RIC Constable Joseph C. Holman

RIC Constable Joseph C. Holman (aged 21) from Sussex (Killally near Kilworth)

Date of incident: 1 June 1921

Sources: CC, 2 June 1921; CE, 3 June, 5 July 1921; FJ, 3 June 1921; II, 3 June 1921; CCE, 4 June 1921; Military Inquest, WO 35/152/10 (TNA); Weekly Summary of Outrages against the Police (CO 904/148-50, TNA); Con Leddy’s WS 756, 15 (BMH); Abbott (2000), 247-48; ‘The Irish Rebellion in the 6th Division Area’, Irish Sword, 27 (Spring 2010), 148; irishmedals.org (accessed 28 July 2014).                                                                                         

Note: Holman, aged 21 and unmarried, was shot dead on the evening of 1 June 1921 while he was out walking with ‘a lady friend’ on a public road at Killally near the village of Kilworth; he was stationed at Kilworth RIC barracks at the time of his death. The killing occurred about a half-mile from the barracks. See CCE, 4 June 1921. According to a Dublin Castle report, Holman ‘was shot dead while walking with a girl friend near the village. His assailants were concealed behind a hedge.’ See II, 3 June 1921. He had gunshot wounds in the face, throat, and chest. His assailants lay hidden in a plantation near the roadside. His remains were taken to the Fermoy Military Hospital. See Military Inquest, WO 35/152/10 (TNA). Constable Holman had fewer than eight months of service with the RIC; he had previously been a Royal Marine.