Sean O' Beirgin was born in Buffanoke, near Doon Co. Limerick to Seamstress Kate Ryan and dealer Michael Bergin. The family moved to Nenagh where Sean's father Michael Bergin had a business as a confectioner. Michael had previously worked as a timber man so he bought 10 acres of woodland in Roscommon. Michael it should be noted had previously been incarcerated in Belfast Prison for political agitation.

Sean went to work for Connolly Brothers, Furniture manufacturers at Castlerea, to learn the trade. In his spare time Sean was a Commanding Officer of a Flying Column of the 1st Battalion of South Roscommon Brigade I.R.A.. He shared the role with Gerald O'Connor and Thomas Crawley.

To set the scene, by late summer of 1920, Crown forces had deserted the outlying and vulnerable districts and consolidated their positions in the bigger towns such as Castlerea. The outlying villages of Ballinlough and Loughglynn had their R.I.C. barracks abandoned and these were subsequently arsoned by the I.R.A. to deny their further use by the Crown. Consider also, the I.R.A. were organised into mobile units or 'Flying Columns'. The R.I.C. were sedentary and for the most part confined to sitting tight in the barracks as they lost conrol of areas. So apart from the occasional arson attack and pot shots at Crown forces the war in Roscommon was on a different level to the more mobile one being waged in Tipperary.

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On 19th of April 1921, Sean was recuperating from Pleurisy & Pneumonia in the McDermott cottage in Loughglynn when the Crown forces arrived. Sean had previously been attending Castlerea Hospital for treatment using an assumed name. He still wasn't well enough to return to full time duty so he was ordered to rest up in a number of safe houses in the Loughglynn area. One must query the choice of district chosen at this point. On 06/04/1921 both John Gulligan, a 40 yr old Postman and John Wynne, a 66 year old ex R.I.C. man and both living in Loughglynn had been shot and killed by "persons unknown", in other words, the local I.R.A.. Other shootings of British Troops in nearby Castlerea culminating in the death of Lance Corporal Edmond Weldon three nights earlier would have added to the tension. This would have put the entire area under Crown scrutiny.

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On this particular morning, the owner of the cottage, Roger McDermott was out foddering the cattle when he noticed a party of Black and Tans searching the area. He hurried back to the house to raise the alarm. However, according to a statement by Andrew Keaveney, Intelligence Officer with Loughglynn Coy, the house was owned by Mrs Mannion.

In any case, Sean and his comrades were roused from their sleep. He and the others were forced to escape half dressed and some in bare feet, and carrying their boots. They did however manage to bring their arms. Sean had his Webley pistol, Stephen McDermott had a Webley and a rifle and Joe Satchwell had a Lee-Enfield rifle and a shotgun. All were members of the Moor Company. The fourth man, Toby Scally of the Loughglynn Company was armed with a shotgun and a Webley pistol. Once again as an alternative, Keaveney insists the A.S.U. had been allocated four rifles.

The escape was hampered by Sean's weakness from his illness and progress was slow. Anybody who has ever had the misfortune to suffer from Pleurisy will know what an effort each movement can be with each painful breath. Add to this the Crown forces were using a pincer movement to force them between two points, one from the Castlerea end of the Woods and a second section from Loughglynn School House. To have set this action in place, would tend to suggest that the Crown forces were acting on intelligence given to them by an informer.

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Weak though he was, Sean insisted his comrades leave him behind and make good their escape as he was slowing them down. They refused. In the ensuing exchange of fire, Toby Scally was shot in the leg and knocked into a nearby drain where he lay. Thinking him dead, the other three fought on until all their ammunition was spent. Toby actually survived with a flesh wound to the leg and managed to crawl through the drain and escape to safety making his way to Patrick Glynn's house in Moyne. Glynn had previously been shot during a raid and arson on Ballinlough R.I.C. Barracks in September 1920. Gradually after treatment Toby managed to get back to his home place in Cloonaugh where he fully recovered. However the other three of the four were captured.  

After Sean and Stephen McDermott were taken prisoner, they were marched through Loughglynn Woods. Sean took full responsibility for the action as Company commander. During a later Military Tribunal in place of a Civil Inquest, the commanding officer Lt McKay, stated that Bergin admitted responsibility for the shooting of Corporal Weldon in Castlerea. This is plainly a fabrication as Bergin would have been in no fit state to support himself let alone a rifle and then afterwards make good his escape.

The 'Tans however weren't interested in the niceties of surrender. Some accounts state that their prisoners were bayoneted and beaten with rifle butts and pounded on their bare feet. The Coroner Dr. O'Donaghue makes no reference to any such injuries which he would have been duty bound to allude to. The Tan's were egged on by one of their party, Private Davis ( aka Dovey) of the Leicestershire Regiment who had been wounded in the chest. He had been calling for the...

'....blood of the Shinner who got me'.

One has to bear in mind however that the men had been surprised and  were running through the woods in a state of undress and in bare feet and so were liable to cuts and bruises. It's also worth noting that Michael Bergin when he collected his sons body made no reference to any signs of torture other than the bullet wounds in the back and head, suggesting both men were shot while trying to escape. Another version states that after an impromptu drumhead courts-martial at Loughglynn Woods in Roscommon, Sean Bergin and Stephen McDermott were executed. It's interesting to note that on the Death Certificate for Sean it states 'justifiable homicide'. There are conflicting reports here on Sean's death. In Michael Bergins application for a Pension in 1924 he states Sean was killed instantly with bullets to the back and hip, while another article suggests he survived long enough to have Spiritual Aid administered by a priest and curate, Fathers Geraghty and Donellan (Donlon), who happened to be passing in the area. 

Joe Satchwell, a native of Cloonree, was wounded in the foot. He was ex- British Army having previously assisted his father as a Herdsman. Joe was told he was being brought back to Castlerea for public execution as an example and deterrent to others. He was loaded onto the back of a truck with the bodies of Bergin and McDermott. He was later court-martialed at Athlone and sentenced to 15 years penal servitude but was released during the General Amnesty in 1921. Toby Scally would later be arrested and interned by Free State forces during the Civil War.

Joe Satchwell - died 1974

An attempted ambush at Cleensheever in March 1921. Sean Bergin, Stephen McDermott and Joe Satchwell took part as members of the Moor Company.

Michaels Pension application as dependant