Michael O'Donovan
Personal encounter with Black & Tans
Togher held many safe houses , ammunition dumps and training grounds , right under the noses of the Black & Tans. It must be remembered that in 1919/20 , the area was very different being essentially a network of narrow country lanes with high ditches and walls which made it easy to deceive the enemy. One such house was Coventry House which was sited on Doughcloyne Hill in the area where the detached houses are located today between Lanes's Cottage and Feirm Bawn. The house had a reputation amongst locals as being haunted and was effectively abandoned. The local I.R.A. hid rifles under the floorboards in the house. To deter any intruders , it was also booby trapped. The Black and Tans blew the house up and it remained in a ruinous state until 1950 when it was finally demolished to make way for the new row of houses seen today.
Location of Coventry House blown up by Black & Tans
Below is an account of an informer being executed under the Viaduct and buried nearby. Such dire actions were often carried out in the Togher region due to its isolated location and proximity to Cork City. Information supplied by Pauline Murphy.
The following Pension Application details the location of an arms dump on the land of the Richardsons and itemizes the complete arsenal which is quite impressive. Also mention is made of a safe house with a famous Commandant staying for a few nights. Information supplied by Pauline Murphy.
Many stories have been passed down through the generations in Families relating to rifles buried under sods and the bodies of Black & Tans being dumped in bogs around Togher. Martin Twomey tells of : " My Grandad told me about digging a few feet square few inches deep sod
, lifting it up to dig a hole and bury guns and put back the big sod so it looked
like the rest of the field in that area. He also spoke of a farmer ; not sure
if it was Togher area though , who hit a grenade in a shallow Arms dump
with a plough and died in the explosion. " He further added : " There
was also a tall thin old man called Leo who used to dress in a long
heavy trench coat and a black beret who I think was from Ballyphehane. We
used to bump into him on the Missioners Avenue ( the road up the back of Centra ) every day when we used to play up the fields there. He used to
tell us that there were a few informers buried up around there from the
war. This was around 1978ish. " Pauline Murphy of Spur Hill tells the following : " My Dad , Finbarr Murphy , would always mention a story of how his Grandfather " got a fine pair of boots " off the body of a Tan buried in a
field on land between Barretts & Richardsons! " The Legacy of the War and of the Black and Tans persisted for many years after in Togher and have entered into folklore. Togher Historical Association has made contact with many families over the last few years and the stories of the brave men and women and their courageous exploits during the Tan War which to date had been largely forgotten or not known at all can now finally be told.
