# Listowel mutiny > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Listowel_mutiny > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Listowel_mutiny.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listowel_mutiny > Source revision: 1324372958 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Mutiny during the Irish War of Independence v t e Irish War of Independence Timeline Soloheadbeg Knocklong Holywell Sack of Balbriggan Rineen Tooreen Ballinalee Piltown Cross Tralee Bloody Sunday (Dublin) Kilmichael Burning of Cork Pickardstown Drumcondra Clonfin Dromkeen Upton Clonmult Coolavokig Sheemore Clonbanin Kilfaul Selton Hill Burgery Crossbarry Headford Scramoge Tourmakeady Kilmeena Custom House Carrowkennedy Rathcoole Coolacrease Bloody Sunday (Belfast) McMahon killings Arnon Street killings Dunmanway killings The **Listowel mutiny** occurred during the [Irish War of Independence](/source/Irish_War_of_Independence) when [Royal Irish Constabulary](/source/Royal_Irish_Constabulary) officers under the command of County Inspector O'Shea refused to be relocated out of their rural police station in [Listowel](/source/Listowel), [County Kerry](/source/County_Kerry) and moved to other areas.[1] The uprising started on 17 June 1920, and has been cited as finishing when the local Divisional Police Commissioner for Munster, Lt.-Col. [Gerald Bryce Ferguson Smyth](/source/Gerald_Bryce_Ferguson_Smyth) was killed by [Irish Republican Army](/source/Irish_Republican_Army) volunteers a month later on 17 July. By this time many police officers in the area had moved into service with the IRA or decided not to engage the IRA in combat, for a variety of reasons.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] On 19 June, Smyth arrived to inform the police of a new policy regarding [rules of engagement](/source/Rules_of_engagement) with the IRA and their supporters. In the course of his address, he mentioned that in pursuit of their duty they would be given the power to shoot IRA suspects on sight.[2] Order No. 5, which was issued on 17 June, stated that the police could shoot if a suspect failed to surrender 'when ordered to do so'. One of the apparent reasons for the constables' mutiny was because they were horrified by the thought of killing fellow Irishmen "on sight".[3] One of those who refused was Constable [Thomas Hughes](/source/Thomas_P._Hughes_(bishop)) from Mayo who went on to become a catholic priest and bishop in Nigeria.[4] Replacements were immediately sent from [County Limerick](/source/County_Limerick) under the command of Head Constable [Tobias O'Sullivan](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tobias_O%27Sullivan&action=edit&redlink=1), who was commissioned to take command of the District.[5] The mutiny was hailed as a success for [Irish republicanism](/source/Irish_republicanism).[1] Smyth was later assassinated when six IRA men shot him dead in the smoking room of the Cork and County Club. Smyth was buried in his native [Banbridge](/source/Banbridge), [County Down](/source/County_Down) on 21 July 1920. Railway workers outside [Ulster](/source/Ulster) had earlier refused to transport his body home and [Ulster loyalist](/source/Ulster_loyalism) "anger boiled over", leading to attacks on [Catholic](/source/Catholic) homes in Banbridge and nearby [Dromore](/source/Dromore%2C_County_Down).[6] On 20 January 1921 Tobias O'Sullivan was shot to death in the street as he walked with his seven-year-old son.[7] ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-gaughan_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-gaughan_1-1) ["Account by J. Anthony Gaughan"](http://www.policehistory.com/listowel.html). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20120614180605/http://www.policehistory.com/listowel.html) from the original on 14 June 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2012. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [Listowel Mutiny](http://www.policehistory.com/listowel.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20120614180605/http://www.policehistory.com/listowel.html) 14 June 2012 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) Garda Síochána Historical Society - Irish Police History 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Freeman's Journal, Dublin, 10 July 1920 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [Witness Statement by Cons. Jeremiah Mee](http://www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie/reels/bmh/BMH.WS0379.pdf) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20190716143602/http://www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie/reels/bmh/BMH.WS0379.pdf) 16 July 2019 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) Bureau of Military History 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Regan, John M.; Joost Augusteijn (2007). Joost Augusteijn (ed.). [*The memoirs of John M. Regan: a Catholic officer in the RIC and RUC, 1909-1948*](https://books.google.com/books?id=UFqSAwAACAAJ&q=memoirs+of+john+m.+regan). Four Courts Press. pp. 164–165. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-84682-069-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-84682-069-4). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20211004105530/https://books.google.com/books?id=UFqSAwAACAAJ&q=memoirs+of+john+m.+regan) from the original on 4 October 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2009. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Parkinson, Alan F. (2004). [*Belfast's unholy war: the Troubles of the 1920s*](https://books.google.com/books?id=HqlnAAAAMAAJ&q=banbridge). Four Courts Press. p. 28. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-85182-792-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-85182-792-3). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20211004105514/https://books.google.com/books?id=HqlnAAAAMAAJ&q=banbridge) from the original on 4 October 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2009. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Abbott, Richard (2000). [*Police casualties in Ireland, 1919-1922*](https://books.google.com/books?id=_fsEAQAAIAAJ&q=%22district+inspector+o%27sullivan%22). Mercier Press. pp. 184–185. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-85635-314-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-85635-314-4). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20211004105514/https://books.google.com/books?id=_fsEAQAAIAAJ&q=%22district+inspector+o%27sullivan%22) from the original on 4 October 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2021. ## Sources - Cottrell, Peter *The Anglo-Irish War: The Troubles of 1913-1922* Osprey Publishing, 2006 - [Contemporary account by constable Michael Kelly](https://archive.org/stream/interimreport00amer#page/68/mode/2up). The American Commission on Conditions in Ireland - [Interim Report](https://archive.org/details/interimreport00amer), 1920. - [Sequence of events according to historian J. Anthony Gaughan](https://archive.today/20120908220242/http://www.policehistory.utvinternet.com/listowel.html) *Listowel Police Mutiny* (1974) at [PoliceHistory.com](http://www.policehistory.com/) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Listowel mutiny](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listowel_mutiny) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listowel_mutiny?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.