On 26 May 1921 the IRA ambushed an Auxiliary patrol of J Coy between Clohina and Macroom
CV Stray was injured in a fall from the tender
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : Where mountainy men have sown"....... Ireland 1921 ;
we were preparing to ambush a patrol of British Auxiliaries near the Macroom Road in Cork ....... " " We could not get a clear view of the road from where we were , so we decided to send the two local IRA Volunteers across the road into Clohina Wood ; my uncle went with them . They crossed the river by the little plank bridge , and soon signalled to us from an excellent position in the Wood . We had not long to wait - one of our two riflemen returned with a suggestion that their position would be a good one for the Lewis-Gun . I had just told him that since we had little hope of stopping the British lorries , I was going to follow them down the road with a raking fire , and that I had command of all the four hundred yards to Aha Tiompain . He agreed that I was in a better position , and had mounted the fence to leave when I dragged him down again - the first lorry was almost on the firing line .
The chagrin of our riflemen was terrible - my comrade made a movement as if to dash down the steep slope to the road , as he had left his rifle on the other side . I tried to console him - " It will be all right , " I said , " Dan will take care of it . " As if in answer , a rifle spoke loudly from Clohina Wood ; I opened fire into a steel-plated lorry . The British Auxiliaries sat on the floor of that lorry , around the sides , their legs extended inwards . It passed from my sight for the time being , so I turned my attention to the next lorry , and favoured each with a burst of fire , then quickly changed the drum for a full one . Six British lorries were now speeding down the road to Aha Tiompain - I enfiladed them generally , and the rifles near me were still firing at right-angles to the road . Soon the six lorries , three Tenders and three steel-plated Crossleys , passed from my sight just beyond the cross-roads .
The seventh and last British Tender had stopped just underneath us ; it was quite close , too close to sight it even , for it had been 'ditched' under the lee of a high bank . We could not locate a single one of its occupants , but some of them appeared to be very active , for they maintained a heavy fire at us . Our two riflemen in Clohina Wood could not see them because of a thick hedge , on their side of the road . The Auxies could not cross the road to fire through the hedge because of us , but they tried another method . Crouching under the bank on our side , the Auxies fired grenades over the hedge - but these fell in the Wood and exploded with a lot of noise but did no harm to us . We had brought no hand grenades with us , and now regretted it , for a few grenades dropped over the bank would have routed-out the Auxiliaries on to the road again . It would have been madness to cross the fence and run down the steep slope to fire down on them , so the only method left was to send a few men to have at them from the Renanirree side , if possible .......
WS 1585 may refer to this action. The dates on WS are never too reliable
On 29th June, which was a holiday, Kilnamartyra Company in charge of Patrick O'Sullivan, Battalion 0/C., carried out an attack on seven lorries of military at Clohina in the company area. The attacking party included several members of the company who had been in. the brigade flying column which had a sort time earlier been disbanded. All carried rifles and had just taken up positions behind fences in extended formation for about quarter of a mile oonne side of the road when the lorries drove into the ambuscade, With three other Volunteers I was behind a fence on my father's farm at Candromey. As the lorries passed through fire was opened by the main body. The military replied with machine gun and rifles while the lorries continued on their way. As they passed our positions, continued the firing until they got clear of the ambuscade. The attack, which took place in the morning, was decided upon in a matter of minutes after the receipt of information that the military lorries were approaching our area.