The ‘Templemore Miracles’: How a fake bleeding statue led to an IRA truce

In Tipperary 100 years ago, an apparent miracle put the War of Independence on hold

On August 16th, 1920, in the midst of the War of Independence, District Insp William Wilson of the Royal Irish Constabulary, or RIC, was shot dead in Templemore by the IRA. That night the Northamptonshire Regiment, based at Richmond Barracks (now the Garda Síochána College), carried out reprisals. Templemore town hall was set ablaze, resulting in the accidental death of two of the soldiers involved.

The first reports of “supernatural manifestations accompanied by cures” appeared in newspapers the following day. Attention centred on the premises of Thomas Dwan, a newsagent, at Main Street, Templemore, and at a cottage in Curraheen, near the village of Gortagarry, 12km away.

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