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BALLYDROCHANE

'The Friday previous to the Ballydrochane ambush we surrounded Dromcollogher and were going to capture the barracks there but there was a gentleman's agreement between the Brigades...This was the West Limerick area and Sean Finn, the Brigade Commandant sent a message they were going to do the job themselves. So we went back to the H.Q. at Freemount.

Liam Lynch

'Lynch saw that I was dissappointed that all my training on the machine gun might come to naught. "Never mind Matt, we'll have a tune out of the gun next Monday for we are going to fix one up". He meant Ballydrochane.

'We marched from before dawn, six or seven miles to our position. I remember when we were waiting and I was talking to Lynch when an old man with a horse and car came slowly along the road.

"Chief, what about the old man there? If they come now what's going to happen?" "He'll have to take his chance" Lynch replied.

'Then the next minute came the signal. Only one lorry turned up so we opened fire and shot the driver. The lorry went out of control and ran into the back shafts of the cart. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the churns going up in the air and milk spilling around and the man and the horse running down the road. I'd say the action lasted three or four minutes and every soldier in the lorry was wounded, and the driver killed. You see when I fired that was the signal for them all to open up.

'After it was all over Lynch told our lads to dress all the wounded men and British Tommies. Moylan got the credit for this and when he was later captured, it saved his life. You see Moylan was captured by the British and they would have plugged him only for the Tommies and the Officer telling about the incident. The Truce came up four or five days later but that would not have saved Sean.

'After the ambush we retreated across the Blackwater to the Millstreet area to Con Meaney's old home. We rested all that day and then that night the whole Column proceeded to Kanturk where we took up position in the sports field and in other areas to defend the town, in case of reprisals.

' As you know there were no reprisals in Kanturk that night for they didn't stir out of the R.I.C. Barracks or the Millitary post. There wasn't any sign of them on the streets so we moved on from the town at day-break and back to the Millstreet area again, from that we went in the Mourneabbey direction and there I got word from Lynch to go back to Fermoy with dispatches and I also had a leter from George Power Junior to his father George Power Senior. Myself and Paddy McCarthy started off but at Mourneabbey we found the train was gone so we went back to the Column. Apparently they sent to Millstreet for a car and it arrived driven by a young lad of about seventeen, I don't know what his name was, but he arrived anyway and I was told to travel with him and get the train from Mallow. Well between Mourneabbey and Mallow we were held up by a patrol of military, none other than the Lancers themselves. Some miles before we reached this spot I said to the young lad, "If we're held up, let me do the talking". 'The officer said "Who are you and were are you going ?". 'I said I was an ex-soldier working for a farmer back near Millstreet and that I got word my father was dead. I said my name was Foley, and that I was from Mitchelstown. 'Well he said he was sorry for my trouble and for slowing us up. He was so good he came all the way nearly to Mallow and I said to him that the young lad, who had obliged me had been very good and I would like if he would see him safe through the military. So he escorted me into the station and the young fellow back. I later learned he got back safely.

'On Saturday night I got to Moss Twomey in Clondulane and we got word down that it was actually at Paddy Aherne's house in Bank (Ceannt) Street the dispatches were to be delivered. We went for a walk down the road and of course I was asked questions about what happened and about the ambush and I was late when I came up from the Clondulane direction that night. The following day was Sunday and we got word that Fitz was very low. He died on the 17th of October. We had been waiting for news of what was going to happen and about seven o'clock that morning a lad called to me. "Mick Fitz, is dead!" he said.