29/11/04
By Eoin English
AN AUTHOR was challenged yesterday to name his sources and end decades of controversy surrounding an IRA ambush in West Cork.
Historian and author Meda Ryan called on Peter Hart to name two men he says he interviewed which led to his claims that Tom Barry’s account of the 1920 Kilmichael ambush was “riddled with lies and evasions”.
Ms Ryan was speaking in Kilmichael during ceremonies to mark the 84th anniversary of the ambush.
“While Peter Hart fails to reveal the identity of his anonymous sources, the story of the Kilmichael ambush will remain clouded in controversy.
“This is extremely important for history and for the men who fought with the third West Cork Brigade. “If he revealed the names, then the credibility of these two witnesses who claim to give a first-hand account could be examined,” she said.
Barry, commanding officer of the third West Cork Brigade, led the IRA unit in an ambush against Macroom Castle-based Auxiliaries on November 28, 1920.
It was the first major ambush against British forces in Ireland.
Eye witnesses said some Auxiliaries shouted “surrender” and dropped their guns soon after the ambush began.
As Barry’s men stood thinking the exchange was over, some Auxiliaries picked up their guns and began to fire again, killing three volunteers.
Realising the “false surrender”, Barry then issued an order to his men to open fire, killing all but two of the Auxiliaries.
He accepted full responsibility for the action, Ms Ryan said. Peter Hart, who was attached to Queens University Belfast but who now lives in Newfoundland, claimed in 1998 that Barry and his men killed prisoners, and that he refused to accept the false surrender.
But Ms Ryan, whose uncle Pat O’Donovan was involved in the ambush, reiterated the widely-held view that the Auxiliaries engaged in a false surrender.
By Eoin English
AN AUTHOR was challenged yesterday to name his sources and end decades of controversy surrounding an IRA ambush in West Cork.
Historian and author Meda Ryan called on Peter Hart to name two men he says he interviewed which led to his claims that Tom Barry’s account of the 1920 Kilmichael ambush was “riddled with lies and evasions”.
Ms Ryan was speaking in Kilmichael during ceremonies to mark the 84th anniversary of the ambush.
“While Peter Hart fails to reveal the identity of his anonymous sources, the story of the Kilmichael ambush will remain clouded in controversy.
“This is extremely important for history and for the men who fought with the third West Cork Brigade. “If he revealed the names, then the credibility of these two witnesses who claim to give a first-hand account could be examined,” she said.
Barry, commanding officer of the third West Cork Brigade, led the IRA unit in an ambush against Macroom Castle-based Auxiliaries on November 28, 1920.
It was the first major ambush against British forces in Ireland.
Eye witnesses said some Auxiliaries shouted “surrender” and dropped their guns soon after the ambush began.
As Barry’s men stood thinking the exchange was over, some Auxiliaries picked up their guns and began to fire again, killing three volunteers.
Realising the “false surrender”, Barry then issued an order to his men to open fire, killing all but two of the Auxiliaries.
He accepted full responsibility for the action, Ms Ryan said. Peter Hart, who was attached to Queens University Belfast but who now lives in Newfoundland, claimed in 1998 that Barry and his men killed prisoners, and that he refused to accept the false surrender.
But Ms Ryan, whose uncle Pat O’Donovan was involved in the ambush, reiterated the widely-held view that the Auxiliaries engaged in a false surrender.
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