Pettigo - Fighting in 1922

Fighting in 1922

In June 1922, at the tail end of the Irish War of Independence, Pettigo in what became the new Irish Free State, and Belleek, which was now in Northern Ireland were occupied by a 100-strong Irish Republican Army unit who had arrived there from Donegal. They were attacked first by a party of 100 Ulster Special Constabulary, who crossed Lough Erne but they were beaten off, losing one killed. Two companies of British Army troops along with 6 field guns, along with the USC, was then sent to take the villages. In the ensuing fighting, in which the British bombarded the village and then stormed it, the IRA lost three men killed, six wounded and four captured before being forced to retreat back to Donegal. One British soldier was killed in the fighting. Two civilians were also shot dead by the USC in nearby Lettercan. Other reports put the IRA casualties at seven killed and the total death toll as high as 30.