#OnThisDay 1920 Mid-Clare IRA, led by Ignatius O’Neill (ex Irish Guards) ambushed an RIC patrol at Rineen killing six (including one Black and Tan). As the Clare men gathered up the several guns and thousand rounds of ammunition, they were surprised by the appearance of three lorries of British soldiers and thirty more on bicycles. The guns and ammo was quickly distributed and they then fought a running battle with British soldiers for hours, who at one point deployed a Lewis machine gun on top of a hill but still the IRA made good their escape. Several homes in the area (O’Neill’s father and brother in law included) and the town of Miltown Malbay was burnt in a British reprisal.
The Irish at War 