Windmill Hill/The Rock – Civil War Shooting

Windmill Hill/The Rock was the site of a fatal shooting during the Irish Civil War in 1922, when the IRA split into two opposing factions — those who supported the signing of the Treaty which marked the end of the War of Independence, versus a cohort that strongly opposed it.

In the early stages of this Civil War, Skibbereen was under the control of a small number of Pro-Treaty (Free State) troops, stationed in the police barracks in High Street (just below Windmill Hill) and a building in nearby Market Street.

Determined to ‘take’ Skibbereen, anti-Treaty forces entered Skibbereen on the night of 1 July 1922 and took up positions surrounding the Free State strongholds, including on the Windmill Rock, which overlooked the police barracks. The following night, at around 10pm, gunfire began and continued throughout the night.

The sole fatality of this encounter was a 22-year-old anti-Treaty soldier, Patrick (Pat) McCarthy, who was shot on the Windmill Hill. On the evening of 3 July, Pat lit a cigarette whilst stationed there, giving a Free State sniper the opportunity to take a pot-shot at the light. The young soldier was fatally wounded and he died of his injuries the following day.

The attack on the police barracks and the building in Market Street was intense with many properties sustaining damage. The Southern Star newspaper reported that the area was a ‘NO MAN’S LAND’ and reported that ‘local residents were making their way to safety, with their children’. The Southern Star, 8 July, 1922.

Patrick (Pat) McCarthy, Morahin, Kilcoe, Skibbereen; 1899-1922.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.