Reactions through the years

"The ambush that began the War of Independence"


"Thirty-one years ago, on Wednesday, 22nd January 1919- the Irish daily newspapers headlined two events. The first was Dail Eireann's unanimous adoption of the Declaration of Irish Independence; the other - which made the name of an obscure Tipperary district known throughout the country - told of the first engagement since 1916 between Irish Volunteer and an armed enemy party at Sologheadbeg, resulting in two R.I.C. men being shot dead and their equipment and arms, and the explosives they were escorting captured." - The Nationalist 28/01/1950
"The engagement that took place there was the next most important event in the struggle against the ancient enemy, as it was at Soloheadbeg the first shots were fired after a lapse of three years.
But the Sologheadbeg ambush meant more than that. [sic] It showed that light forces striking sharply and swiftly could achieve worth-while military successes. A new weapon was placed in the hands of the Irish people, who had been trying to get rid of the enemy for 700 years. Sologheadbeg was the forerunner of the Flying Columns, as the names of Robinson, Breen, Treacy and Hogan, were to be heard of again in later years." - The Nationalist 28/01/1950