Within a few days of the collapse in Dublin, anti-Treaty strongholds were being established in the cities and towns of Munster like Cork and Limerick and in Sligo in the west of the country. The initial anti-Treaty response to the defeat in Dublin came in counties Wicklow and Wexford, writes Eamonn Duggan
As the fighting in Dublin came to an end on 5 July, 1922 the Civil War was already impacting on areas outside the capital. The National Army, under the command of Michael Collins, had secured a decisive victory over the anti-Treaty forces during the first week of the conflict and it was an advantage it would build on over the following months.
On the day the fighting ended in Dublin the anti-Treaty or Republican forces abandoned the town of Boyle, in County Roscommon when the Free State, or National Army, troops arrived under the command of Seán MacEoin complete with an eighteen-pound gun. That same day a skirmish took place in Abbeyleix during which a National Army private, called Christopher McGlynn, was killed by a sniper’s bullet.
While that was happening there was also a firefight between opposing forces at Curraghtown in County Meath, during which, one man from each side died. The anti-Treaty forces surrendered and were taken to jails in Trim and Dundalk. Despite these setbacks, the anti-Treaty military leadership was determined to continue the conflict outside the capital.
Within a few days of the collapse in Dublin, anti-Treaty strongholds were being established in the cities and towns of Munster like Cork and Limerick and in Sligo in the west of the country.
The initial anti-Treaty response to the defeat in Dublin came in counties Wicklow and Wexford. As the fighting was ending in the capital, some one hundred and fifty anti-Treaty forces from South Tipperary arrived in the west Wicklow village of Blessington where they took over buildings, commandeered vehicles and requisitioned provisions.
They were soon joined by two hundred men from the South County Dublin Brigade as well as others from Kildare. They all answered the call from Oscar Traynor in Dublin and he eventually joined the men in Blessington.
