21 June 2025
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
A publication on the War of Independence in East Cork, authored by Tom O’Neill MA, Paul Busteed and Eugene Power, is scheduled for release in November of this year, to be published by the History Press.
‘East Cork was a very dangerous area during the Irish War of Independence. Several major and minor actions between the IRA and Crown Forces took place there during 1920 and 1921, including the first RIC Barracks to be captured and destroyed at Carrrigtwohill. Other significant events include the capture of Castlemartyr and Cloyne barracks, the ambush at Mile Bush near Midleton where a British Army bicycle patrol was relieved of their weapons, and the IRA ambush of an RIC foot patrol in Midleton. This period also saw the first official reprisals, the disastrous battle at Clonmult, the Cobh quarry attack, and the Bunker Hill ambush. This book includes all the major and minor engagements between the IRA and Crown Forces; thee actions described have never before been so extensively researched and published in such a comprehensive and balanced fashion’.
Co-author Tom O’Neill worked as the facilities manager on Spike Island with the Prison Service from 1989 – 2003. When Spike opened as a heritage centre he set himself the task of researching the 1921 prison. He is the author of The Battle of Clonmult and has an MA in History from University College Cork