John O'Hanlon, shot by British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 forces during the Irish War of Independence

Irish War of Independence

The Irish War of Independence , Anglo-Irish War, Black and Tan War, or Tan War was a guerrilla war mounted by the Irish Republican Army against the British government and its forces in Ireland. It began in January 1919, following the Irish Republic's declaration of independence. Both sides agreed...

, 1889 – 2 October 1920.

O'Hanlon was a native of Lackaghmore, County Galway

County Galway

County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...

. A detachment of the Black and Tans

Black and Tans

The Black and Tans was one of two newly recruited bodies, composed largely of British World War I veterans, employed by the Royal Irish Constabulary as Temporary Constables from 1920 to 1921 to suppress revolution in Ireland...

 arrived at his house and he ran out the back door. He made it as far as the stile

Stile

A stile is a structure which provides people a passage through or over a fence or boundary via steps, ladders, or narrow gaps. Stiles are often built in rural areas or along footpaths to allow access to an adjacent field or area separated by a fence, wall or hedge...

 but the area was surrounded and he was shot dead. The unit said that they had called on him three times to stop. His wife was absent from the house and it was not till the following morning, on Sunday, that she returned home and found his body.

His funeral was held at Lackagh but on word from a local policeman it was shifted back an hour from three o'clock. At three o'clock two lorrys of Royal Irish Constabulary

Royal Irish Constabulary

The armed Royal Irish Constabulary was Ireland's major police force for most of the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. A separate civic police force, the unarmed Dublin Metropolitan Police controlled the capital, and the cities of Derry and Belfast, originally with their own police...

 arrived and became angry to find the funeral over (a local paper later related that had come from Tuam

Tuam

Tuam is a town in County Galway, Ireland. The name is pronounced choo-um . It is situated west of the midlands of Ireland, and north of Galway city.-History:...

 direction and were firing the whole way out and several people travelling on the road had narrow escapes. They fired shots into the graveyard, in the villagh of Turloughmore

Turloughmore

Turloughmore is a village in County Galway, Ireland. The name means "the large lake," a notable feature of the area, together with the Clare River ....

 and severely assault many people on the fair green. Then then followed Mrs. O'Hanlon's family, shooting at and assaulting the family.

He was survived by his wife, Mary Curley and two children, including a nine-month old son. This son, Billy, in later life gave an interview concerning the events of that day as related by his family and neighbours.

O'Hanlon was secretary to the local branch of Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...

 and one of several civilians and nationalists to die in County Galway during 1920. Others included:

• Ellen Quinn
• Michael Moran (murder victim)
  Michael Moran (murder victim)
  Michael Moran , 1893-1921.Moran was a native of Carramoneen, Tuam, County Galway was shot dead in Galway while in the custody of the Royal Irish Constabulary. He was said to have been shot while trying to escape. It is not known what relation he had, if any, with the Irish Republican Army...
  
  
• Frank Shawe-Taylor
  Frank Shawe-Taylor
  Frank Shawe-Taylor was an Irish land agent and murder victim. Arising from a land dispute, a shocking event in County Galway during the Irish War of Independence led to a series of further deaths and tragedies.-Background to the dispute:...
  
  
• Tom Egan (murder victim)
• Michael Griffin (Irish priest)
  Michael Griffin (Irish priest)
  Father Michael Griffin was an Irish Roman Catholic priest.Griffin was born at Gurteen, near Ballinasloe, County Galway. He was ordained at St Patrick's College, Maynooth in 1917...
  
  
• Seosamh Ó Dónalláin
  Seosamh Ó Dónalláin
  Seosamh Ó Dónalláin, , member of the Irish Republican Army, died 1920.Ó Dónalláin was a native of Kilkerrin, Ballinasloe, and came to be involved with the volunteer movement via his brother, Tom Donnellan, who was principal teacher at Brierhill.He was shot dead in an ambush at the Old Gallows near...
  
  
• Patrick and Harry Loughnane
  Patrick and Harry Loughnane
  -Family background:Patrick was 29 years of age and Harry 22 years. Patrick Loughnane was a local IRA leader and Sinn Féin secretary, he was also active in the local GAA. Harry, his younger brother, was president of the local Sinn Féin club and a goalkeeper with Beagh hurling club...