[citation needed] In the general election of December 1918, the Irish republican party Sinn Féin won a landslide victory in Ireland, gaining 73 out of 105 seats (25 of these unopposed) in the British Parliament.

However, in its election manifesto, the party had vowed to set up a separate government in Ireland rather than sit in the British Parliament.

[3] In December 1918, they received information that there were plans to move a consignment of gelignite from Tipperary British Army barracks to the Soloheadbeg quarry.

[3] Robinson, who had returned to the Brigade area after his release from jail, was briefed by Treacy about the plans to seize the gelignite.

Robinson supported the plan and confirmed with Treacy that they would not request permission from the Irish Volunteer leadership.

[6] Each day from 16 to 21 January, the men chosen for the ambush took up their positions from early in the morning to late afternoon and then spent the night at the deserted house.

The consignment of 160 lb of gelignite[5] was on a horse-drawn cart, led by two council men and guarded by two RIC officers armed with carbine rifles.

[8] When the transport reached the position where the main ambush party was hiding, masked Volunteers stepped out in front of them with their guns drawn and called on the RIC to surrender, shouting "Hands up!"

One account implies that the purpose of the confrontation was merely to capture explosives and detonators being escorted to a nearby quarry.

[3] Patrick O'Dwyer said the plan had been to "disarm them and seize the gelignite without bloodshed if possible",[8] and Tadhg Crowe said they did not believe the ambush would end in violence.

[15][16][17][18] The British government declared South Tipperary a Special Military Area under the Defence of the Realm Act two days later.

On 31 January, An t-Óglach (the official publication of the Irish Volunteers) stated that the formation of Dáil Éireann "justifies Irish Volunteers in treating the armed forces of the enemy – whether soldiers or policemen – exactly as a National Army would treat the members of an invading army".

[23][6] In order to avoid capture, Breen, Treacy, Hogan and the other participants were forced to stay on the move for the following months, often hiding in the barns and attics of sympathisers.