Mililtary Heritage Tours

On 3 May 1921 the IRA's South Mayo Brigade Flying Column, commanded by Commandant Tom Maguire ambushed an RIC/Black and Tan re-supply patrol in the village of Tourmakeady, Co. Mayo in the west of Ireland in order to destroy the patrol and to cause the closure of Derrypark RIC Barracks, seven miles to the south.

Following the ambush the Flying Column took to the nearby Party Mountain and was subsequently engaged by British troops from the Border Regiment.

The IRA commander said that the Flying Column was surrounded by up to 600 troops and that they fought their way out, inflicting up to fifty casualties and suffering three. A Border Regiment Company Commander says that he shot the three IRA casualties and that he was the only British soldier wounded in the encounter.
What really did happen?
This book, for the first time puts together the sequence of events of what really happened. It is based on evidence found in IRA reports, Statements made to the Bureau of Military History, British Army reports & memoirs, Border Regiment reports,RIC reports, newspapers etc.

This book is a 'must read' for anybody interested in the period.

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Drawing on his military expertese, the author has produced a penetrating and unsettling study that raises serious questions about our understanding of the War of Independence and the sources we use.

Dr. Mary N. Harris, National University of Ireland, Galway
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An excellent and well researched study of a famous 'battle' that took place in Mayo during "The Troubles" of 1919-21. Donal Buckley has treated the action, its planning and aftermath, with a forensic military mind and reached a startling new conclusion. He gives due credit to the achievement of the primary IRA objectives but shows that the aftermath of the original ambush of a police lorry was a disaster for the IRA column. Required reading for all students of Irish History.

Peter
U.K.

A signed copy of The Battle of Tourmakeady is available from the author at €20 Euros plus post and package.
Paypal to dbuckley@anu.ie or contact for alternative arrangements.