3rd Tipperary Brigade

The 3rd Tipperary Brigade (Irish: Tríú Briogáid Thiobraid Árainn^[1]) was one of the most active of approximately 80 such units that constituted the IRA during the Irish War of Independence. The brigade was based in southern Tipperary and conducted its activities mainly in mid-Munster.

In December 1918 and January 1919, in a tin hut on a dairy farm in Greenane, Tipperary, members of the brigade planned what was to be the first act of the Irish War of Independence, the Soloheadbeg Ambush. In the early part of the war, four members of the brigade were the most wanted men in Ireland. The 'Big Four', as they were referred to in Ireland in 1919, were Seán Treacy, Dan Breen, Séumas Robinson and Seán Hogan. Raids, ambushes and ongoing military activities by the brigade battalions and flying columns made South Tipperary ungovernable for the British in 1920 and 1921, with the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) confined to what barracks remained occupied and the British Army only venturing out in large convoys.