Coolbawn Ambush 1921 Memorial Postcard | Mullins & Hartley
Coolbawn Ambush 1921 Memorial Postcard | Mullins & Hartley
€35.00
Out of stock
Out of stock
Description
Coolbawn Ambush 1921 Memorial Postcard | Mullins & Hartley
Original Irish War of Independence memorial postcard: “Nicholas Mullins, Sean Hartley, Died for Ireland – Coolbawn, Kilkenny, 18th June 1921.”
This original memorial postcard commemorates Nicholas Mullins and Sean (“Jack”) Hartley, two IRA Volunteers killed at the Coolbawn Ambush near Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny, on 18 June 1921. The card carries the inscription “Died for Ireland — Coolbawn, Kilkenny, 18th June 1921,” a style of memorial ephemera commonly produced during the War of Independence to honour fallen Volunteers.
The ambush, intended to strike a Crown Forces convoy escorting explosives to the Wolfhill mines, was compromised when British forces were tipped off, turning the planned attack into a counter-ambush. Hartley was killed outright and Mullins died of his wounds after both men were captured; a third Volunteer, James Doyle, was wounded and taken prisoner. It remained the last engagement between the IRA and Crown Forces in County Kilkenny before the Truce. A poignant artefact for collectors of Irish revolutionary history.
