College Road RIC Barracks sat in a prominent position at the junction of Gillabbey Street, Connacht Avenue and St Finbarrs Road. It was one of 9 substations forming part of the RIC's South District in Cork city. The HQ Station was located at Union Quay.
Today - the former RIC Barracks on College Rd.
On armistice day 1918 Volunteers of the First Cork Brigade broke a comrade out of the gaol so, they cut the telephone lines connecting the College Road Barracks to the jail up the road!
The rear of the old barracks, stone wall still intact. Red stone pillar of old back gate still visable.
In February 1921 a Black & Tan from the College Road Barracks fell victim to an IRA ambush party as he was leaving the County Gaol to head back to his fortress on College Road with his fellow tans.
An active IRA Company worked in the midst of the College Road Barracks. "A" Company, 2nd Battalion , Cork No.1 Brigade was better known as The College Company. It consisted of students from the Queens College Cork, now known as UCC.
The revolutionaries in UCC were right under the nose of the crown forces yet their activities went unoticed. On one side of the campus was the County Gaol while on the other side was the College Road Barracks!
Witness statement of Michael O'Donoghue.
The College Company consisted mostly of medical and engineering students. Their meeting place was in the clock tower of The Quad. There they planned and prepared and even hid arms and uniforms and never were they discovered by either the British authorties or the college authorties!
St Augustine's on Washington St. The College Company church.
Military Witness Statement of Peter Kearney of the College Company.
During the Civil War the College Road Barracks was taken over by the Free State. It became the scene of a fierce firefight in 1922 when Anti-treaty IRA attacked it. Surrounding buildings still bear the scars from that time.
No comments:
Post a Comment