The republican outpost in the YMCA was eliminated when Free State troops tunnelled underneath it and detonated a bomb. Traynor's men in "the block" held out until artillery was brought up, under the cover of armored cars, to bombard them at point-blank range. Incendiary bombs were also planted in the buildings. Traynor and most of his force (70 men and 30 women) made their escape when the buildings they were occupying caught fire. They mingled with civilian crowds and made their way to Blessington.