Attack on Newtownhamilton RIC Barracks, Co. Armagh - 9 May 1920

BY RICHARD ABBOTT

BACKGROUND

In the 1920s each Royal Irish Constabulary Sub District was divided into areas covered by a police barracks which varied in size from extensive buildings, the property of the Board of Works in cities and towns, to six to eight-roomed houses in country areas.

The number of police officers attached to any particular barracks also varied, with almost 100 men being stationed in some barracks in Belfast as a result of civil disorder and rioting which had been prevalent in the city during the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries, whilst in the country districts barracks were normally manned by a Sergeant and four/five Constables. Each barracks was located in as central a position as possible within its own area of responsibility, taking its name from the town or village in which it was situated. However, in many instances the RIC barracks was a lone house at a crossroads, in which case it took its name from the name by which the locality was known, or the name of the townland in which the barracks stood.

On Sunday morning between 200-300 raiders attacked the police barrcaks at Newtownhamilton, South Armagh. A fierce fight raged for over 2 hours. The barracks was afterwards blown up by the raiders.

Most RIC barracks were rented from private individuals, usually on a twenty-one year lease, but with a clause enabling the Inspector General to give up the premises as a barracks after seven years of the lease period. Prior to any building being utilised as an RIC barracks it had to meet required standards, the main ones being as follows: it had to have a staunch slated roof with its chimneys drawing well; the building had to be free from damp and have sufficient rooms for the strength of the party, along with rooms for the family of one married man, normally the Sergeant, and his family. All windows had to have wooden shutters and there had to be a sufficient supply of good water on or near the premises, and, where possible, a garden and walled-in yard attached.

All men were required to live in the barracks, except married men who had authority to live with their families within a regulated distance from their barracks.

In 1919, when trouble once again flared in Ireland, the RIC had a total of 1,299 barracks, but by the beginning of 1921 this number had been reduced to 865.

Of the barracks that disappeared over this period, a large number included smaller, isolated barracks which were hard to defend. Early in 1920 the IRA began to carry out concerted attacks against RIC barracks. It refined its operational techniques in these attacks. From merely attempting to burn them down, by the use of inflammable liquids in hit- and-run attacks, to deploying significantly larger attacking forces using pre-arranged drills. These drills soon included the virtual holding captive of a town or village by a section of the attacking force, whilst a smaller, more experienced core, using a variety of improvised explosive devices, tried to penetrate the barrack defences. Whilst this stage of the attack was underway, the police occupants were kept under sustained gunfire. These two physical attacking elements were normally drawn from IRA flying columns, whilst local company resources were utilised in wider rings of outer protection, which could extend for several miles from the centre of the attack. These outer protective rings were also responsible for the disruption of road and communication links with the barracks under attack in an effort to prevent or hinder any reinforcements coming to its aid.

The use of these tactics resulted in the smaller barracks in outlying districts being evacuated in March and April 1920. The attacks on RIC barracks, particularly those that had closed, increased dramatically, with approximately 150 being burned on the night of 5/6 April alone. This campaign accelerated, with official figures recording that between I January 1919 and 30 June 1920 the number of barracks attacked was as follows:

Vacated Barracks Destroyed 351 Damaged 105

Occupied Barracks Destroyed 15 Damaged 25

The reason behind this increase in attacks on RIC barracks was mainly two-fold:

1.To prevent their being re-occupied by the increase of new recruits to the RIC from England. (These new members to the RIC began to perform duty in Ireland from 25 March 1920 and were mostly ex- Service Personnel who were to become known as the "Black and Tans".)

2.To seize the garrison's weaponry which was required to arm IRA units. This was most likely when they succeeded in capturing a small, outlying barracks.

In order to provide protection for their barracks, the RIC began to use barbed wire, steel shutters, sandbags and other military devices. Due to an unsuccessful attack on Newtownhamilton barracks a short time prior to the May attempt, the barracks had been fortified with barbed wire entanglements and iron-barred and sandbagged windows.

THE ATTACK

On the evening of Saturday 8th May 1920 attacks on police barracks spread again to Co Armagh, when between 200-300 armed and masked IRA men, led by Frank Aiken, a 22 year old from Camlough, gathered to attack Newtownhamilton RIC barracks.

Aiken, who both planned and led the attack against the barracks, which on the night contained Sergeant Traynor, his wife and two young daughters, and Constables Doyle, Foster, Gray, McWhirter and Small, was within three years to become the IRA's Chief of Staff.

Shortly after midnight on Sunday the 9th, the IRA took control of Newtownhamilton, blocking all the roads into the town with felled trees. Telegraph and telephone wires into the area were also cut, with IRA pickets being placed on all the houses in the town to prevent any alarm being given to the police who were now isolated in the barracks.

The barracks, a three-storey building in Newry Street, on the Armagh side of the Square, was situated opposite the courthouse and some derelict houses.

At approximately 12.30 am, having completed the first phase of its attack, the IRA then opened a vigorous and determined attack on the barracks with a volley of bombs being thrown onto its roof, followed by sustained rifle fire.

When the attack on the barracks began, other IRA units commenced firing down the streets of the town to deter anyone who thought of venturing out. This firing in the streets continued at intervals throughout the whole period of the attack to prevent any aid being given to the police.

After the first fusillade of shots at the barracks the police were called on to surrender. The police sent back a defiant refusal to this call, responding with equally vigorous fire.

The IRA then took up positions in an unoccupied house on the opposite side of the street and in a laneway which separated the barracks from the Ulster Bank. From these two positions the IRA concentrated a fierce amount of gunfire into the barracks.

Mrs Traynor, a native of Worcester, England, having placed her two children into a place of safety (believed to have been a back room of the barracks), returned to her husband and his five comrades as they defended the building.

As the battle raged she lay on the floor, supplying the men with ammunition and in anticipation of casualties among the police, she ripped up cloth to make bandages.

The fierce gun battle between the two sides raged for over two hours and, having been repulsed in their attack, the IRA then changed tactics.

Firstly they cleared away the barbed wire that had been erected around the barracks.They then entered the adjoining licensed premises of Patrick McManus, a retired policeman, which was under the same roof as the police barracks.

Mr McManus was bound with ropes and removed to an outbuilding, where he remained for several hours, being eventually released on the departure of the IRA.

Once they were inside the public house the IRA made holes in the building's gable wall which separated it from the day room of the barracks. Gelignite was then inserted into these holes and a breach was blown in the wall. This explosion, and the IRA entering through the breached wall, forced the police to retire to the rear of the building where they continued gallantly to resist, withstanding a siege for approximately three hours.

Having gained entry to the barracks, Aiken called on the police, through a megaphone, to surrender. The police's spirits had not been diminished by reason of their long fight against great odds as Sergeant Traynor called out a disdainful "NEVER", which was then backed by a fusillade from his comrades.

The IRA then brought potato sprayers into operation, soaking the front of the barracks with petrol or paraffin, which was set alightThe premises were soon a mass of flames, but still the police kept up their fight, and only when the roof was about to collapse on them, they grudgingly effected a further retirement to the barracks yard and outbuildings.

There they kept up their defence and stubbornly refused to surrender, holding out to daylight at approximately 5.00 am, when the IRA melted away as mysteriously as they had come.

During the attack none of the police was injured, although Constable Foster had a very narrow escape, when a bullet passed through his great coat at the right shoulder, without injuring him.

Daylight revealed that the IRA's attempt to secure arms had failed, but then the barracks was a heap of debris, with nothing but a few bare walls front and rear left standing, but bearing traces of bullet marks.

The contents of the barracks, with the exception of one or two small articles, were destroyed. Sergeant Traynor's furniture and most of his property had also been destroyed, with only a piano and a few chairs being saved.

Premises directly opposite the barracks, along with Mr McManus' house and the side wall of the bank, also had heavy bullet marks on them. It was also reported at the time that every drop of liquor in Mr McManus' premises had been taken by the IRA, with any not consumed by them by daylight being left behind.

After the attackers had left the scene inhabitants of the town informed the police they had seen a wounded man being carried away and a police search of the area found traces of blood on the Dundalk Road. Information about this attack did not reach Bessbrook, the headquarters of the Newtownhamilton District, until approximately 10.00 am on the Sunday morning. The Dl and a number of police then made their way to the area, finding the inhabitants of the town in a great state of terror.

Contingents of police also arrived later in the day from Portadown, Armagh and Newry, as well as a party of military, but no arrests were reported.

By June 4th the "Armagh Guardian and South Tyrone News" was reporting that the IRA had three of its number killed and about 20 wounded during the attack.The paper further stated that the death toll may rise as reports from other Counties had not yet been received.

THE GALLANT DEFENDERS

Throughout the engagement, Newtownhamilton barracks was defended by its small station party of one Sergeant (and his wife), and five Constables.The details of the RIC Officers involved were as follows: Sergeant James Traynor, 54913, a 55 year old married man with 29 years service, who had been attached to Co Armagh since the 26th April 1896. A native of Co Cavan, and a farmer prior to joining the RIC, the Sergeant retired from the Force on pension on 1 st May 1921.

Constable Michael Doyle, 66598, a 27 year old single man from Co Kildare with 7 years service. He had been attached to Co Armagh from the 14th December 1912 and had also been a farmer prior to joining the police. He resigned from the Force on the 31 st October 1920, rejoined on 2nd March 1921, and was married on 5th October that year. On 31 st May 1922 he was disbanded from the RIC in Belfast. Constable George Forster, 624410, a former Grocer's Assistant from Co Fermanagh, a 36 year old married man with 13 years service. He had been stationed in Co Armagh from the 21st June 1914. On 1st April 1921 he was promoted to the rank of Temporary Sergeant, and was disbanded from the R.IC from Co Armagh on 2nd May 1922.

Constable Richard Gray, 67159, a 27 years old single man with 7 years service, a native of Co Tyrone and a farmer prior to joining the RIC.The Constable had served in the Irish Guards during the First World War, enlisting on 27th January 1917. He rejoined the Force on 21st February 1919, and had only been attached to Co Armagh from 1st March 1920.

On 12th October 1920 he was transferred to the Depot and then, on 25th April 1921, to Belfast, from where he was disbanded from the RIC on 31st May 1922.

Constable Robert J McWhirter, 64966, a former Law Clerk from Co Antrim, was a married 31 year old man, with 10 years service. He was stationed in Co Armagh from 15th May 1919. On 1st August 1920 he had been promoted to the rank of Sergeant, and was disbanded from the RIC at Co Armagh on 31 st May 1922.

Constable William Small, 65662, a 27 year old single man, who had 9 years service, had had no other employment prior to joining the RIC.A native of Co Donegal he had joined the Force from Co Londonderry, being attached to Co Armagh on 24th June 191 I. He was disbanded from the RIC on 13th May 1922 from the Depot.

All six RIC Officers involved in this incident were awarded 1st Class Favourable Records and a Constabulary Medal on 19th November 1920. The medal awarded to Sergeant Traynor was later purchased by the RUC Museum and is on permanent display in its collection at Headquarters.

The attack on Newtownhamilton Barracks was the first major attack by the IRA in the South Armagh area during its campaign of 1919-1922. It was undertaken by a large number of IRA men who came from a very wide area including the South Armagh, North Louth, South Down and Tyrone areas. Later in 1921 this area became the 4th Northern Division of the IRA, with Aiken becoming its 1st Divisional Commander and one of the most wanted men in Ireland.

Although heavily outnumbered, the small police party at Newtownhamilton steadfastly refused to surrender, continuing the gallant defence of their barracks over an extended period of several hours. The bravery displayed by the police at Newtownhamilton was soon being repeated by other RIC Officers throughout Ireland, as small isolated barracks came under increasing large-scale IRA attacks.

The next major IRA attack against RIC barracks was at Kilmallock, Co Limerick, on the 28th May 1920; a full account of which can be seen on page 79 of my book "Police Casualties in Ireland 1919-1922".

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