On 03 May 1921 the IRA's South Mayo Brigade Flying Column commanded by Commandant Tom Maguire ambushed an RIC/Black and Tan resupply patrol in order to destroy it and cause the closure of Derrypark RIC Barracks seven miles to the south of Tourmakeady. 
Following the ambush the Column took to the near by Partry mountains and was subsequently engaged by British troops from the Border Regiment. The IRA commander said that the Column was surrounded by up to 600 troops and that they fought their way out, inflicting up to 50 casualties and suffering 3. A Border Regiment Company Commander said that he shot the three IRA casualties and that he was the only British soldier wounded in the encounter. Was this a major success for the South Mayo Brigade IRA as is now generally accepted? Was it a minor action for a platoon from C Compnay, 2 Bn, Border Regiment? What really happened? This book studies the available evidence in detail and for the first time puts into place the actual sequence of events surrounding the Tourmakeady and the battle of Tourmakeady.