Longford Auld Fellahs is a popular Longford town based nostalgia website, whilst its Facebook page, which features loveable oldies, Tom and Pat, has a loyal fol.
The aftermath of Selton - Eleven lives lost between March and April 1921
Selton Hill memorial );
);
In the immediate aftermath of the Selton Hill killings at Gorvagh on 11 March 1921 resulting in the loss of six prominent members of the IRA’s South Leitrim Brigade, IRA activity against crown forces in Leitrim came to a virtual halt. Not only had Selton resulted in the capture of a limited arms supply, but the deaths of six active column members was detrimental to any hope of increased military activity in the area. The death at Selton Hill of IRA GHQ organizer Sean Connolly who was specifically tasked with reorganizing and training the IRA in Leitrim in early 1921, coupled with the imprisonment of north Longford Brigade leader Sean Mac Eoin in March 1921 were major blows for republicans in the Leitrim and Longford region.
Just before daybreak on March 11, 1921, an IRA flying column of the South Leitrim Brigade, led by Commandant Sean Connolly, arrived at the home of local national school teacher Charlie Flynn in the townland of Selton.
Leitrim’s Bloody Sunday
);
The date of Friday, 11th March 1921, will be forever etched in the memory of those who follow history. This was Leitrim’s ‘Bloody Sunday’, when six young men were gunned down in their prime by the Black n Tans writes Cormac O Súilleabháin, Author of Leitrim’s Republican Story
In every conflict there is always an event or tragedy which stands out above all others. Something that strikes a chord within people and never leaves your mind. For the people of Leitrim, the Selton Hill Ambush is that event.
The date of Friday, 11th March 1921 will be forever etched in the memory of those who follow history, not to mention the descendants of the families affected and the generations gone, and to come. This was Leitrim’s “Bloody Sunday”, when six young men were gunned down in their prime by members of the Hampshire Regiment in the most defining engagement of the Tan War in Leitrim. In such situations many often could rightly cite the words