# Ballyseedy Massacre (7 March 1923)

URL: https://allhistories.com/ireland/timeline/1923-ballyseedy-massacre
Themes: Wars & Battles

From November 1922 the Free State government, under emergency powers passed by the Dáil, carried out official executions of anti-Treaty prisoners captured in arms; 81 were executed by May 1923, among them Erskine Childers. The republicans responded by attacking pro-Treaty politicians and their property. County Kerry, where the anti-Treaty IRA remained strong, saw some of the most bitter fighting of the war. On 6 March 1923 a booby-trap mine at Knocknagoshel killed five Free State soldiers, including three officers of the Dublin Guard. The following night, at Ballyseedy crossroads near Tralee, nine republican prisoners taken from Ballymullen Barracks were tied together around a landmine, which was then detonated. Eight were killed; one, Stephen Fuller, was blown clear and escaped. The army claimed the prisoners had died clearing a mine laid by republicans. Within days similar killings followed at Countess Bridge near Killarney, where four prisoners died, and at Cahirciveen, where five were killed. An army inquiry exonerated the soldiers involved. The Kerry killings became the most notorious atrocities of the Civil War, leaving bitter memories that shaped Irish politics for generations; a memorial now stands at Ballyseedy.

## Why it matters
Ballyseedy symbolised the brutality of the Civil War and left a deep legacy of bitterness in Kerry and in Irish politics.

Ruler at the Time: [George V](https://allhistories.com/ireland/rulers/george-v)

President of the Executive Council: W. T. Cosgrave (Cumann na nGaedheal)
Prime Minister of Northern Ireland: Sir James Craig (Ulster Unionist Party)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Executions during the Irish Civil War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executions_during_the_Irish_Civil_War)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica — Irish Civil War](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Irish+Civil+War)
- [History Ireland — Ballyseedy](https://www.historyireland.com/?s=Ballyseedy)
- [Dictionary of Irish Biography — Erskine Childers](https://www.dib.ie/search?search_api_fulltext=Erskine+Childers)
- [Wikipedia — Revolutionary Period (period overview)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_revolutionary_period)