Qualla: Rathcoole Ambush https://qualla.com/rathcoole-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/3/8/rathcoole-ambush-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Rathcoole Ambush https://qualla.com/rathcoole-ambush Rathcoole Ambush: Introduction https://qualla.com/rathcoole-ambush/ Photo credit Nilfanion, CC BY-SA 3.0. The road from Banteer to Millstreet runs through quiet country now, but for twelve days in the summer of 1921, men with notebooks watched it. The Auxiliaries had no choice but to use it: the railway had been cut in several places, the bridges were down, and the supplies their L Company needed at Mount Leader House could only come overland. The IRA's 2nd Cork Brigade studied the convoys until they understood every variation, every timetable, every weakness. Then, on 16 June, they laid six mines along a single mile of road near the village of Rathcoole, and waited for the evening light to turn favourable. It would become one of the largest engagements of the Irish War of Independence.

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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/3/8/rathcoole-ambush-wp/gc38-rathcoole-ambush-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Rathcoole Ambush: Twelve Days of Watching https://qualla.com/rathcoole-ambush/ Photo credit Nilfanion, CC BY-SA 3.0. Paddy O'Brien commanded the column. He had been preparing for months. Through the spring, his men had trained in the manufacture and deployment of mines, because armoured cars were appearing more often on Cork roads and the IRA had to find a way to counter them. The convoys he in...

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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/3/8/rathcoole-ambush-wp/gc38-rathcoole-ambush-twelve-days-of-watching.mp3 0:06 2 full Rathcoole Ambush: The Evening Convoy https://qualla.com/rathcoole-ambush/ Photo credit Nilfanion, CC BY-SA 3.0. The first convoy came through at half past ten in the morning, exactly as expected, and the volunteers let it pass. They were waiting for the return trip in the evening, so the setting sun would cover their withdrawal. The second convoy arrived around 4:30 p.m.: three Crossley te...

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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/3/8/rathcoole-ambush-wp/gc38-rathcoole-ambush-the-evening-convoy.mp3 0:06 3 full Rathcoole Ambush: The Run to Mount Leader https://qualla.com/rathcoole-ambush/ Photo credit Nilfanion, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Auxiliary commander on the road that day was William Edward Crossey. Realizing how badly he was outnumbered, he ordered one of his constables, Francis Scott, to run back to Millstreet for help. Scott set out under heavy fire, made it through, and reached the barracks at Mount...

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]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/3/8/rathcoole-ambush-wp/gc38-rathcoole-ambush-the-run-to-mount-leader.mp3 0:06 4 full Rathcoole Ambush: What Came After https://qualla.com/rathcoole-ambush/ Photo credit Nilfanion, CC BY-SA 3.0. The next day, an IRA party returned to lift the mines that had not detonated. They found 1,350 rounds of ammunition left behind on the road - more than the men had carried into the fight. Paddy O'Brien later wrote that the ambush had achieved its purpose: it inflicted losses on t...

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]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/3/8/rathcoole-ambush-wp/gc38-rathcoole-ambush-what-came-after.mp3 0:06 5 full Rathcoole Ambush: The Road Today https://qualla.com/rathcoole-ambush/ Photo credit Nilfanion, CC BY-SA 3.0. The road still runs from Banteer to Millstreet much as it did then, between low fields and remnants of the pine wood. There are no large memorials at the site, but local memory has not let it go: An Cosantoir, the Defence Forces magazine, has published accounts of the engagement,...

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]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/3/8/rathcoole-ambush-wp/gc38-rathcoole-ambush-the-road-today.mp3 0:06 6 full