AMBUSH AT
CULLEENS, CO. SLIGO
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TWO
POLICEMEN KILLED, ONE WOUNDED
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SIX HOURS'
RUNNING FIGHT
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("Western People," July 7, 1921)
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On
Friday, 1st July, about noon, a cycling patrol of seven police was ambushed at
Culleens, Co. Sligo, and as a result two constables were killed, and one
wounded. The names of the policemen killed are Constables King and Higgins, and
that of the wounded man, Constable Curley. It appears that on the morning in
question the house of a man named Thomas Tuffy, Culleens, was raided by armed
men and a large sum of money, said to be £380, was taken.
After the raiders departed Mr. Tuffy
proceeded to Easkey R.I.C. barracks and reported the affair. Seven men on
bicycles were subsequently dispatched to make inquiries, and as they were
passing Culleens post office fire was opened on them from both sides of the
road. With the first volley Constable Curley fell wounded in both arms and, it
is stated, Constables King and Higgins were killed. the official report,
however, differs from this version, and says the two constables who were
leading the patrol were captured by the ambushing party and subsequently shot.
The uninjured policemen engaged the ambushers and returned their fire.
Afterwards the police were reinforced and pursued the party into Glenesk
mountains. the pursuit developed into a running fight which lasted close to six
hours. the Crown forces withdrew. On Saturday, Mr. Tuffy, from whom the money
was stated to have been stolen, was arrested.
OFFICIAL REPORT
The following report
was issued at Dublin Castle:--
"At 12 mid-day yesterday (Friday, 1st
July), a patrol of 7 R.I.C. constables was ambushed at Culleens Inn, on the
main Ballina-Sligo road by about 30 armed civilians. One constable was wounded
and two were captured, and afterwards shot.
"Police reinforcements arrived on the
scene of the ambush and pursued the attackers, none of whom was captured. but
it is believed some of them were hit."
A further report
says:--"At 11.30 a.m. yesterday a cycle patrol of 7 R.I.C. Constables from
Dromore West was ambushed at Culleens inn, 6 miles south-west of Dromore, by
two different parties--about 300 yards apart. Constable Curley was wounded in
both arms by one of the parties. Constables King and Higgins, who leading, were
taken prisoners by the other ambushing party. the four remaining constables
opened fire on the attackers, and while the fight was going on a passing motor
was commandeered by the small party and sent to Easkey for reinforcements.
"The leading party took their two police
prisoners towards the Glenesk mountains; the second party in the meantime kept
the remainder of the patrol at bay.
"In response to wires from the D.I. at
Easkey reinforcements of police from that place and police and military from
Sligo and Ballina quickly arrived on the scene and pursed the ambushers, who,
on being fired on, murdered the two constables.
"A running fight ensued and was kept up
all the afternoon till 6 p.m.
"The police and military fought the
ambushers, a number of whom were seen to fall in the bog. It is believed that a
number of these were killed.
"The remaining ambushers in the fight
scattered and became mixed up with a large number of people who were cutting
turf in the district and made good their escape.
"During the fight a number of horses and
cattle were killed by the fire. the Crown forces ultimately abandoned the fight
when they considered that further pursuit was useless.
"The four constables of the original
party who were uninjured succeeded in retaining their arms."
MONEY RETURNED
Further particulars of the tragic affair now
to hand show that the money taken from Mr. Tuffy was left back in his house
while he was at Easkey informing the police of the "robbery."
________________________________
A similar report of the ambush appeared in
the "Ballina Herald", of July 7, and it was Rev. Fr. Clarke, C.C.,
who was summoned to the scene by the constable that escaped, ministered the
last sacraments to one of the deceased, whose life had not ebbed away. Also the
third Constable who was wounded, it is said, asked for mercy on account of his
wife and family, and the attackers granted his request and bandaged up his
wounds.
On Saturday an enquiry into the deaths of
both Constables was held in Dromore West, but the finding was not made public.
On Friday night a young man from the
Enniscrone district, who, it is said, was on the run, was arrested in the
Bonniconlon district and detained.
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· In that same issue of the "Western
People", a further report on the
ambush was published. It contained more details of the area, the raid and
robbery at "Culleens Inn" and
the subsequent aftermath of the fight.
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|
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TWO
POLICEMEN SHOT DEAD
NEAR
DROMORE WEST
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FIERCE
MOUNTAIN FIGHT
......................................................
(“Western People,” July 7, 1921)
......................................................
"Culleens, a village which
lies along the main road from the former place, was on last Friday the scene of
one of the most sensational ambushes yet recorded in the West. Two
policemen—Constables King and Higgins—were shot dead as a result of the tragic
affair, and another Constable Curley, was seriously wounded.
"The ambush
occurred at a point where the road runs high above the level of the surrounding
country, and almost equi-distance between the sea and the Ox mountains. From
the mountains to the road there stretches a wide expanse of bog. On the sea
side of the road the country bears a less rugged appearance, and the land is
split into compact farms,. just now resplendent in their summer verdure and
bright with the promise of a plenteous harvest. Indeed one could scarce
conceive a scene more peaceful or one less suggestive of thoughts of strife and
bloodshed than the grand pastoral view, with the sea in the background,
unfolded to the traveller gazing seawards from the road.
Just above the point
where the ambush occurred there stand a public house, known as "Culleens
Inn," now occupied by a family named Tuffy. In the early hours of Friday
morning two strange young men, fully armed, walked into this place, and at the
point of a revolver compelled Mr. P. Tuffy, a son of the proprietor, who
manages the business for his father, to hand over all the money in the house—a
sum, it is stated, of about £300. They afterwards decamped as suddenly as they
appeared. Young Mr. Tuffy subsequently made with all speed for Dromore West
police barracks, about five miles away, where he reported the matter and a cycling
patrol, consisting of seven policemen, was detailed to investigate it. They
left Dromore West about 11.30 a.m., cycling in the regular formation—two in
front, three in the middle and two at the rere. The ill-fated party had almost
reached their destination when they ran into the ambush.
The ambushers, who
numbered about thirty, were divided into two parties. Constables King and
Higgins, who were in the van of the cycling patrol, were allowed to pass the
first party, but fire was immediately opened on the second and third ranks of
the patrol. Before they could take cover, Constable Curley fell, wounded in
both arms. Meanwhile Constable King and Higgins were surrounded by the second
party of ambushers, relieved of their arms, and taken prisoners. Lower down the
road a lively fight was proceeding between the four remaining constables and
the first section of the ambushers. When the fight was at its height a motor
car from Ballina, the driver of which seemed totally oblivious of the deadly
conflict into which he was running, rushed into the thick of the battle on its
way to Sligo, the bullets whizzing all round it. the car was held up by the
police, and one of their number, jumping in, compelled the driver to take the
next turn for Easkey to summon medical assistance and reinforcements. The
ambushers, seeing the move and divining its object, immediately commenced a
retreat, the party with the two captured constables being sent on ahead, while
the remaining section kept the three armed policemen at bay.
Meanwhile the report
of the affray reached Easkey, and wires were sent out summoning assistance from
the adjoining stations in Mayo and Sligo. How quickly the call for help was
circulated is evidenced by the fact that at 3 p.m., before any news of the
occurrence had became generally known in Ballina, three lorries conveying
constabulary reinforcements from Castlebar passed through the town on their way
to the scene of the conflict. The unusual activity amongst the Crown forces was
the first intimation the people of the town received that anything was amiss.
Meanwhile reinforcements from Easkey and Dromore West arrived and got into
touch with the retreating ambushers. A running fight of the fiercest
description ensued across the bogs, and it was about this time that the two
captured constables, King and Higgins, met their death. Exact details of the
appalling occurrence are not available, but one account states that the Constables,
finding their captors closely engaged by the pursuing forces, made a dash for
liberty, and were thereupon fired upon by their guards. One of the constables
was killed instantaneously, but it is stated that the other was alive when
found by his comrades and lived long enough to receive the last rites of the
church from a priest who was brought to him with all haste.
Their comrades were
livid with rage when they found out the prisoners had been murdered in cold
blood and withering fire was opened on the rebels.. the fight afterwards
continued with the fiercest intensity, and
an effort was made to surround the rebels, a strong force being sent
through Bonniconlon to the Gap to try to take them in the rear, but the attempt
proved unavailing. No longer encumbered by their two captives, the rebels
disappeared into the mountain fastnesses with great rapidity and successfully
evaded pursuit. During the fight the police state a number of the ambushers
were seen to fall, and they believe some of them were killed. At the time of
writing however, no dead bodies, except those of the constables, had been found
in the bogs.
A large number
working in the bog during the fight—which was spread over a much larger area
than the strength of the forces engaged would suggest—had a terrifying
experience. Caught between two fires, they were in imminent danger of their
lives, and sought refuge in bogholes, trenches or wherever they could find
adequate cover. It is rumoured that a party of C.D. Board workmen operating in
the district were compelled to assist in the pursuit, and although unarmed had
to go on in front of one section of the pursuing forces. Several horses and
cattle who got in the line of fire were killed.
The bodies of the two
dead constables, who were both Catholics, and native of County Galway, were
conveyed in the evening to Dromore West barracks, where it is understood, a
military inquiry concerning the affair will be held. On the same evening Mr.
Tuffy, the young man who reported the robbery, was taken into custody. The
charge against him is unknown, but it is stated that the police entertain a
suspicion that the robbery was only a ruse to lure them into a prepared ambush.
Mr. Tuffy, who has never been identified with any political organisation,
appears, however, to have acted quite innocently in the matter, and was
horror-stricken when he learned of the attack on the police. He has been
removed to Sligo jail.
On Saturday Crown
forces, consisting of Auxiliaries, military and police, again conducted a
thorough search of the locality but without result. The occurrence, the first
of its kind in the district, has given rise to a feeling of the greatest
tension, and the people of the surrounding country are considerably alarmed.
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