A 1920 Constabulary Medal (Ireland) awarded to Constable M. Morrisroe, Royal Irish Constabulary, for gallantry during the attack on Ballinamuck Police Barracks, co. Longford

Constabulary Medal (Ireland), 2nd type, ‘Reward of Merit Royal Irish Constabulary’ (Constable Michael Morrisroe 66236. 1920) lacking integral top silver riband bar, edge bruising and suspension re-affixed, nearly very fine £2,200-£2,600

Provenance: Mick Leahy collection.

Michael Morrisroe, a Roman Catholic, was born in co. Roscommon on 26 February 1888. He worked as a farmer before joining the Royal Irish Constabulary on 9 November 1911. He served as a Constable with Armagh Police from 15 March 1912 and was transferred to Longford on 12 June 1919. A year later, he was stationed at the R.I.C. barracks at Ballinamuck. It was a formidable building, which had been constructed early in the 19th century to overawe the surrounding area, where Irish rebels aided by French troops had been defeated during the 1798 Rebellion, giving it an iconic status in republican tradition.

The most comprehensive account of the attack on the R.I.C. at Ballinamuck is that of Francis Davis (I.R.A. Witness Statement 496): ‘Early in June [Sean] Connolly contacted me and told me he was going to attack Ballinamuck R.I.C. barracks. I told him that it was a regular fortress. It was a cut stone building surrounded by a high wall with round towers which were loopholed; one tower on the north-west corner and one on the south-east corner. On the west side there was a fifteen foot wall with a spiked railing on top. On the north side there was a ball-alley about twenty-five feet high. This stood back on the outside from the barrack wall which was about fifteen feet high with a passage between. On the south side the wall was about twenty feet high with approximately a four-foot growth of ivy on top. Entrance to the barracks was guarded by an iron gate about twelve foot (sic) high. On the east of the yard there were out-office buildings. The building or barracks proper was of double construction with a valley roof.

On the following two nights Connolly and I made a detailed reconnaissance of the building and I gave him all the information I had about it and the garrison. After the second visit he told me his plan of attack and that he would require a ladder that would reach to the top of the Ball Alley wall and asked if I could find a suitable ladder. I knew a house that had such a ladder and on the night of the attack I procured it. The plan was to throw home-made bombs - Cartwheel boxes filled with gelignite - onto the valley of the roof, followed by bottles of petrol and more bombs to set the place ablaze.

On 10 June 1920, between the local I.R.A. and the men of our Battalion I estimate that there was somewhere between eighty and one hundred men engaged on our side in this operation. Elaborate precautions were taken to guard all roads leading to the area. We had about six service rifles for the job, the remainder were armed with shotguns and revolvers. The rifles were used to fire on the windows in opening the attack and so keep the police engaged, and this, with the noise created, would distract them from the operations on the roof. The attack went off as planned – Connelly, McEoin and others got into the ball alley and threw the bombs and petrol on the valley roof, setting the place ablaze. It was breaking day when the fire started. When the R.I.C. found the roof on fire and in danger of falling on them they retired to one of the out-offices and remained there until we withdrew. There were no casualties and no arms were captured.’

The Irish Times reported that the Ballinamuck R.I.C. garrison was a Sergeant and ten men, out of which two men were wounded.
Morrisroe was awarded the Constabulary Medal, together with a First Class Favourable Record. On 6 December 1920 he was transferred to the R.I.C. depot in Dublin. He met a local girl and married her after the Truce. His final appointment was as a member of the Castle Guard, Dublin, from 1 May 1922 until it was disbanded on 24 August 1922.