Soloheadbeg Ambush

Soloheadbeg marked the opening strike of the Irish War of Independence on 21 January 1919, when Irish Volunteers ambushed a Royal Irish Constabulary convoy carrying gelignite. Seán Treacy and Dan Breen helped coordinate the attack, killing two officers and seizing the explosives without waiting for higher command. The violence happened the same day a new Irish parliament declared independence, turning a local robbery into the first act of a national war.