The Kilflynn company of the Irish Volunteers was formed in 1913 of about 100 men, drilled by two ex-British soldiers and reservists named Collins and Sheehy. On 13 June 1914 a separate corps formed in Lixnaw, supported on the day by the Kilflynn and other Volunteers. Later in 1914, the reservists were called up to fight in what became World War I and in addition John Redmond encouraged the Irish to join the Allied forces, so the company disbanded as a result and didn't reform until 1917 at Lixnaw. Engagements with the Royal Irish Constabulary (R.I.C) and the "Tans" ("Black and Tans", officially the R.I.C. Reserve Force) became vehement from 1919 after Churchill's call to British war veterans to assist in Ireland. In March 1921 British forces created a cordon starting from Kilflynn to the Atlantic coast in an attempt to trap and round up IRA members: hundreds of men were imprisoned in Ballyheigue Castle, including just one IRA man.