Kilmichael ambush site

Fr Tod Umptious

Sorry for digging up and old thread but I had the good fortune to pass the ambush site for the first time yesterday.

It was late, 4.30pm ish and I was in a hurry so I did not even get out of the car, but I was surprised with what I saw compared to photos I have seen.

The area behind the 1966 monument has been cleaned up it seems, with pathways and different viewing areas.
The markers indicating where the sections were located have either been cleaned or painted and they are very well signposted, so the visitor can look around and get an indication of where the everyone was located and how the battle developed.

It's far better than just the 1966 monument that I was expecting to see.

I found it a bit eerie, as I was saying it was about 4.30pm, close to the time of the battle, getting dark, very quiet, and only 10 days from the date of the battle itself.

Jesus.

From east to west from north to south, they tried to hunt the column out....

jonniebgood1

The site of the ambush has been recently renovated by a local group in that area. A recent piece I think in history Ireland magazine was critical (my reading of it) of the renovation for many reasons. They seemed to think that the renovation was carried out without compliance with planning conditions on Archaeology amongst other items due possibly to funding issues. Such Archaeology may have helped prove or disprove some of the theories about the actual ambush. The points made seemed to be quite valid but it raises an important question about which is better, the way the site was before or now after an effort to commemorate the battle that happened there.

Its a hard one to figure out an answer to.

whisky_galore

jonniebgood1 wrote: »

Such Archaeology may have helped prove or disprove some of the theories about the actual ambush.

With all the stories being bandied about over the years and at this remove, you'd want a time machine to find out definitively what went on there.

Fr Tod Umptious

jonniebgood1 wrote: »

The site of the ambush has been recently renovated by a local group in that area. A recent piece I think in history Ireland magazine was critical (my reading of it) of the renovation for many reasons. They seemed to think that the renovation was carried out without compliance with planning conditions on Archaeology amongst other items due possibly to funding issues. Such Archaeology may have helped prove or disprove some of the theories about the actual ambush. The points made seemed to be quite valid but it raises an important question about which is better, the way the site was before or now after an effort to commemorate the battle that happened there.

Its a hard one to figure out an answer to.

My own option is that a site that contains some sort of 'interpretative' aspects is a very good idea.

From what I saw at Kilmichael there seems to be a effort to give the visitor some idea of how the ambush was set and executed, i.e. the locations of the sections, the direction the convoy was coming from etc.

The existing 1966 memorial, in my opinion, on it's own was a bit dated, i.e a throw back to another era in Irish history when the events of the Rising and the War Of Independence were views in a different light.

Jesus.

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

The existing 1966 memorial, in my opinion, on it's own was a bit dated, i.e a throw back to another era in Irish history when the events of the Rising and the War Of Independence were views in a different light.

Isn't the one at Crossbarry almost identical? I seen the Crossbarry one years ago and when I seen a picture of the Kilmichael one I thought it was the same one I'd seen before

marvin80

Apologies for dragging up an old thread but could someone pinpoint where the site is located? A google maps link would be great.

When you don't know those parts of the country it's hard to find directions for some of the sites.