Questions on Soloheadbeg ambush
Can anyone please explain why many historians consider the Soloheadbeg ambush as the start of the Tan War? Also, were the RIC men killed in this ambush armed or unarmed? Dan Breen's account clearly states they were armed with rifles, which was standard for RIC men of the day, and more likely considering they were escorting gelignite. However I've found many - as yet unsubstantiated- accounts on the net claiming they were unarmed. I'd appreciate your comments.

On Tuesday, 21 January 1919, between the hours of 12:30 pm and 1 pm, two Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) constables were ambushed near Tipperary town and shot dead. This attack is generally regarded as the start of the horrific and bloody guerrilla war which became known as the Anglo-Irish War. Constables James McDonnell and Patrick O'Connell (both Irish born Catholics), had been walking with loaded rifles escorting a horse drawn cart containing a load of gelignite from Tipperary Military Barracks for blasting purpose at Soloheadbeg Quarry (located 3 miles from Tipperary). Constable McDonnell, who was about 50 years was from Belmullet, County Mayo. He was a widower with four children. Constable O'Connell, from Coachford, County Cork, was about 30 years and unmarried. According to the page 1 of The Cork Examiner 21 January, 1919 and Robert Kee author of The Green Flag" (London 1972), p.632, both constables were very popular policemen within the community. The driver of the cart was a James Godfrey, who was accompanied by Patrick Flynn, a County Council employee. A group of masked men of the I.R.A.'s 3rd Tipperary Brigade, which included Dan Breen, Séan Hogan, Séamus Robbinson and Séan Treacy, jumped over the roadside fence near the quarry and shouted "hands up". Dan Breen claims in his book "My fight for Irish Freedom" (Anvil Books Dublin 1928) that the constables raised their rifles in preparation and that they were forced to kill the two constables. After loading up the constables' rifles and ammunition, Hogan drove the cart away with Treacy, Breen and the explosives away in the direction of the quarry while the others headed towards Coffey's forge. Witnesses later saw the cart been driven furiously towards Dundrum, County Tipperary, by two masked men with a third in the back. The horse and cart minus the explosives were later found abandoned at Allen Creamery near Dundrum, by District Inspector Poer O'Shee of Clonmel and Sergeant Horgan of Tipperary. The following day Martial Law was imposed and on page 1 of the Cork Examiner 21 January, 1919, the following communiqué was published; "In view of the murder of police constables in Tipperary yesterday, the Irish Government has determined to proclaim the district a military area immediately - Press Censor, Ireland". The British Government offered a reward of £1,000 and wanted posters containing photographs of Dan Breen were posted outside every police barracks in the country (Click here to see the RUC Museum's copy of the wanted poster - external link). Descriptions of Breen, Hogan, Robbinson and Treacy were given in the RIC's "Hue and Cry". Hogan was eventually arrested in May 1919 and sent to Cork jail to await trial. On 13 May 1919, while Hogan was being escorted from Thurles RIC Barracks to the Cork city's jail by four armed policemen, a group of Hogan's comrades boarded the train at Knocklong Railway Station and attacked the police escort. Hogan was freed but Sergeant Peter Wallace and Constable Michael Enright of the Royal Irish Constabulary were shot dead and Breen and Treacy were seriously wounded. Breen and Treacy recovered from their wounds but Séan Treacy was later shot dead on 15 October 1920, in a gun fight in Talbot Street, Dublin. Dan Breen survived both the Anglo-Irish War and Irish Civil War and became a TD (member of the Irish Parliament - Dáil Éireann) for North Tipperary.

Just did a quick search there, and that was from policehistory.com

The Soloheadbeg Ambush The driver of the cart, James Godfrey and a County Council employee, Patrick Flynn were unhurt. The ambushers missed the detonators which were in Flynn's coat pocket. The Volunteer unit from the South Tipperary Brigade comprised Seamus Robinson, OC; Sean Tracy, Vice-OC; Tom Breen, QM; Sean Hogan, Tim (Tadgh) Crowe, Patrick Dwyer, Michael Ryan, Patrick McCormack and Jack (Sean) O'Meara. (Breen gives the names of these nine Volunteers who were present at the Soloheadbeg ambush (Breen 1989, pg 33). However, there are only eight names on the Soloheadbeg memorial at the site of the ambush. O'Meara's name is missing. Ryan says that, according to some accounts, O'Meara was active as a cyclist scout and dispatch rider. Also involved, according to Ryan, but not present at the ambush were Con Power, Arty Barlow, Maurice Crowe, Dinny Lacey and Brian Shanahan. The killings of the policemen met with widespread condemnation. Constable McDonnell's son at the inquest asked whether the policemen "were given a dog's chance, and whether they had been given time to deliver up the explosives" (Ryan 1945, pg 66). Volunteer GHQ had not sanctioned the ambush. Also, according to Breen, Volunteer GHQ wanted the ambushers to go to the States but they refused to leave. Also, according to Ryan, many Volunteers "believed that the capture of arms and gelignite could have been made without loss of life and by surprise; that to be blunt, the Soloheadbeg was a bungled business." Ryan attempts to disprove but his arguments are not convincing. Robinson, Breen, Tracey and Hogan (‘The Big Four’) went on the run, staying at various 'safe houses' in Tipperary and Limerick. They did not carry out any further attacks until May at Knocklong. Twohig's comment on Soloheadbeg combines Cork conceit and pragmatism in equal measure "The ambush at Soloheadbeg, Co. Tipperary on 21 January 1919, has been upheld as the first in Ireland and the start of the War of Independence. So claimed Dan Breen in My Fight for Irish Freedom. This is totally erroneous. On the previous July 7, 1918, a like ambush occurred … near Ballingeary, Co. Cork. … A policeman was wounded and some weapons captured. The men had worn masks and simply went home afterwards, to indicate the simplicity of the operation. At Solohead they neglected to take such precautions and spent the next few months circling rather hysterically about the general area." (Twohig 1996, pg 191).

Thanks for that MacLiam. There appears to be a 'revised' version on the net asserting the RIC were unarmed, unless evidence has since come to light which disproves Dan Breen's account. Regarding my initial question - various accounts state 'the first shots of the war...' etc., however a number of Peelers had been attacked and shot in the two years preceding this ambush and arms raids etc. Almost every book I've read which mentions this incident state its 'generally accepted as starting the war,' but fail to explain why.