Modreeny is a townland

Townland

A townland or bally is a small geographical division of land used in Ireland. The townland system is of Gaelic origin—most townlands are believed to pre-date the Norman invasion and most have names derived from the Irish language...

 and a civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 in the historical barony

Barony (Ireland)

In Ireland, a barony is a historical subdivision of a county. They were created, like the counties, in the centuries after the Norman invasion, and were analogous to the hundreds into which the counties of England were divided. In early use they were also called cantreds...

 of Ormond Lower

Ormond Lower

Ormond Lower is one of the baronies of Ireland, an historical geographical unit of land. It is one of 14 baronies in the traditional county of Tipperary between the baronies of Ormond Upper to the south-east and Owney and Arra to the south-west...

, North Tipperary

North Tipperary

North Tipperary is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-West Region and is also located in the province of Munster. It is named after the town of Tipperary and consists of 48% of the land area of the traditional county of Tipperary. The county was established in 1898 and has had a county...

 in Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

. Situated on the R490

R490 road

The R490 is a regional road in Ireland linking the N52 at Borrisokane, North Tipperary via Cloughjordan to the N7 at Moneygall, County Offaly. The road is approximately long.-See also:* Roads in Ireland - * Secondary Roads...

 between the towns of Borrisokane

Borrisokane

Borrisokane is a town in North Tipperary, Ireland. In 2006 it had a population of approximately 1,145. It is situated on the N52/N65 National secondary road between Nenagh and Portumna and the N52 between Nenagh and Birr. It is close to Lough Derg which is only 12 km to the west. It is a...

 and Cloughjordan

Cloughjordan

Cloughjordan, officially Cloghjordan , is a town in North Tipperary in Ireland. It is in the barony of Ormond Lower, and it is also a parish in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe....

, it is the location of a ruined C19th church, an adjoining cemetery and to the west, remains of a medieval church. The Board of First Fruits

Board of First Fruits

The Board of First Fruits was an institution of the Church of Ireland that was established in 1711 by Anne, Queen of Great Britain in order to build and improve churches and glebe houses in Ireland. This was funded from taxes collected on clerical incomes which were in turn funded by tithes...

 provided a grant to fund the building of the C19th church.

An ambush took place here on the 3 June 1921, during the Irish War of Independence

Irish War of Independence

The Irish War of Independence , Anglo-Irish War, Black and Tan War, or Tan War was a guerrilla war mounted by the Irish Republican Army against the British government and its forces in Ireland. It began in January 1919, following the Irish Republic's declaration of independence. Both sides agreed...

. The ambush was an attack on an RIC

Royal Irish Constabulary

The armed Royal Irish Constabulary was Ireland's major police force for most of the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. A separate civic police force, the unarmed Dublin Metropolitan Police controlled the capital, and the cities of Derry and Belfast, originally with their own police...

 and Black and Tan

Black and Tans

The Black and Tans was one of two newly recruited bodies, composed largely of British World War I veterans, employed by the Royal Irish Constabulary as Temporary Constables from 1920 to 1921 to suppress revolution in Ireland...

patrol en route to the local Petty Sessions in Borrisokane Courthouse. It was committed by a flying column led by Sean Gaynor at Kallegbeg Cross, between Borrisokane and Cloughjordan and resulted in the deaths of four RIC/ Black and Tan members.