British captain's home burned to ground by IRA in 1920

Captain Bowen Colthurst’s home Oakgrove, near Carrigadrohid, Co Cork, was burnt down by the IRA in June 1920, mainly in response to fears it was to be occupied by British military amid heightening War of Independence violence locally.

Cattle and the caretaker had been ‘cleared out’ from a farm of the Bowen-Colthurst family before the house was burnt.

However, the family had been boycotted ever since the murder of Francis Sheehy-Skeffington in 1916.