Sack of Balbriggan

On Monday, 21 September 1920 during the night, the Black and Tans sacked the town of Balbriggan in County Dublin, Ireland.[1] The sacking was revenge for the killing of District Inspector Burke and his brother Sergeant Burke, who were shot dead by the IRA while in Smyth’s pub, Balbriggan earlier in the day.

Sacking

The sack started around 11pm when lorries carrying around 100 to 150 Tans arrived in the town from Gormanston military barracks and proceeded to loot the town.

On Clonard Street, 20 houses were destroyed. Several pubs were looted and burned including Derham’s Pub and McGowan’s Pub on George’s Hill. Overall a factory, 49 houses and four pubs were burnt down.[2]

Two men, Sean Gibbons and Seamus Lawless, were taken to Quay Street and beaten to death.[3]

Aftermath

The event caused debate in the British Parliament and H. H. Asquith, the former Prime Minister and then leader of the opposition compared the sack of Balbriggan with the actions of the Imperial German Army during the Rape of Belgium.[2]

Historian Tim Pat Coogan states that it was probably unauthorised.[4]

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See also

References
  1. "The Sack of Balbriggan to be commemorated - Independent.ie". Independent.ie. Retrieved 2017-10-16.
  2. Coogan, Tim Pat (2009-12-01). Ireland In The 20th Century. Random House. ISBN 9781407097213.
  3. McKenna, Joseph (2011-01-31). Guerrilla Warfare in the Irish War of Independence, 1919–1921. McFarland. ISBN 9780786485192.
  4. White, Gerry; O'Shea, Brendan (2006). The Burning of Cork. Mercier Press Ltd. ISBN 9781856355223.
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