Battle of Ballinalee 1920
Marker: recorded battle location (no official boundary).
Key facts
| Date (year) | 1920 | Wikidata P585 point in time |
|---|---|---|
| Century | 20th century | derived |
| Period | Jacobite & later | derived |
| Country | Ireland | derived |
| War / conflict | Irish War of Independence | Wikidata |
| Participants | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland | Wikidata |
About the battle
The Battle of Ballinalee took place during the Irish War of Independence on 4 November 1920. Members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), led by Seán Mac Eoin, drove a mixed group of Crown forces consisting of Black and Tans and Auxiliary Division personnel from the village of Ballinalee in County Longford.
Crown forces hoped to burn the town as a reprisal for the deaths of several RIC personnel in the preceding days. This included the killing of an RIC inspector, Philip St Johnstone Howlett Kelleher, the previous week and an RIC Constable, Peter Cooney, the previous day. Cooney had been suspected of being a spy and his execution was reputedly ordered by Michael Collins. At the time of his killing, Cooney was allegedly carrying coded dispatches with the names of Longford IRA men.
The Crown forces (numbering 100 men in 11 trucks) were defeated by about 25 IRA members, of which 4 were involved in the main battle. Mac Eoin had placed several groups at the roads leading into the village, including one at a house, Rose Cottage, on the approach to the village centre.
Visiting the battlefield
Location
- Approximate location: the point for Ballinalee, the place Wikidata gives as the battle’s location: 53.7667, -7.6333
Battlefields are often on private farmland: please keep to public rights of way and respect landowners.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Ballinalee (revision 1375555294), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; condensed by selecting paragraphs and trimming at sentence boundaries; citations removed. No text added.
Battle location from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby battlefields
- Battle of Ballinamuck 1798 · 12 km
- Battle of Cavan 1690 · 31 km
- Battle of Áth an Chip 1270 · 39 km
- Siege of Athlone 1690 · 43 km
- Siege of Athlone 1691 · 43 km
- Battle of Magh Slecht 1256 · 46 km
Browse more: battles in Ireland · Jacobite & later · 20th century battles
Further reading
- Battle of Ballinalee on Battlefields of the World (the battle in world context, with others of its war worldwide)
- Wikipedia: Battle of Ballinalee
- Wikidata Q4870399