“Supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media under the Decade of Centenaries 2012-2023 initiative.”
The first RIC barracks capture in Leinster – Hugginstown, March 1920
Historian and Author Eoin Swithin Walsh explores the capture of the RIC Barracks in Hugginstown in 1920
During the early months of 1920 many RIC barracks were attacked, but few were ‘captured’. Capturing a barracks usually involved the police inside surrendering. Hugginstown Barracks was one such barracks capture, which occurred on a Monday night, 8 March 1920. Led by Tom Treacy and Jim Lalor from Kilkenny City, Willie Farrell and Nicholas Carroll from Hugginstown, and the ‘bomber’ Joe McMahon from County Clare, it was a major early coup for the Kilkenny IRA, making headlines around the country and beyond. It was not a good night for the RIC, however, who lost one of their constable’s, Thomas Ryan, who was wounded during the attack. This podcast examines in the detail the buildup to the night in question and what exactly occured in Hugginstown.
Hugginstown-Barracks-Attack-1920---Eoin-Swithin-Walsh.mp3 (size 15.9 MB)
