Battle of Belleek

This exclusive newsreel from Topical Budget shows the ‘recapture of the Ulster border’ by Sinn Féin. Troops can be seen marching down a laneway in the countryside. Meanwhile, armoured vehicles and howitzer guns are fired towards the town of Belleek as the General looks on.

In June 1922, at the beginning of the Civil War, Pettigo and Belleek in County Fermanagh were occupied by the Irish Republican Army who had arrived there from Donegal. The IRA fought a group of Ulster Special Constabulary, who crossed Lough Erne. In the ensuing fighting, in which the British bombarded the village and then stormed it, three IRA men were killed, six wounded and four captured before being forced to retreat back to Donegal. One British soldier and one Ulster Special constable were killed in the fighting.