Mallow Historic Rebel Trail/Mallow, Co. Cork

Track 1
Introduction and the Railway Station
Welcome to The Rebel Trail an interactive walking tour of the town of Mallow.
The Rebel Trail takes you back in history to the period between 1919 and 1923, to a time of
great struggle in Ireland, when both a War of Independence and a Civil War were changing
forever the future of Ireland and in particular how the people of Mallow went about their daily
lives.
The War of Independence was fought between Irish republican forces and the British Empire
to establish an Irish Republic. Following a truce and subsequent treaty with the British,
divisions over this treaty led to the Irish Civil War where pro-treaty Free State troops fought
against their former colleagues in the Irish Republican Army. The principal areas of
disagreement over the treaty were the partitioning of the island, the lack of achieving the
status of republic, and the obligation of members of an Irish parliament to swear an oath of
allegiance to the British king.
Please take a moment to acquaint yourself with this In Hand Guide. The important controls
are the power button, the play/pause button and remember even if you turn off the device it
will return where you were last listening.
The trail begins at Mallow Train Station and from there you will follow a red line that will take
you to each point of interest along the way. In addition to your In Hand Guide you will also have an accompanying map.

There will also be a quick summary displayed on a plaque erected at each numbered point along the Rebel
Trail.
In fact the Trail starts here just outside Mallow Train Station please find the plaque nearby.
Our story begins on a wet rainy cold night in January in in 1921. The much feared and
infamous Black and Tans have been in Ireland since March of the previous year to supress
rebellion. We're now at the height of the War of Independence before a truce was eventually
agreed in June of this year. With the Railway station at your back, look left. You're looking at
the North Cork County Council Offices. In the nineteen twenties it was formerly The Royal
Hotel.
On the night of January 31st 1921 the County Inspector Captain William H King,
commanding officer of the local Black and Tan regiment stationed nearby was in the vicinity
of the Royal Hotel with his wife. According to one account, while sheltering from the wind and
rain it is said they met with a relative, a nephew serving with the British Army.
At around twenty past nine as Inspector and Mrs King left the Royal Hotel they were attacked.
The inspector was wounded but his wife wearing heavy rainwear was most likely
unrecognisable as a citizen. And as a result of confusion and the inclement weather
conditions when the exchange of fire died down Mrs King lay dead. The cause of her death, a
bullet wound. And some even say it was delivered from an officers hand gun. To this day her
death is still inconclusive. The fact remains that her death enraged the local British troops and
the Black and Tan regiment stationed nearby.
At the time of the shooting about 100 rail workers were on duty at the station and many
of the workers were arrested. A little later a party of Black and Tans, under a head constable,
opened fire on the engine driver and fireman of a goods train, which had just arrived
from Thurles. In the waiting room a group of railway men were preparing for work when
the police raided.
With their hands over their heads, they were forced to stand on the station platform and finally
they were ordered outside the station, down the road to your right and told to run for their
lives. Volleys of shots were fired at them and as a result, five were injured and three lay dead:
Seventeen year old Benett  a British railway worker merely visiting on behalf of the
railway company;
Father of eight Patrick Devitt;
And Daniel Mullane, a fireman aged twenty three having escaped earlier but
returned to assist a wounded driver, he died from his wounds the following day.
In fact, the New York Times ran an article on that same day under the heading:
INSPECTOR'S WIFE IS SLAIN IN IRELAND.
The article finishes with an update stating:
In connection with the shooting of Inspector King and Mrs King...Dublin Castle this
evening says police and military were hurried to the scene and that they killed one
civillian and wounded two others.
The two civilians later died of their wounds.
We will now follow the Rebel Trail marked by the red line to the next point of interest, the
pedestrian flyover bridge which is quite visible from the Train Station.

Track 2
Flyover and Overview
From here you can see down to your left, the Black and Tan Barracks and the commanding
view it had over this side of the town park.
As you follow the red line to the next plaque you will notice half way down on your left hand
side the site of the Creamery, which was burnt down in a revenge attack by the British Army.
This action resulted in between three and four hundred people losing their jobs. A number of
buildings were destroyed during this period and these are denoted by a thicker red line.
On the right hand side, as you approach the junction, there is a yellow coloured building, with
a stone tower nearby.This was known as the Scots Church.At the time, the church itself was
no longer in use.The house attached was the former residence of the rector of the Church of
Scotland. It was referred to as "The Manse". On the night of the attack the residents of the
Manse gave what medical help they could to one of the injured but unfortunately to no avail.
A wider history of the War of Independence in the county of Cork
is wonderfully reconstructed by film-maker Ken Loach in his film
'The Wind that Shakes the Barley'. Indeed scenes from this film were shot here in Mallow, in
Brendan Synan's home in Shortcastle Street, just off the Main Street. Several plaques have
been put on the wall there celebrating the films many achievements, including winning the
much coveted Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

Track 3
Broadview - the Black and Tan Barracks
The building you're now standing in front of was called locally 'Broadview.' And it served as a
barracks for the local Black and Tan regiment during the War of Independence.
If you look high up on the side of the building, on the gable end, you'll see a small window.
Local Historian (Dan Doolin) describes how his father would have to make deliveries to this
barracks as a small boy:
Now, my father when he was twelve years of age, used to deliver the milk here to the
Black and Tans. And he used to have to knock at the door and he said it was the
most frightening experience for him...because he'd hear chains being undone inside
the door. There'd be a roar "who is there?" and he'd have to give his name and why
he's there.
And then he said 'you'd hear the window up there and a voice shouting "All Clear...All
Clear!"...and then the doors would open and they'd take the milk. He never was inside
the door of the building.... and he'd hand in the cans of milk and he'd get the empty
cans from the day before'
There was another similarly sized window high up in the same position on the other end of
this building.
After the departure of the Black and Tans it became the residence of a Doctor Harry O'Grady
who's son is also a Doctor, locally practising in the Mallow Medical Centre. Today this
building is the office of solictor, Matt Nagle, who has made some interesting finds in this
building:
I just want to say that when we were doing up the building in the 1980s we did quite
alot of work to it inside. And when we were doing up the room at the very top there,
where you have the very small little window looking towards the town, we actually
found a number of bullets under the floorboards
Which he still has to this day!
During the Civil war there were fifty Free State soldiers billeted in this building.
Now follow the red line to Emmett Street, previously known as Barrack Street. Please take
the utmost care when crossing the road.
The Rebel Trail now goes back in time to the previous year, September 28th 1920, to the
famous raid on Mallow Barracks during the height of the War of Independence.
By the way as you walk down Emmett Street keep an eye out for some signs or plaques
carved in stone along the way, WD 8 and WD 9 which are short for War Department 8 and 9.
And mark the original barrack entrances. Also see if you can find a plaque commemerating
the rebellion of 1798 when the North Cork Militia were stationed here. And if you're a real
historical sleuth see if you can find Prospect House named in honour of 100 British Soldiers
slain in a place known as Prospect in County Kildare during the same rebellion of 1798.

Track 4
The Attack on Mallow Barracks
You are now at the entrance to Mallow Barracks where two local men, members of the
Mallow IRA Battalion, Dick Willis, a painter, and Jackie Bolster, a carpenter were allowed
access to go about their seemingly innocent duties as part of the civilian maintenance staff of
the barracks which was occupied at the time by the 17th Lancers. Willis and Bolster were
able to observe the daily routine of the garrison and reckoned that raiding it would not be too
difficult. They observed that each morning the officer in charge, accompanied by two-thirds of
the men, took the horses for exercise outside the town. It was obvious to the two Mallow
volunteers that this would be an ideal time for attack. Their target being the Garrisons rich
cache of weapons.
On the morning of September 28th 1920, Willis and Bolster entered the military barracks by
this gate as usual, but this time accompanied an IRA officer who would pose as a contractor's
overseer. The officer was Paddy McCarthy of Newmarket, who a few months later would die
in a gun battle with the Black and Tans at Millstreet in County Cork.
Once the military on horseback had passed, the attackers, numbering about twenty men and
led by Liam Lynch, advanced towards the bottom of Emmett Street.

All were armed with revolvers but Liam Lynch had issued strict instructions that there was to be no shooting by the
attackers. Inside Paddy McCarthy, Dick Willis and Jackie Bolster waited, their revolvers
concealed. Another volunteer Ernie O'Malley presented himself at the wicket with a forged
letter in his hand. Behind him, out of sight, were the other members of the main attacking
party.
As the gate was opened O'Malley wedged in a foot, the soldier was overpowered and the
attackers rushed in. The volunteers immediately went to the guardroom where they held up
the guard. Meanwhile Sergeant Gibbs rushed towards the guardroom where the rifles were
kept. Despite being warned to stop, he has shot and later died of his wounds.
By now, most of the attacking party was inside the gate, rounding up the fifteen or so
personnel left behind in different parts of the barracks. Three waiting motorcars arrived at the
gate and were loaded up all the rifles, arms and equipment raided from the barracks. Twentyseven
rifles, two Hotchkiss light machine-guns, boxes of ammunition, Verey light pistols,
bayonets and a revolver were taken away. Prisoners were contained in one of the stables
except for one man left to care for Sergeant Gibbs.
In a mere twenty minutes after the sentry had been overpowered, a pre-arranged whistle
blast was sounded and the attackers withdrew safely to their headquarters at Burnfort, along
the mountain road out of Mallow.
The Times of London printed the following editorial:
Day by day the tidings from Ireland grow worse. The accounts of arson and
destruction by the Military at Mallow as revenge for the Sinn Fein raid, which caught
the 17th Lancers napping, must fill English readers with a sense of shame.
Feel free to enter the gate and explore the Barracks which a small group of twenty men held
on the morning of September 28th 1920. Just around the corner to the left in a cul de sac lies
the site of the ammunition storehouse or Magazine. In front of you is what remains of the
original parade square.
The Barracks was handed over to Irish forces by the British Army on the 17th of February
1922.nMallow Barracks was later destroyed during the Irish Civil War by retreating Anti Treaty
Forces.
It is now a peaceful residential area so please respect the hard fought privacy of the locals.

Track 5
The Post Office and Main Street
The central role played by women in the struggle for Irish independence, particularly in the gathering of intelligence, is often forgotten. Nonetheless, the information they supplied was
essential to the success of the IRA. In Mallow, two women, Annie Barrett and Siobhan
Creedon, both of whom were Post Office employees, had since 1917 and 1918 respectively
forwarded on British military messages to the local IRA units. At the time, the Post Office
acted as the hub for all communications passing from British Divisional Headquarters in Cork,
the GHQ in Dublin and military posts throughout Counties Cork, Kerry and Limerick. An
example of the key role these two women had in ensuring the success of the North Cork IRA
comes during the raid on Mallow's British Military Barracks. As the attack began, a call came
from the defenders asking to be connected to the British troops stationed in Buttevant and
Fermoy. Annie Barrett was at the switchboard. Upon hearing the plea she simply replied "I
can't hear you" and hung up. Luckily for Annie she managed to evade suspicion and
remained in her post on into independence. However, Siobhan Creedon was not so lucky and eventually lost her job.

In a reprisal for the sacking of the British military Barracks, the Main Street of Mallow itself
was to suffer the widespread destruction. The British Army first descended upon the Town
Hall. Petrol was liberally sprayed and within a short space of time the hall was a mass of
flames.
Next they set fire to the drapery of Mr. J.J. Forde, the Bank Place residence of Town Clerk,
Mr. Wrixon and with it the pharmacy of his son, which was in the same building. Then up in
the flames went the hotel of Mr. George Hanover, the boot and shoe shop of Mr. Thomas
Quinn, the merchant tailor's shop and residence of Mr. R. M. Quinn, the drapery shop of Mrs.
Cronin, the residence of Mr. Stephen Dwyer at West End, and finally the garage and
premises of Mr. W. J. Thompson. Townspeople ran through the blazing streets in search of
refuge while a group of terrified women with children in arms, hid in the cemetery of St. Mary's
Church.
From where you are now standing you can see a row of buildings from Phillip's Bookshop to
the Phone Centre across the road. These were just some of the Main Street premises that
were destoyed by soldiers of the British Army following that infamous raid on the British Army
Barracks on September 28 1920.
In all ten buildings were destoyed in direct reprisal to the raid on the Barracks, the morning
before. The buildings that were burnt are denoted by a thicker red line.
As you now travel further down the Main Street to take up the Rebel Trail take care when
crossing the road. The next stop on the Rebel Trail will take us to the local RIC Barracks
Track 6 The RIC Barracks.
Across the road between Sugrue's Furniture and Electronics and Hickey Fitzgerald Solictors
stands the original Royal Irish Constabulary or RIC Barracks. Generally speaking the RIC
Barracks remained very much in the shadows of history. Even during the War of
Independence Mallow was a fairly law abiding town with local IRA units preferring to operate
outside of the town.
When the RIC eventually left Ireland, this barracks was handed over to An Garda Siochana,
the Guardians of the Peace, to become Mallow's first Garda Station. Unmarried single Gardai
were allowed to live on the premises with dormitary accomataion provided for them in the
Barracks. Incidentally, the RIC officers also lived and slept in the barracks in their day but for
entirely different reasons. It was very much a matter of personal safety.
We will now follow the Rebel Trail to the Courthouse.

Track 7
The Courthouse and Market Square
Mallow District Courthouse is situated in Landscape Terrace on the top of William O'Brien
Street. Built in 1830 by Charles Denholm Orlando Jephson it was originally both a
Courthouse and a Bridewell, with cells at the back.
The Jephson family have had a long association with Mallow from the early 16th century right
up to the 20th century. Their ancestoral home being Mallow Castle. Records of their
residence in Mallow date back to 1584. Coincidentally Mallow Castle was sold by the
Jephson family in 1984, exactly 400 years later.
As well as the Courthouse the Jephsons were also responable for St Mary's Church and the
Market Square the site of which we will be walking through next.