Lower Glanmire Road/Water Street - December 9 1920

It was 4:30 on the evening of Tuesday December 9th 1920 when John Fleming and his two brothers and a friend were making their way back from Horgans Quay. They had been down at the quay where a British vessel was docked. 

The Fleming brother's friend was an ex British soldier who wanted to leave Cork and they were there organising his passage home with the British vessel. They were told to come back in an hour and the men decided to head up Water Street to a pub where they would kill the hour.

John Fleming was a 36 year old married man from Cattle Market Street on the north side of the city. He was an ex member of the Royal Navy in which he had served 22 years. He served during World War I and saw action at the Battle of Jutland. 

                                                                      John Fleming

 
As Fleming and his brothers, along with their friend, reached the top of Water Street at it's junction with the Lower Glanmire Road they heard the sound of lorries approaching at high speed.

 The men made a dash across the road for the public house but just as they did three Crossley Tenders of Auxies sped past and a hail of bullets rained down in their direction. John Fleming shouted out "I am shot!" He stumbled towards the footpath before collapsing near the wall of a house.

The Freeman's Journal December 9 1920

An ambulance brought Fleming to the North Infirmary where an operation to remove the bullets from his abdomen proved unsuccessful and he died shortly after 8pm that night. 

Irish Independent December 9 1920

The British authorities denied the bullets which killed Fleming came from their guns. The Fleming brothers and their friend stated the opposite. 

The auxies had earlier that day been rampaging across Cork city, or as they called it "performing searches." They had ransacked homes and looted shops. Troops racing around the city in lorries shooting wildly had become a common feature of life on the streets of Cork during those tense times and John Fleming was one such victim of their unruly actions.

The junction of Water Street and Lower Glanmire Road which is today forming part of the Horgans Quay redevelopment site.