The Fall of Cork and Landing in The West
The Free State's forces took the south and west of Ireland with landings from the sea. Seaborne landings were the first proposed by Emmet Dalton and then adopted by Michael Collins. Their plan was to avoid the hard fighting that would inevitably occur if they advanced overland through Republican held Munster and Connaught. To this end, they commandeered several civilian passenger ships to transport troops. They were the Arvonia and the SS Lady Wicklow They were escorted by British naval vessels
The first naval landing took place at Clew Bay in County Mayo on 24 July and helped re-take the west of Ireland for the Free State. This force, consisting of 400 Free State soldiers, one field gun and an armoured car under Christopher O'Malley, re-took the Republican held town of Westport and linked up with another Free State column under Sean MacEoin advancing from Castlebar. A Free State column also dispersed anti-Treaty IRA forces in Donegal in Ireland's north-west.
The largest seaborne landings took place in the south. Ships disembarked about 2,000 well equipped Free State troops into the heart of the "Munster Republic" and caused the rapid collapse of the Republican position in this province.
Paddy Daly and the Dublin Guard landed at Fenit in County Kerry on 31 July and fought their way into Tralee at the cost of 9 killed and 35 wounded. They were reinforced on 3 August, by around 250 pro-treaty IRA men from County Clare, embarked from Kilrush to Tarbert in fishing boats. The Free State forces rapidly occupied the towns in the county but the Republican units in Kerry survived more or less intact and would fight a determined guerrilla campaign for the remainder of the war.
If the Munster Republic had a capital, it was Cork and the largest seaborne landings of the civil war were aimed at taking that city. Emmet Dalton led 800 troops, with two artillery pieces and armoured cars, who landed at Passage West, near the city, on 8 August. A further 200 men were put ashore at Youghal and 180 troops landed at Glandore. After some fighting at Rochestown in which 9 Free State and 7 Republican fighters were killed, the badly armed anti-treaty IRA in Cork did not try to resist this offensive but burned Charles Barracks, near Kinsale, which they were holding, and dispersed.
On 10 August, Cork city was retaken, the last city to fall in the "Munster Republic". Liam Lynch, the Republican commander in chief abandoned Fermoy, the last Republican held town, the following day. In leaving Fermoy, he issued an order to troops under his command to stop trying to hold fixed positions and to form flying columns to pursue guerrilla warfare.
Read more about this topic: Irish Free State Offensive
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