James Owens

It was reported that “half an hour before, the town was perfectly quiet and not a person was to be seen, and if an old woman had not muttered to the Sergeant that bad work was at hand and he better take care of himself, the whole party would have been murdered, as they only had time to barricade the doors before a mob of about 200 ruffians arrived”.

The loss of the element of surprise doomed the assault to failure. Seven well-armed RIC officers, assisted by Sir Richard Keane’s ranger, withstood the brief siege. One of the attackers was killed.