Battle of Ballinalee

The Battle of Ballinalee took place during the Irish War of Independence on 3 November 1920. The Irish Republican Army (IRA), led by Seán Mac Eoin, drove a force of British Army and Royal Irish Constabulary from the village of Ballinalee in County Longford.

The 900 British troops hoped to burn the town as a reprisal, but were defeated by about 300 IRA volunteers. The village was the only one in all of Ireland to repel the British outright.