Burning of Cork

The Burning of Cork took place on the night of 11–12 December 1920, during the Irish War of Independence. It followed an Irish Republican Army (IRA) ambush of a British Auxiliary patrol in the city, in which one of the patrol, Spencer Chapman, was killed by an IRA grenade. In retaliation for Chapman's death, Auxiliaries, Black and Tans and British soldiers set fire to a number of houses and then looted and burnt numerous buildings in the city centre. Many civilians also reported being beaten, shot at, robbed and verbally abused by British forces. Firefighters later testified that British forces hindered their attempts to tackle the blazes by intimidating them, shooting at them and/or cutting their hoses. Over 40 business premises, 300 residential properties, City Hall and the Carnegie Library were destroyed by fire. Over £3 million worth of damage (1920 value; 172 millon euro in today's money) was done, 2,000 were left jobless and many were left homeless. Two unarmed IRA volunteers were also shot dead in their home in the north of the city, and a woman died of a heart-attack when Auxiliaries burst into her house.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning of Cork