Dennehy's Cross Ambush

(Irish War of Independence - First Cork Brigade)

Dennehy's Cross, where members of the Second Battalion, First Cork Brigade attacked and burned out two British army lorries.

On July 15th., 1920, seven members of Cork's No. 1 Brigade IRA under Commanding Officer Dick Murphy. launched an attack on two British Army lorries at Dennehy's Cross on the western outskirts of the city.

One of the lorries had broken down and was being towed by the other when the IRA party, all of whom were armed with revolvers, stepped onto the roadway and held up the drivers. One of the assailants, Sean Healy, jumped on to the cab of the leading lorry and pointed his gun at the occupants. The lorry came to a sudden halt when it collided with a fence at the side of the road. The occupants of the cab were allowed to escape through nearby fields as were the soldiers in the second lorry. The volunteers set the lorries alight and they were completely burned out.

(Details taken from a statement by Sean Healy, originally from Kilcorney, near Banteer, Co. Cork, who was one of those who took part in the ambush).