Centenary of fatal shooting in Cloughjordan

The centenary of the fatal shooting of Constable William Maxwell of the RIC in Tooher’s Hotel, Cloughjordan, occurs on November 2nd. Constable Maxwell along with Constable Savage were drinking in Tooher’s Hotel (see photo) when they were fired on by members of the 2nd Battalion IRA comprising of men from the Cloughjordan and Toomevara Companies.

Constable Maxwell, who had 5 months service in the RIC and was an ex-soldier from county Down, was fatally wounded and Constable Savage escaped unhurt.

The killing of Constable Maxwell was part of a nationwide response ordered by IRA Headquarters in retaliation for the death on hunger strike in Brixton Prison of the Sinn Fein Lord Mayor of Cork Terence McSwiney. He died on the 25th October 1920 after 74 days on hunger strike.

The previous Sinn Fein Lord Mayor of Cork, Tomas MacCurtain, had been fatally shot in his home by members of the RIC in March 1920.The hunger strike by Terence McSwiney drew global and multilingual newspaper coverage of the Irish Republican campaign. After his death there were world wide protests against the British policy in Ireland.