Ambush at Bonniconlon
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BALLINA POLICEMAN WOUNDED
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(The Ballina
Herald, 9th April, 1921)
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OLLOWING
the recent sensational series of ambushes in South Mayo, the people of Ballina
were startled on Monday morning by the news that on the previous night a police
patrol from the town was ambushed in the vicinity of Bonniconlon. Constable
William Hankins, an Englishman, being seriously wounded.
The police are very reticent regarding the
affair, but from the meagre details to hand at the time of writing it would
appear the patrol, which numbered some twelve or fourteen constables, left
Ballina, on Sunday night, under Captain
White, D.I., on the Crossley tender for Bonniconlon. A ceilidh or dance was
announced to be held in the village school on that night. In some quarters it
is stated that the object of the visit of the police was to raid the dance, but
a more accepted version is that they were engaged on a poteen-seizing mission.
The patrol arrived near Bonniconlon some
time after midnight and dismounted from the lorry in the vicinity of a thick
grove. Leaving four constables as a guard to the lorry, the major portion of
the party proceeded to the village. They had only gone a short distance when a
heavy fusillade of rifle fire, was, it is alleged, directed from the grove on
the men who had been left in charge of the lorry. The men immediately took
cover, but before they succeeded in doing so a rifle bullet struck the rifle
which Constable Hankins was carrying by his side, and passed clean through the
stock, and entered the flesh in the region of the thigh.
The constable returned the fire, and a brisk
exchange of shots was maintained for some minutes, but the ambushers gradually
withdrew. It is not known whether they sustained any casualties. Alarmed by the
sound of the firing, the main body of the police rushed to their comrades’
assistance, but when they arrived at the grove the engagement had broken off,
and there was no trace of the ambushers to be found. The motor lorry was
riddled with bullets, and was put completely out of commission. The police
afterwards surrounded the school, where a large crowd of boys and girls were
enjoying themselves wholly oblivious of the exciting incidents that had taken
place such a short distance away.
When it became known that the police had been
ambushed the wildest consternation prevailed, especially amongst the female
section of the assembly. All the young men present were searched and questioned
as to their movements during the night, and a few were detained in custody. The
wounded constable was meanwhile brought to the school, where his wounds were
dressed.
A short
time afterwards a relief party of police arrived from Ballina, and a thorough
search of the neighbourhood was made. In the grove from which the police were
attacked a considerable quantity of ammunition, which the ambushers had
evidently abandoned, was found. The police maintained an increasing search of
the district throughout the early hours of Monday morning, and several arrests
were made. Most of those arrested were, however, subsequently released. The
wounded constable was removed to Ballina barracks, where he was attended to by
Drs. Macaulay and Keane, and it is understood that he is progressing as
favourably as can be expected.
A similar, but shorter version of a report on
the ambush took place in the “Western People” on Thursday, 7th
April, 1921, in which it said that “a number of young men were taken in a lorry
to Ballina later in the morning, and, having been detained at the barracks for
some time, were subsequently released. On Monday the local police barracks was
strongly reinforced and there was unusual activity. Ballina was crowded with
people who attended the market, and people from Bonniconlon, especially the old
people, were in a state of panic, fearing reprisals for the ambush on their
homesteads. Rumours, for which there was not the shadow of a foundation, were
circulated in the town all day.
The village of Bonniconlon was the scene of
much police and military activity and many searches were made. A Sinn Fein
banner and drum were seized. The military afterwards left , but later in the
evening were replaced by others.
LATER:
Military and police reinforcements arrived in
Ballina on Monday, but although it was market day in town, there was no
interference with the people attending the market. As nightfall approached
considerable uneasiness was manifested in various quarters, but no untoward
incident occurred. Police patrols cleared the streets of the town, and ordered
all the local halls to close down. There were some instances of anger at the
order, but in the majority of cases the request to “clear home” was complied
with and no violence was resorted to.
The Commercial Hall was commandeered as
quarters by the military: some young men in the building when it was taken over
being peremptorily ordered out. Conflicting stories of the ambush were in
circulation during the week, some parties going so far as to assert that no
ambush had taken place, and that the shot which wounded Constable Hankins was
one accidentally discharged by his comrades. This version of the affair is
however, flatly contradicted by the police, who point to the discovery of the
ammunition and some men’s clothing at the scene of the affray as being
conclusive evidence that the ambush was premeditated and carefully planned.
They attribute their good luck in escaping with only one slight casualty to the
fact that they evidently arrived sooner than the ambushers had anticipated. The
utmost terror prevailed in the village after the occurrence, and some shots are
alleged to have been fired through the roof of the school causing a panic
amongst those present at the dance. Verey lights were sent up by the police in
the vicinity of the school, and a strong relief party arrived from Ballina
about an hour later. The disabled tender was towed to Ballina early in the
morning bearing many evidences of the conflict.
MALICIOUS
INJURY CLAIMS
In consequence of this incident, the
constable who was wounded, Constable
Hankins, took a claim at Ballina Quarter Sessions, before Judge Doyle, in June, 1921. The “Western People” of 11th
June, 1921, reported that “Constable
William Hankins claimed £1,500
compensation for injuries received when police were attacked in Bonniconlon on
the morning of the 4th April last.
“Messrs. Garvey and Huggard appeared for the applicant and
the claim was not defended.
“Applicant stated that before joining the
R.I.C. on the 11th February last he was a constable in the
Birmingham City Police, his salary being £182 a year, with boot allowance. In
the R.I.C. he had £182 a years, plus £15 a year bonus and a food allowance. He
had previously been in the Navy for four years. On the morning he received his
injury the police travelled to Bonniconlon in a Crossley car. He and three
constables were left in charge of the car, while the remainder of the party
went into the village. While witness was standing at the car intense fire was
opened up on them from both sides of the road. They returned the fire. A bullet
passed through the stock of witness’s rifle and entered his right hip, where it
still remained.
“(The rifle which was at this stage produced
and handed up to his Honor had the stock split right through). Witness was
taken to a house in Bonniconlon where his wound was dressed, and was later
taken to Ballina. He was afterwards removed to a Dublin hospital, where he
remained 21 days. He was now convalescent, but was still lame and felt his leg
very dead at times. The doctor in the hospital informed him that it was not
advisable to extract the bullet yet, but that if the leg gave him any trouble
he would have to return to have it X-rayed. He always enjoyed the best of
health up to the time of the occurrence”.
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