Destruction of Irish country houses (1919–1923) April 1921, north Cork IRA leader, Liam Lynch, enraged by the destruction of several houses in reprisal for an IRA ambush declared, 'six big houses and castles of their friends, the Imperialists will go up for this.'" At least 76 country mansions were destroyed in the War of Independence; 30 "Big Houses" were burned in 1920 and another 46 in the first half of 1921, mostly in the conflict's Munster heartland, i.e. counties Cork, Kerry, Tipperary, Clare and Limerick. Historian James S. Donnelly stated in a study of the burning of over 50 country mansions in County Cork in 1919–21
Tournafulla to the north, Abbeyfeale to the west, Meelin/Rockchapel, County Cork to the south and Brosna, County Kerry to the southwest. It is surrounded by hills to the north and the Mullaghareirk Mountains to the south. Woods covered most of Tournafulla until the 17th century and Irish was still the main language up until the 1910s. The three counties of Limerick, Cork and Kerry converge at a point in the parish of Tournafulla/Mountcollins. A plaque has been placed at the River Feale to mark this point. Within a few miles of the parish are the villages of Rockchapel, County Cork, and