The 4th battalion of the IRA First Cork Brigade, under Diarmuid O'Hurley and based around Midleton, Youghal and Cobh, had been a successful unit up until the Clonmult ambush.

[4] The acting IRA commander, Jack O'Connell (Captain, Cobh Company), managed to get away but three other volunteers were killed in the attempt.

In his after-action report, Lieutenant Koe wrote:(14) At 18.20 hours the rebels signified that they wished to surrender and they were ordered to put up their hands and come out one by one.

[6]In its official communique, General Headquarters merely stated that some of the IRA Volunteers "came running out of the house, with their hands up, while others continued to fire on the Crown Forces as they went to accept the surrender."

But in his monthly confidential report, the local county inspector of the Royal Irish Constabulary accused the Volunteers of treachery, saying that some "had tried to escape by a ruse.

"[7] By contrast, the surviving Volunteers claimed that their men had surrendered in good faith, and had come out with their hands up, only to be shot by the police without any provocation.

[8]Opinion is divided amongst historians as to which version of the story to believe: Peter Hart, for example, wrote that, "The Irish survivors testified convincingly that there had been no treachery on their part."

Before the Volunteers gave up and came out, their commander had ordered them to throw their rifles into the fire: and what the police mistook for treachery may have been ammunition cooking off in the heat of the flames.

[12] Hampshire Regiment historian Scott Daniell noted on the action that "like all the Irish operations, it was hateful to the British troops".