was in the cab with the driver and, when the latter was
killed, the afficer jumped
from the cab and in over the ditch amongst some of aur lads who did nat recognise him in the darkness and the excitement. He lay there until his men surrendered. I taak fram him a revolver and his
+
II
|:.1 ,l,
The military party were from the 2nd Hampshire Regiment,
comprised
a
captain,
promised
to do and were
thereupon released....
We
suffered no casualties.
Records show
that n
ambush one soldier
the was
killed, six wounded and thirty captured
(a
rF-
a
lieutenant and about 25 other ranks. In addition, there were two R.LC. men named O'Neill and Prendiville with the military, presumably acting as guides. These two men, after being disarmed, were taken a short distance up the Clashmore road and told they would be shot unless they gave their word to resign from the R.LC. This they
nd released).
Some RIC rules For those wishing to joln the Roya Irish Constabulary (RIC) the minimum age was 19. However, for the son of an RIC man the mlnimum age
was 18. The maxlmum age was 27. Applicants had to be a minimum of 5ft 9inches but for sons of RIC men t was lowered to 5ft Blnches. A member oF the RIC had to serve for 7 years before being I ven permission to marry.
t &l
q$t
Sam Browne Belt.
It
t
;tt;t?r
This is the chemist shap in Youghal where Maurice Prendiville died from his wounds. The owner of the premises, John Morrison Torrens was also a photographer and took this photo in 1910.
To Resign.., or not?
Six months before 14aurice Prendiville was killed the famous mutiny took place in Listowel Barracks when the RIC constables there refused to go along with new rules of engagement with republicans that would require them to shoot IRA suspects on sight; people who were th eir
neighbours, friends
and relations. Following Constable Mee's aonfrontation with Colonel Smyth in Listowel Barracks the RIC constables held a meeting in what was to become John B. Keane's bar
in William St and of the twenty-five who had been involved in the incident, fourteen, who were single,
decided to resign. Within three months of this high profile incident over 1,100 men resigned from the force.
The officers and men of the
RIC were
in a
dangerous occupation - a fact reflected in their rates of pay. With
men leaving the service in their droves the starting salary for a constable with less than six months service had risen from f39 a year in 1889 to EBo in January 1920. For married men with families resignation would have nearly always meant a descent into poverty or exile. IYight have been the sort of a situation expression 'Caught between a rock and a hard place'was devised to describe
the
A lot of Rlc. The number of RIC constables in Kerry on Auqust 1, 1892 was 587 which included five Teseryes, Three years later, in 1995, the force had fallen slightly to 562. The total RIC force in the 32 counties during this time was over 11,000,
23
