On New Year's Day 1957, 14 IRA volunteers crossed the border into County Fermanagh  to launch an attack on a joint RUC/B Specials barracks in Brookeborough. During the attack a number of volunteers were injured: two fatally. Fergal O'Hanlon and Seán South died of their wounds as they were making their escape. They were carried into an old sandstone barn by their comrades, the barn was later demolished by a British army jeep. The stone from the barn was used to build a memorial at the site.