The Kilmallock Barracks Survivors

Description

On 28 May 1920, five surviving members of the Royal Irish Constabulary stood together after the IRA attack on their barracks at Kilmallock, County Limerick. From left are Constables Feehy and Holmes, Sergeant O’Sullivan, and Constables Bailie and Barry. During the assault, incendiary devices set the building ablaze, killing two policemen inside. As the position became untenable, Sergeant O’Sullivan led the remaining defenders in a bayonet charge against the attacking republicans. The photograph captures the exhausted survivors in the aftermath of one of the most dramatic engagements of the Irish War of Independence in County Limerick during that turbulent year.