The Listowel mutiny occurred during the Irish War of Independence when Royal Irish Constabulary officers under the command of County Inspector O'Shea refused to be relocated out of their rural police station in Listowel, County Kerry and moved to other areas.
[1] The uprising started on 17 June 1920, and has been cited as finishing when the local Divisional Police Commissioner for Munster, Lt.-Col. Gerald Bryce Ferguson Smyth was killed by Irish Republican Army volunteers a month later on 17 July.
[citation needed] On 19 June, Smyth arrived to inform the police of a new policy regarding rules of engagement with the IRA and their supporters.
One of the apparent reasons for the constables' mutiny was because they were horrified by the thought of killing fellow Irishmen "on sight".
[1] Smyth was later assassinated when six IRA men shot him dead in the smoking room of the Cork and County Club.