Military Occupation of Newcastle West

On the 2nd of April 1922 the Newcastle West volunteers gathered, the important decision to be taken at this stage was whether one would take pro or anti-treaty stance. This was done in a rather friendly manner with the vice commandant Micheal Colbert asking the men to step to a particular side to indicate what side they were pledging allegiance to, Anti or Pro treaty. They then marched back into the town in two separate columns. The pro-treaty forces were quartered in Castleview, while the anti-treaty side who were under the command of Garret McAuliffe retained the barracks and castle which had been taken from the British.

 

On July 30th the anti-treaty forces took the initiative of taking Patrickswell in order to stop a northerly invasion. The result was not in their favour and they were quickly repelled by a force of Dublin Guards. The pro-treaty forces were moving Westward, volunteers from Newcastle West on both sides advanced to Adare which was on the edge of their operational area. Adare fell to the pro-treaty forces on August 4th. The town of Rathkeale was next and it fell quiet easily and there was a scatter of anti-treaty volunteers. Upon their arrival back at Newcastle west, they were described as a: "bedraggled lot, trudging along in disparate groups, with seemingly little fight left in them". Anti-treaty forces were arriving back and many were billeted in local houses around the area. A Lewis Gun was placed at the entrance of the castle to prepare for the inevitable onslaught. The volunteers were well armed, the most of these weapons came from the pile which the British army left after them at the new barracks in Limerick.
 

On August 7th the battle started. There were approximately 215 anti-treaty defenders, their numbers had been seriously depleted due to those who were making their way back in an effort to try and hold Buttevant. It was thought that the pro-treaty forces numbered 400-500 under the command of Brigadier Slattery and Col. Commandant Keogh. The tactic employed by the forces was firstly to secure a position for the eighteen-pounder gun, once this was achieved the battle was generally over, at this stage the main body of the forces would enter. The tactic had been successfully used in the surrounding towns, but the question was could it work in Newcastle West. The pro-treaty forces were deployed around the edge of the town ay around 3:00am. They had been initially somewhat impeded on their approach; as a party led by Garret McAuliffe engaged them in fire. The attack began with an armoured car bursting through a barricade in the square, this having happened the defenders maintained a fusillade of rifle fire until ammunition was exhausted. The culmination of the battle was the shelling of the castle also being the headquarters. Three to four shells were fired upon the castle of which two were direct hits.