| Conflict: | Battle of Ballinalee |
| Partof: | the Irish War of Independence |
| Date: | 4 November 1920 |
| Place: | Ballinalee, County Longford |
| Result: | IRA victory |
| Combatant1: | Irish Republican Army |
| Commander1: | Seán Mac Eoin |
| Commander2: | ? |
| Strength1: | ~4 |
| Strength2: | ~100 |
| Casualties1: | None |
| Casualties2: | Unknown (perhaps 20)[1] |
The Battle of Ballinalee took place during the Irish War of Independence on 4 November 1920. Members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), led by Seán Mac Eoin,[2] drove a mixed group of Crown forces consisting of Black and Tans and Auxiliary Division personnel from the village of Ballinalee in County Longford.[3]
Crown forces hoped to burn the town as a reprisal for the deaths of several RIC personnel in the preceding days.[4] This included the killing of an RIC inspector, Philip St Johnstone Howlett Kelleher, the previous week and an RIC Constable, Peter Cooney, the previous day.[5] Cooney had been suspected of being a spy and his execution was reputedly ordered by Michael Collins. At the time of his killing, Cooney was allegedly carrying coded dispatches with the names of Longford IRA men.[6]
The Crown forces (numbering 100 men in 11 trucks) were defeated by about 25 IRA members, of which 4 were involved in the main battle.[5] Mac Eoin had placed several groups at the roads leading into the village, including one at a house, Rose Cottage, on the approach to the village centre.[5] This group, referred to in some sources as the "Rose Cottage Four", engaged the much larger RIC force using rifle fire and grenades, and forced their retreat.[5]
Rose Cottage, the building from which Mac Eoin coordinated the defence of the village, was developed into an exhibition centre and opened to the public in November 2023.[7]