The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) was a police force established in Ireland in 1822 to maintain law and order in the country during the period of British rule. In East Cork, RIC barracks were established in towns and villages throughout the region to provide a visible presence of British rule. These barracks were typically located in the center of towns and were often the largest and most imposing building in the area. The RIC barracks dotted around East Cork played a significant role in the region during the War of Independence (1919-1921) and the Civil War (1922-1923). They were often targeted by Irish Republican forces, who saw them as symbols of British oppression. Many RIC barracks were burned or destroyed during this period, as the Irish sought to rid ourselves of occupation.
Ballymacoda, like other towns and villages in the RIC Cork ER (East Riding) area had an RIC barracks for a period, which was located in an area we knew as kids as ‘the barrack‘, located on what is now farmland at the top of the village. However, piecing together the history of the RIC in Ballymacoda has been challenging, and I’m still not convinced I have the fully story. In this article, I’ll outline my research up to now.
The first edition Ordinance Survey of Ireland (OSI) Maps, created by the Royal Engineers between 1829 and 1842, have no mention of a barracks in Ballymacoda village. As these maps listed all major buildings, services etc. it is highly unlikely that a barracks existed in the village at the point at which Ballymacoda was surveyed. However, these maps show the area in which the barrack existed, including the building very likely to be the barrack building itself.
The first historical reference to an RIC barracks in Ballymacoda I have found is in fact the announcement of the intention to establish a station at Ballymacoda in November 1841, which carried in the Cork Examiner.
In 1847 and 1848, the Cork Examiner again provides mention of a barracks in Ballymacoda. But does this provide evidence that it was present at this point, or that the intention still existed for the establishment of a barracks? In both of these years, the same notice is published regarding the intention to place one constable and four sub-constables in Ballymacoda. The language is slightly different to the 1841 notice, in that it doesn’t explicitly mention the establishment of a station, and in fact could be read as a request to augment an existing RIC presence. However, I don’t believe the latter to be the case – I believe at this point there wasn’t a station established in Ballymacoda, but the intention existed.
The next documented reference to the RIC barracks in Ballymacoda is a mention in Griffith’s Valuation of June 1853 for the civil parish of Kilmacdonogh, Barony of Imokilly, which mentions a police barracks present in the ‘Village of Ballymacoda‘. However, I don’t believe this is referring to a barracks in the village – it may be referring to the house occupied by the Lynch’s which was also previously an RIC barracks.
My hypothesis that no barracks existed in Ballymacoda village at this point is backed by the events of the March 1867 Fenian Rising – if a barracks existing in the village, why didn’t the Fenian’s raid that for the arms they sought – they raided the Coastguard Station in Knockadoon instead? A police barracks present in the village at that time would surely have been raided. Researching for some references to prove my hypothesis, I finally found one – an explicit reference to Ballymacoda village not having a police barrack at the time of the 1867 rising, which is some evidence to prove that no station existed up to at least 1867, but as we have seen, the intention to establish a station existed for more than 20 years at this point.
The 1901 Census of Ireland brings us to our first solid historical reference that proves the existence of the RIC barracks in Ballymacoda. This contains an entry for the inhabitants of the barracks in Ballymacoda. One interesting find here is that the occupants of the barrack on the night of the census seem to have filled out both ‘Form A‘ (the general household return form) and also ‘Form H‘, which was the specialized form intended for military and police barracks. Names on ‘Form H‘ contain first and last name initial only, presumably due to the sensitivity of the information. Since we also have ‘Form A‘ for the Ballymacoda barracks in 1901, we have the information of those that were stationed there in March 1901 when the census was taken, which can be seen below.
The archives of the ‘Constabulary Gazette‘ also provide some information about the happenings at the RIC barracks in Ballymacoda and provide further proof of its existence. This was the accredited newspaper of the RIC and the Dublin Metropolitan Police, and was published weekly from 1897 to 1922. Amongst other content, it contained general news like crimes committed in specific localities, death notices of former RIC members, and details of station transfers. For example, below we can see Constable transfers between the barracks in Ballymacoda and Killeagh.
Perhaps one of the more interesting items found in the ‘Constabulary Gazette‘ relates to an inquiry held in regard to individuals at the Ballymacoda Barracks in 1902, with charges of drunkenness whilst on duty being weighed against a Constable Leahy, and charges of dereliction of duty against a Constable Griffin.
According to the outcome of the case, published in the November 29th 1902 issue of the Gazette, Constable Leahy was fined £1 10s, and Constable Griffin was dismissed from the force. In a subsequent update on the story, published in the Gazette in December 1902, Constable Griffin later emigrated to South Africa.
So when did the RIC barracks in Ballymacoda cease to exist?
There is some conflicting evidence here. Numerous newspapers (including the Cork Examiner) carried the below report of the station being closed in the summer of 1909. This also referenced the station was closing after ‘a period of twelve years‘, which would indicate that it opened in 1897.
The 1911 Census of Ireland contains no entries for a barrack in Ballymacoda, as it did in 1901 as we have seen earlier. This would seem to indicate solid evidence that the barrack was closed by 1911, and indeed may have closed in 1909 as reported by the Cork Examiner and others.
One puzzling piece of evidence that conflicts with this, is that the last edition of the historic Ordinance Survey of Ireland (OSI) maps, as with earlier maps, show the location of the police barracks in the village – however since this is referenced as a Garda station, this would have to have been after 1923. After the Civil War and the July 1921 truce, the RIC was disbanded, and a new police force was established, initially called ‘The Civic Guard‘ before being renamed Garda Síochána na hÉireann on August 8, 1923. This may be an error, for example an assumption being made that a barracks still existed at this site based on earlier maps.
Another conflicting piece of evidence, is that much later, in 1932, there is a mention in a Dáil Éireann debate on Wednesday, 20th April 1932 by Cork South East Fine Gael TD, Brooke W. Brasier, of “…a number of reductions in Civic Guard barracks. A barrack at Ballymacoda has been done away with, and I believe a number of other reductions have been carried out by the ex-Minister for Justice.” One would clearly assume that the closure was recent to this statement being made in the Dáil, or this statement may have been made in error, there is no way to tell.
There is evidence that the reestablishment of a police barracks in Ballymacoda was desired. In the financial accounts of the Irish Department of Justice, there are references in the 1928-29 and 1931-32 accounts of this, with clear evidence of funding being sought for a new barracks in Ballymacoda (by then a barracks for An Garda Síochána). Both entries carry the note, ‘Work Postponed‘ with no funding allocated.
Piecing together the history of the RIC barracks in Ballymacoda has proven challenging. From newspaper reports and official documents, we know that a barracks was desired in Ballymacoda as early as 1841. It seems likely that the barracks was not yet established by 1867; otherwise, it might have been targeted during the Fenian uprising. However, records confirm its existence in 1901, as shown in the 1901 Census of Ireland. Additional evidence appears in the RIC’s official publication, the Constabulary Gazette. Reports from the time suggest the barracks closed in 1909. While multiple sources confirm its presence, the precise timeline of its operation remains unclear.
References & Further Information
Ordnance Survey; First Edition; Six Inch to One Mile (1:10,560); County Cork, Sheet 78; Ballymacoda: Surveyed by Major Waters and Lieutenant Stace, Royal Engineers, under the direction of Thomas Larcom, Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland
Records of the Cork Examiner
Sir Richard Griffith’s Three Valuations of Ireland 1826-1864
National Archives of Ireland, Census of Ireland Records for 1901 and 1911
Archives of the Constabulary Gazette (1897-1922), National Library of Ireland
British Newspaper Archive
Dáil Éireann debate – Wednesday, 20 Apr 1932 Vol. 41 No. 3
