The 3rd Cork Brigade, also known as Third (West) Cork Brigade, was a unit of the
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...
that operated in the western areas of
County Cork
County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...
during the
Irish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence (), also known as the Anglo-Irish War, was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and Unite ...
. The unit was commanded by
Tom Barry for most of the conflict and was responsible for the
Kilmichael Ambush and
Crossbarry Ambush.
Charlie Hurley took command of the brigade during Tom Barry's illness in 1920.
Activities
Under the command of Tom Barry, who later described many of the unit's activities in ''
Guerrilla Days in Ireland'' (1949), the 3rd Cork Brigade was one of the most active during the Irish War of Independence.
Its actions were focused on the
West Cork area, and included the Kilmichael Ambush in November 1920, which resulted in the deaths of 18 members of the
Auxiliary Division
The Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary (ADRIC), generally known as the Auxiliaries or Auxies, was a paramilitary unit of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) during the Irish War of Independence. It was founded in July 1920 by Majo ...
, and the
Crossbarry Ambush of March 1921, during which the unit escaped encirclement by 1,200 British troops.
Other activities, planned by the unit, were aborted. For example, a planned attack on a
Black and Tan barracks in
Kilbrittain was called-off after two aborted attempts. Towards the end of 1920, members the unit planned an attack on the barracks, proposing to plant a mine against a door or wall and to storm the barracks immediately after it exploded. A
"home-made" mine was made, consisting of 30 pounds of
gelignite
Gelignite (), also known as blasting gelatin or simply "jelly", is an explosive material consisting of collodion-cotton (a type of nitrocellulose or guncotton) dissolved in either nitroglycerine or nitroglycol and mixed with wood pulp and Potassi ...
and gun cotton encased in a wooden box. On the night of 31 December 1920, and again in mid-January 1921, two attempts were made. On both occasions the
mines failed to explode, and the attacks were aborted.
Actions associated with the brigade
:
:
:
See also
*
Timeline of the Irish War of Independence
A timeline is a list of events displayed in chronological order. It is typically a graphic design showing a long bar labelled with dates paralleling it, and usually contemporaneous events.
Timelines can use any suitable scale representing ...
*
North Longford Flying Column
References
{{reflist
External links
Cork's War of Independence - List of Third Brigade incidents
Irish Republican Army (1919–1922)