Rineen ambush

Rineen ambush
Part of the Irish War of Independence
Date 22 September 1920 Location Drummin Hill, County Clare 52°52′48″N 9°23′53″W / 52.880°N 9.398°W / 52.880; -9.398 Result IRA victory Successful IRA ambush and getaway Black and Tans reprisals on local civilians
Belligerents
Irish Republican Army (Mid Clare Brigade)	Royal Irish Constabulary British Army
Commanders and leaders
Ignatius O'Neill	Michael Hynes †
Strength
50 volunteers	6 officers 10 lorries of British troops (c. 100 men) arrived later
Casualties and losses
2 wounded	6 killed Several wounded
1 magistrate killed by IRA (in fact unrelated) 5 civilians killed 16 houses/shops destroyed in reprisal
class=notpageimage| Location within island of Ireland

The Rineen ambush was an ambush carried out by the Mid Clare Brigade of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) on 22 September 1920, during the Irish War of Independence. The attack took place at Drummin Hill in the townland of Drummin, near the hamlet of Rineen (or Rinneen), County Clare.

The IRA's Mid-Clare Brigade attacked a Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) lorry, killing six officers. Shortly afterwards, the IRA encountered ten lorry-loads of British Army soldiers, who had been sent out on a separate patrol looking for a missing magistrate. However, the IRA held off this attack long enough to flee the scene in an orderly retreat and sustained only two wounded.^[1]

In reprisal for the ambush, the RIC Auxiliaries and British military raided three local villages, killed five civilians and burnt 16 houses and shops in the surrounding area.^[2][3]