A few days after the ambush, E Company of the Auxiliaries based in Coolavin came to north Sligo to search for the ambushers and to make reprisals. "At Moneygold eight miles from Sligo (between Grange and Cliffony in Co. Sligo), the IRA ambush a nine-man RIC patrol, killing four. The IRA was led by Sligo Brigade O/C William Pilkington. Auxiliaries, who were stationed at the residence of The McDermott in Coolavin, traveled to north Sligo some time after the ambush and searched the countryside for the ambushers. The County Inspector reported. "The houses of some leading suspects were burned as well as the Father O'Flanagan Sinn Féin Hall at Cliffony". The Crown forces threw a cordon around the Grange area and spent two nights searching for the ambushers. Many houses were burned."The burnings continued over a number of nights throughout North Sligo. Several cottages in Grange village and the Temperance hall were burned, as was Ballintrillick creamery. In Cliffoney, ten cottages along the main road, all belonging to prominent Sinn Féin members, and the Fr. O'Flanagan Sinn Féin Hall in the village were also burned, and the legend "Vacated Home of Murder Gang" was painted on the front of the hall. Gillespie's Tailor shop in the village was raided, and all the contents taken out into the street and burned.