page_title: 3rd Tipperary Brigade
section_title: Soloheadbeg
hierarchical_section_title: 3rd Tipperary Brigade / Soloheadbeg
caption_attribution_description: Dan Breen police notice
context_page_description: The 3rd Tipperary Brigade was one of the most active of approximately 80 such units that constituted the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence. The Brigade was based in southern Tipperary and conducted its activities mainly in mid-Munster.
  In December 1918 and January 1919, in a tin hut on a dairy farm in Greenane, Tipperary, members of the brigade planned what was to be the first act of the Irish War of Independence, the Soloheadbeg Ambush. In the early part of the war, four members of the brigade were the most wanted men in Ireland. The 'Big Four', as they were referred to in Ireland in 1919 were Seán Treacy, Dan Breen, Séumas Robinson and Seán Hogan. Raids, ambushes and ongoing military activities by the Brigade Battalions and flying columns made South Tipperary ungovernable for the British in 1920 and 1921, with the Royal Irish Constabulary confined to what barracks remained occupied and the British Army only venturing out in large convoys.
context_section_description: The ambush led by Treacy, Robinson, Breen and Hogan at Soloheadbeg is generally acknowledged as the opening engagement of the war. Two members of the Royal Irish Constabulary were killed in the attack - Constable Patrick O'Connell and Constable James McDonnell.
  The planning for Soloheadbeg took place in the 'Tin Hut' on a dairy farm in Greenane. Treacy, Breen and Hogan had been undertaking experiments with explosives there and considering ways to attack the RIC. Treacy was keen to commence hostilities and believed a military confrontation with the RIC and the British authorities was the only way to establish the Republic that Ireland had proclaimed in 1916 and voted for in 1918. In December 1918, they received information that there were plans to move a consignment of gelignite from the Tipperary Town military barracks to the Soloheadbeg quarry. They commenced plans to intercept the consignment and Dan Breen's brother Lars, who worked at the quarry, received information that the consignment was to be moved around 16 January 1919. They anticipated that there would be between 2-6 armed escorts and they discussed different contingencies, such as where they would guard the RIC if they surrendered and that they would fire on the escort if they didn't immediately surrender. Robinson, who had returned to the Brigade area after his release from jail, was briefed by Treacy about the plans to seize the gelignite. Robinson supported the plan and confirmed with Treacy that they would not request permission from GHQ, if they did they would be obliged to wait for a response and even if the response was affirmative it may come back after the gelignite was moved.
  'Those involved on the day of the operation were four officers of the 3rd Tipperary Brigade IRA; Seán Treacy, Dan Breen, Seán Hogan (then only 17) and Séumas Robinson. They were joined by five other Volunteers: Tadhg Crowe, Patrick McCormack, Paddy O'Dwyer, Michael Ryan (Donohill) and Seán O'Meara (Tipperary) - the latter two being cycle scouts.
  On each day from January 16 to January 21, the men selected for the ambush took up their positions from early in the morning to late afternoon and then retired and spent the night at the 'Tin Hut'. On 21 January around noon, Patrick O'Dwyer noticed the convoy leaving the barracks. The consignment was on a horse-drawn cart, led by two council men with two armed RIC constables guarding the consignment. O'Dwyer cycled quickly to where the ambush party was waiting and informed them of the details of the convoy. Robinson and O'Dwyer hid about 30 metres in front of the main ambush party of six, in case they rushed through the main ambush position. After the convoy reached the position where the main ambush party was hiding, they were called onto surrender as masked men appeared in front of them with their guns drawn. The two constables took up firing positions and the volunteers immediately fired upon them. Both RIC constables, Patrick O'Connell and James McDonnell, were killed. As planned, Hogan, Breen and Treacy took the horse and cart with the explosives and sped off. They hid the explosives in a field in Greenane and threw a few sticks out on the roadside a few miles further on as a decoy. The explosives were moved several times and later divided up between the battalions of the brigade. Tadhg Crowe and Patrick O'Dwyer took the guns and ammunition from the dead constables, while Robinson, McCormack and Ryan guarded the two council workers before releasing them once the gelignite was far enough away.
  
  Breen has left apparently conflicting accounts of their intentions that day. One implies that the purpose of the confrontation was merely to capture explosives and detonators being escorted to a nearby quarry. The other, that the group intended killing the police escort to provoke a military response.
  "Treacy had stated to me that the only way of starting a war was to kill someone, and we wanted to start a war, so we intended to kill some of the police whom we looked upon as the foremost and most important branch of the enemy forces ... The o
caption: Reward poster for Breen following imposition of martial law
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