https://qualla.com/headford-ambush/ Photo credit Nilfanion, CC BY-SA 3.0. McEllistrim, now in command after Allman's death, called on the Fusiliers under the train to surrender. They refused. The IRA began moving in to clear the carriages with grenades. Then a second train pulled into the junction carrying another party of British troops. The flying co...

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]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/3/2/headford-ambush-wp/gc32-headford-ambush-the-second-train.mp3 0:06 5 full Headford Ambush: The Names https://qualla.com/headford-ambush/ Photo credit Nilfanion, CC BY-SA 3.0. Lieutenant Cyril Egerton Adams, DCM, age 27, of the Royal Fusiliers, killed at Headford Junction. The eight other Fusiliers, mostly working-class men who had survived the First World War and were now soldiers of an occupation army a few months from being withdrawn. Dan Allman, IR...

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]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/3/2/headford-ambush-wp/gc32-headford-ambush-the-names.mp3 0:06 6 full Headford Ambush: What Came After https://qualla.com/headford-ambush/ Photo credit Nilfanion, CC BY-SA 3.0. Three months after Headford, in July 1921, a truce was declared. By December, the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed, giving the south of Ireland dominion status. Within a year, the Treaty's terms had split the IRA itself into pro- and anti-Treaty factions and the Civil War began - a ...

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]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/3/2/headford-ambush-wp/gc32-headford-ambush-what-came-after.mp3 0:06 7 full