The Tide Turns
Having held Bruree against a Republican counterattack, Free State forces prepared to capture Kilmallock itself, but anticipated there would be heavy fighting. Republican Adjutant Con Moloney commented on 2 August, "Up to yesterday we have had the best of the operations there . There will, I fear, be a big change there now as the enemy have been reinforced very considerably."
On Thursday, 3 August, 2,000 men strong Free State forces backed up by armoured cars and artillery advanced on Kilmallock from Bruree, Dromin and Bulgaden. Seven hundred troops arrived the next day with an armoured car and a field gun. By Saturday the town was surrounded by Free State forces. The Dublin Guard were also on hand to prevent Republican forces from escaping. Three miles away Free State artillery was deployed and shelled Republican forces on Kilmallock Hill and Quarry Hill. The two hills were soon controlled by Free State forces.
The National Army had, therefore, assembled overwhelming force to smother resistance at Kilmallock. They were still, however, expecting hard fighting before they took the town. To their surprise, when the Free State troops entered town, they encountered only light resistance from a Republican rearguard (volunteers from Cork). Most of the Republican troops had already abandoned their positions and retreated to Charleville.
They had departed not because the Free State troops were much stronger, but because they had been outflanked by Free State seaborne landings on the coasts of County Kerry and County Cork on 2 and 8 of August respectively. The landings in Cork and Kerry forced Comdt. Gen. Deasy to release units from this area to return home to their own areas. Although the landings in Cork occurred after the retreat from Kilmallock, the subsequent loss of brigades from Cork added to Commandant General Deasy's problems.
The final phase of the fighting in county Limerick came when the Free State advance south was held up at Newcastlewest. Another day of heavy fighting ensued in which the Government troops had to bring up armoured cars and artillery to dislodge the Republicans, who were reported to have lost up to 12 men before they retreated in the direction of Cork.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Kilmallock
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