The Burgery ambush was an

ambush An ambush is a long-established military tactic in which a combatant uses an advantage of concealment or the element of surprise to attack unsuspecting enemy combatants from concealed positions, such as among dense underbrush or behind moun ...

carried out by the

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief th ...

(IRA) on 18–19 March 1921, during the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...

. It took place near

Dungarvan Dungarvan () is a coastal town and harbour in County Waterford, on the south-east coast of Ireland. Prior to the merger of Waterford County Council with Waterford City Council in 2014, Dungarvan was the county town and administrative centre ...

County Waterford County Waterford ( ga, Contae Phort Láirge) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and is part of the South-East Region. It is named after the city of Waterford. Waterford City and County Council is the local authority for t ...

Ambush

On the night of 18–19 March 1921, IRA volunteers of the West Waterford flying column ambushed a British military convoy at the Burgery, about a mile and a half northeast of Dungarvan. The convoy included

Black and Tans Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have ...

and a

Royal Irish Constabulary The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ga, Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the country was part of the United Kingdom. A separate ...

Sergeant, named Michael Hickey. In overall command of the IRA unit was IRA GHQ Officer George Plunkett. Also present were West Waterford Brigade Commandant Pax Whelan, ASU leader

George Lennon George Lennon (25 May 1900 – 20 February 1991) was an Irish Republican Army leader during the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War. Background and early Republican activities George Gerard Lennon was born in Dungarvan, County W ...

, and Mick Mansfield. A British Crossley tender was set on fire and prisoners taken by the IRA, including Sergeant Hickey. Hickey was later killed by an IRA

firing squad Execution by firing squad, in the past sometimes called fusillading (from the French ''fusil'', rifle), is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are ...

with a sign reading "police spy" affixed to his tunic. He was later buried in an unmarked grave."Unmarked Dungarvan grave pushes man to act as his father's son"
, ''The Munster Express'', 17 March 2006. Other prisoners including Captain DV Thomas, the commander of the British garrison, were released. After the ambush, a group of volunteers under Plunkett returned to search for any armaments left behind by the British forces. Crown forces who were now searching the area engaged the IRA party; IRA volunteers Seán Fitzgerald and Pat Keating were shot dead.O'Halpin, pg 347. A member of the

, Constable Sydney R. RedmanRIC Memorial
; accessed 20 August 2014. was shot dead during the return fire.

References

Sources

*''Rebel Heart: George Lennon: Flying Column Commander'', Mercier 2009, {{DEFAULTSORT:Burgery Ambush Conflicts in 1921 1921 in Ireland Military actions and engagements during the Irish War of Independence Dungarvan History of County Waterford March 1921 events Ambushes in Europe