Untold story of night IRA tried to torch castle

Untold story of night IRA tried to torch castle

2 April 2025

THE untold story of the night the IRA tried to burn down Killyleagh Castle is to be told for the first time next week.

UTV news editor Chris Hagan will recount the night the town’s historic castle came under attack, and the gun battle that followed between the IRA and the castle guard in June 1922.

The guard was led by the castle owner, 78 year-old Colonel Gawin Rowan-Hamilton, who was woken from his sleep as the IRA gunmen opened fire.

The attack on the castle followed a pattern. On the same night there had been similar IRA attacks on Rademon House, outside Crossgar, and at Myra Castle, near Strangford.

The previous month Old Court, the De Ros family mansion at Strangford, was attacked and burned to the ground by six masked and armed IRA men.

Drawing on previously unseen material about the castle gun battle, which has been newly released by the Public Record Office, Chris will also look at the significance of the period when Michael Collins secretly supplied weapons and equipment for a new IRA offensive, despite the Truce and the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement in December 1921.

He will also explain the connection between Michael Collins, Winston Churchill, Sir James Craig and events in Killyleagh that night.

The talk has been organised by the Killyleagh Family History Society at 7.30pm next Monday night in the Masonic Hall.

It is open to anyone with a connection to or interest in Killyleagh. Guests and visitors are very welcome, and are asked to make a small, voluntary donation. Refreshments served after the talk.