| Irish War of Independence | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The West Cork Flying Column during the war | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Irish Republic |  United Kingdom | ||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| Michael Collins Richard Mulcahy Cathal Brugha Important local IRA leaders | Henry Hugh Tudor | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Irish Republican Army c. A flying column, in military organization is an independent corps of troops usually composed of all arms to which a particular task is assigned Events 1189 - Philip II of France and Richard I of England begin to assemble troops to wage the Third Crusade. Year 1919 ( MCMXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 911 - Signing of the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between Charles the Simple and Rollo of Normandy. Year 1921 ( MCMXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1921 calendar of the Gregorian calendar Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world The Anglo-Irish Treaty (An Conradh Angla-Éireannach officially called the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was a Treaty The Irish Republic ( Irish: Poblacht na hÉireann or Saorstát Éireann) was a unilaterally declared independent state of Ireland proclaimed The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927 Michael John ("Mick" Collins (Mícheál Seán Ó Coileáin 16 October 1890 &ndash 22 August 1922 was an Irish revolutionary leader, Minister for Richard James Mulcahy (Risteárd Séamus Ó Maolchatha (10 May 1886 &ndash 16 December 1971 was an Irish politician, Army general and Commander in Cathal Brugha ( pronounced bˠɾˠuː born Charles William St Major General Sir Henry Hugh Tudor KCB, CMG (1871-1965 was a British Soldier who fought as a junior officer in the Second Boer The Irish Republican Army ( IRA) (Óglaigh na hÉireann was a military organisation descended from the Irish Volunteers, established 25 November 1913 and who 15,000 | British Army c. The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. 20,000, Royal Irish Constabulary 9,700, Black and Tans 7,000, Auxiliary Division 1,400, Ulster Special Constabulary 4,000, also some loyalist paramilitaries | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| c. The Royal Irish Constabulary ( RIC) ( Irish: Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann) was one of Ireland's two police forces in the early twentieth century The term Black and Tans (Dúchrónaigh refers to the Royal Irish Constabulary Reserve Force ( Fórsa Chúltaca Chonstáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann) which was one of The Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary (ADRIC generally known as the Auxiliaries or Auxies, was a Paramilitary organization The Ulster Special Constabulary (USC (commonly called the "B-Specials" was a reserve police force in Ireland. 550 IRA,[1] | 410 RIC, 261 British Army, 43 USC[2] | ||||||
| c. 750 Civilians[3] | |||||||
The Irish War of Independence (January 1919 - July 1921) (Irish: Cogadh na Saoirse) was a guerrilla campaign mounted against the British government in Ireland by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) under the First Dáil, the Irish parliament created in 1919 by a majority of Irish MPs. Irish (ga ''Gaeilge'' is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish. Guerrilla warfare is the unconventional warfare and combat with which a small group of combatants use mobile tactics (ambushes raids etc The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927 Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world The Irish Republican Army ( IRA) (Óglaigh na hÉireann was a military organisation descended from the Irish Volunteers, established 25 November 1913 and who The First Dáil (An Chéad Dáil was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 1919&ndash1921 Year 1919 ( MCMXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common
It is also known as the Anglo-Irish War or the Tan War[4] The IRA that fought in this conflict is often referred to as the Old IRA to distinguish it from later organizations that used the same name.
Contents |
Origins
The Home Rule Crisis
Since the 1880s, Irish nationalists in the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) had been demanding Home Rule, or self-government, from Britain. Irish nationalism (Náisiúnachas Éireannach refers to political and sociological movements and sentiment that embodies a love for Irish ancestry, culture and language and The Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP (commonly called the Irish Party was formed in 1882 by Charles Stewart Parnell, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing Home rule refers to a demand that constituent parts of a state be given greater self-government within the greater administrative purview of the central government Fringe organisations, such as Arthur Griffith's Sinn Féin instead argued for some form of Irish independence, but they were in a small minority at this time. Arthur Griffith (Art Ó Gríobhtha 31 March 1872 &ndash 12 August 1922 was the founder and third leader of Sinn Féin. Sinn Féin () is a political party in Ireland. The current party led by Gerry Adams was formed following a split in January 1970
The demand for Home Rule was eventually granted by the British in 1912, immediately prompting a prolonged crisis within the United Kingdom as Ulster Unionists formed an armed organisation - the Ulster Volunteers - to resist this measure of devolution. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927 The Ulster Unionist Party ( UUP, sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or OUP or in a historic sense simply the Unionist Party The Ulster Volunteers were a unionist militia founded in 1912 to block Home Rule for Ireland. Devolution is the statutory granting of powers from the central government of a State to government at subnational level In turn, taking their cue from the Unionists, Nationalists formed their own military organisation, the Irish Volunteers. The Irish Volunteers ( Óglaigh na hÉireann) was a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists.
The British Parliament passed the Third Home Rule Act with an amending Bill for the partition of Ireland introduced by Ulster Unionists, but the Act's enactment was postponed by the outbreak of the First World War in August of 1914. The Proclamation of the Republic, also known as the 1916 Proclamation or Easter Proclamation, was a document issued by the Irish Volunteers and Irish The Home Rule Act of 1914, also known as the ( Irish) Third Home Rule Act (or Bill) and formally known as the Government of Ireland Act 1914 The Partition of Ireland took place on 3 May 1921 under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All The majority of Nationalists followed their IPP leaders and John Redmond's call to support Britain and the Allied war effort, the intention being to ensure the enactment of Home Rule after the war. John Edward Redmond (Seán Éamonn Mac Réamoinn (1 September 1856 &ndash 6 March 1918 was an Irish nationalist Politician, Barrister, MP The Entente Powers (from Triple Entente) were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. But a significant minority of the Irish Volunteers opposed the war. The Volunteer movement split, a majority leaving to form the National Volunteers under John Redmond. The National Volunteers was the name taken by the majority of the Irish Volunteers that sided with Irish Parliamentary Party leader John Redmond after the The remaining Irish Volunteers, under Eoin MacNeill, held that they would maintain their organisation until Home Rule had been granted. Eoin MacNeill ( Eoin Mac Néill, 15 May 1867&ndash15 October 1945 was an Irish scholar nationalist revolutionary and politician Within this Volunteer movement, another faction, led by the separatist Irish Republican Brotherhood, began to prepare for a revolt against British rule. The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic Republic" in the mid nineteenth
The Easter Rising
The plan for revolt was realised in the Easter Rising of 1916, in which the Volunteers, now explicitly declaring a republic, launched an insurrection whose aim was to end British rule and to found an Irish Republic. The Easter Rising (Éirí Amach na Cásca was a rebellion staged in Ireland in Easter Week, 1916 A republic is a State or Country that is not led by a hereditary Monarch, but in which the people (or at least a part of its people have impact on its An insurgency is a violent internal uprising against a sovereign government that lacks the organization of a revolution The Irish Republic ( Irish: Poblacht na hÉireann or Saorstát Éireann) was a unilaterally declared independent state of Ireland proclaimed The rising was almost exclusively confined to Dublin and was put down within a week, but the British response — executing the leaders of the insurrection and arresting thousands of nationalist activists — galvanised support for the separatist Sinn Féin — the party which the republicans first adopted and then took over. Dublin (ˈdʌblɨn/ /ˈdʊblɨn or /ˈdʊbəlɪn/, bˠalʲə aːha klʲiəh or cliə(ɸ is both the largest city and capital of Ireland. By now support for the British war effort was on the wane, and Irish public opinion was shocked and outraged by some of the actions committed by British troops — particularly the murder of Francis Sheehy-Skeffington and the imposition of wartime martial law. Francis Skeffington (1878 &ndash 26 April, 1916) from Bailieborough, County Cavan, was an Irish Suffragist and Pacifist
Secondly, the British, in the face of the crisis caused by the German Spring Offensive in April 1918, attempted to introduce conscription into Ireland. The 1918 Spring Offensive or Kaiserschlacht ( Kaiser's Battle) and also known as the Ludendorff Offensive was a series of German attacks along the Conscription (also known as the draft, the call-up or national service) is a general term for involuntary labor demanded by some established authority This further alienated the Irish electorate and produced mass demonstrations during the Conscription Crisis of 1918. The Conscription Crisis of 1918 stemmed from a move by the Government of the United Kingdom to impose Conscription in Ireland, and contributed to pivotal By the time of the November 1918 election, alienation from British rule was widespread.
To Irish Republicans, the Irish War of Independence had begun with the Proclamation of the Irish Republic during the Easter Rising of 1916. The Easter Rising (Éirí Amach na Cásca was a rebellion staged in Ireland in Easter Week, 1916 [5] Republicans argued that the conflict of 1919-21 (and indeed the subsequent Irish Civil War) was the defence of this Republic against attempts to destroy it. The Irish Civil War ( June 28 1922 &ndash May 24 1923) pitted supporters of the Anglo-Irish Treaty against its opponents
The First Dáil
More directly, the war had its origins in the formation of a unilaterally declared independent Irish parliament, called Dáil Éireann, formed by the majority Sinn Féin Members of Parliament (MPs) elected in Irish constituencies in the Irish (UK) general election, 1918. The Declaration of Independence (Forógra na Saoirse Déclaration d'Indépendance was a document adopted by Dáil Éireann, the revolutionary parliament of the self-proclaimed Dáil Éireann (English Assembly of Ireland) was the revolutionary unicameral parliament of the unilaterally declared Irish Republic A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a Parliament. The Irish general election of 1918 was that part of the 1918 United Kingdom general election that took place in Ireland. In the general election of 1918 Irish voters showed their disapproval of British policy by giving Sinn Féin 70% (73 seats out of 105) of Irish seats. The Irish general election of 1918 was that part of the 1918 United Kingdom general election that took place in Ireland. Sinn Féin promised not to sit in the UK Parliament at Westminster, but rather to set up an Irish Parliament. The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories Westminster is an area of Central London, within the City of Westminster. This parliament, known as the First Dáil, and its ministry, called the Aireacht, declared Irish independence by reaffirming the 1916 declaration. The First Dáil (An Chéad Dáil was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 1919&ndash1921 The Aireacht or Ministry was the cabinet of the 1919–1922 Irish Republic. The Irish Volunteers were reconstituted as the 'Irish Republican Army' or IRA. The Irish Republican Army ( IRA) (Óglaigh na hÉireann was a military organisation descended from the Irish Volunteers, established 25 November 1913 and who The IRA was perceived by some members of Dáil Éireann to have a mandate to wage war on the Dublin Castle British administration. Dublin Castle (Caisleán Bhaile Átha Cliath off Dame Street, Dublin, Ireland, is a major Irish governmental complex formerly the fortified Her Majesty's Government, or when the monarch is male His Majesty's Government, is the title used by the Government of the United Kingdom, based at
War
Initial hostilities
While it was not clear in the beginning of 1919 that the Dáil ever intended to gain independence by military means, and war was not threatened in Sinn Féin's 1918 manifesto, an incident on 19 January 1919 sparked off the armed conflict. Sinn Féin Manifesto for the December 1918 election Following its reform in 1917 the Sinn Féin party campaigned against conscription in Ireland. Several IRA members acting independently at Soloheadbeg, in County Tipperary, led by Sean Treacy and Dan Breen, attacked and shot two Royal Irish Constabulary officers who were escorting explosives. Soloheadbeg ('sɔləhɛdbɛg Solchaid Beag is a small Townland, some two miles outside Tipperary Town, near Limerick Junction railway station Sean Treacy (died 14 October 1920) was one of the leaders of the Third Tipperary Brigade of the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War Daniel Breen (Mícheál Dónall Ó Briaoin11 August 1894 &ndash 27 December 1969 was a volunteer in the Irish Republican Army and a Fianna Fáil politician
Breen later recalled: ". . . we took the action deliberately, having thought over the matter and talked it over between us. Treacy had stated to me that the only way of starting a war was to kill someone, and we wanted to start a war, so we intended to kill some of the police whom we looked upon as the foremost and most important branch of the enemy forces . . . The only regret that we had following the ambush was that there were only two policemen in it, instead of the six we had expected. . . "[6]
This is widely regarded as the beginning of the War of Independence, and the men acted on their own initiative to try to start a war. Martial law was declared in South Tipperary three days later. On the same day as the shootings at Soloheadbeg, the First Dáil convened in the Mansion House in Dublin where it ratified the 1916 proclamation, issued a new Declaration of Independence, demanded the evacuation of the British military garrison, and called on the "free nations of the world" to recognise Ireland's independence. The First Dáil (An Chéad Dáil was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 1919&ndash1921 Dublin (ˈdʌblɨn/ /ˈdʊblɨn or /ˈdʊbəlɪn/, bˠalʲə aːha klʲiəh or cliə(ɸ is both the largest city and capital of Ireland. The Proclamation of the Republic, also known as the 1916 Proclamation or Easter Proclamation, was a document issued by the Irish Volunteers and Irish The Declaration of Independence (Forógra na Saoirse Déclaration d'Indépendance was a document adopted by Dáil Éireann, the revolutionary parliament of the self-proclaimed The Armed forces of the United Kingdom, commonly known as the British Armed Forces or Her Majesty's Armed Forces, and sometimes legally the Armed Forces
The war was not formally declared by the Dáil until well into the conflict, however. On April 10, 1919 the Dáil was told: "As regards the Republican prisoners, we must always remember that this country is at war with England and so we must in a sense regard them as necessary casualties in the great fight. Events 879 - Louis III becomes King of the Western Franks. 1407 - the lama Year 1919 ( MCMXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common "[7] In January 1921, two years after the war had started, the Dáil debated "whether it was feasible to accept formally a state of war that was being thrust on them, or not", and decided not to declare war. [8] Then on March 11, Dáil Éireann President Éamon de Valera formally 'accepted' the existence of a 'state of war with England'. Events 1425 BC - Thutmose III, Pharaoh of Egypt, dies (according to the Low Chronology of the 18th Dynasty ga '''Dáil Éireann''' ( English House of Representatives of Ireland) is the principal chamber of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament Éamon de Valera (ˈeɪmən dɛvəˈlɛrə (born Edward George de Valera) (14 October 1882 &ndash 29 August 1975 was one of the dominant political figures in 20th century [9] The delay allowed a balancing of the military and political realities.
Violence spreads
Volunteers began to attack British government property, carried out raids for arms and funds and targeted and killed prominent members of the British administration. This is a chronology of Irish War of Independence (or the Anglo Irish War) of 1919&ndash1921 The first was Resident Magistrate John C. Milling, who was shot dead in Westport, County Mayo, for having sent Volunteers to prison for unlawful assembly and drilling. Westport ( is a Town in County Mayo in Ireland. It is situated on the west coast of Ireland, at the south-east corner of Clew Bay [10] They mimicked the successful tactics of the Boers, fast violent raids without uniform. Boer (ˈbuːr in Dutch ˈbʊɚ/ /boʊɚ or /ˈbɔr/ in English is the Dutch word for Farmer which came to denote the descendants of the proto Afrikaans Although some republican leaders, notably Éamon de Valera, favoured classic conventional warfare in order to legitimise the new republic in the eyes of the world, the more practically experienced Michael Collins and the broader IRA leadership opposed these tactics as they had led to the military débacle of 1916. Éamon de Valera (ˈeɪmən dɛvəˈlɛrə (born Edward George de Valera) (14 October 1882 &ndash 29 August 1975 was one of the dominant political figures in 20th century Michael John ("Mick" Collins (Mícheál Seán Ó Coileáin 16 October 1890 &ndash 22 August 1922 was an Irish revolutionary leader, Minister for Others, notably Arthur Griffith, preferred a campaign of civil disobedience rather than armed struggle[11] The violence used was at first deeply unpopular with the Irish people and it took the heavy-handed British response to popularise it among much of the population. Arthur Griffith (Art Ó Gríobhtha 31 March 1872 &ndash 12 August 1922 was the founder and third leader of Sinn Féin. Civil disobedience is the active refusal to obey certain Laws demands and commands of a Government, or of an occupying power, without resorting to physical
The early part of the conflict, roughly from 1919 to the summer of 1920, saw a relatively limited amount of violence. Much of the nationalist campaign involved popular mobilisation and the creation of a republican "state within a state" in opposition to British rule. British journalist Robert Lynn wrote in the Daily News in July 1920 that, "So far as the mass of people are concerned, the policy of the day is not active but a passive policy. Sir Robert John Lynn (1873 &ndash 5 August 1945) was an Ulster Unionist Party politician The News Chronicle was a British daily Newspaper. It ceased publication in 1960 being absorbed into the Daily Mail. Their policy is not so much to attack the Government as to ignore it and to build up a new government by its side". [12]
The IRA's main target throughout the conflict was the mainly Catholic Irish police force, the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), which were the British government's eyes and ears in Ireland. The Royal Irish Constabulary ( RIC) ( Irish: Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann) was one of Ireland's two police forces in the early twentieth century Its members and barracks (especially the more isolated ones) were vulnerable, and they were a source of much-needed arms. The RIC numbered 9,700 men stationed in 1,500 barracks throughout Ireland. [13]
A policy of ostracism of RIC men was announced by the Dáil on 10 April 1919. Ostracism ( ostrakismos) was a procedure under the Athenian democracy in which a prominent Citizen could be expelled from the City-state [14] This proved successful in demoralising the force as the war went on, as people turned their faces from a force increasingly compromised by association with government repression. The rate of resignation went up, and recruitment in Ireland dropped off dramatically. Often the RIC were reduced to buying food at gunpoint as shops and other businesses refused to deal with them. Some RIC men cooperated with the IRA through fear or sympathy, supplying the organisation with valuable information. By contrast with the effectiveness of the widespread public boycott of the Police, the military actions carried out by the IRA against the RIC at this time were relatively limited. In 1919, 11 RIC men and 4 Dublin Metropolitan Police were killed and another 20 RIC wounded. The Dublin Metropolitan Police ( DMP) was the Police force of Dublin, Ireland, from 1836 to 1925 when it amalgamated into the new Garda [15]
Other aspects of mass participation in the conflict included strikes by organised workers in opposition to the British presence in Ireland. Strike action, often simply called a strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal by Employees to perform work. In Limerick in April 1919, a General strike was called by the Limerick Trades and Labour Council, as a protest against the declaration of a "Special Military Area" under the Defence of the Realm Act which covered most of Limerick city and a part of the county. Limerick (pronounced /ˈlɪmrɪk/ Luimneach in Irish) is a city and the county seat of County Limerick in the Province of Munster A general strike is a Strike action by a critical mass of the labour force in a city region or country The Defence of the Realm Act ( DORA) was passed in the United Kingdom on 8 August 1914, during the early weeks of World War I. Special permits, to be issued by the Royal Irish Constabulary, would now be required to enter the city. The Trades Council's special Strike Committee controlled the city for four days in an episode that was nicknamed the Limerick Soviet. In the midst of the Irish War of Independence and the more general wave of Revolutions of 1917-23, the Limerick Soviet ( Sóivéid Luimnigh) was [16]
Similarly, in May 1920, Dublin dockers refused to handle any war matériel, and were soon joined by the Irish Transport and General Workers Union, who banned railway drivers from carrying British forces. Materiel (from the French "matériel" for equipment or hardware related to the word Material) is a term used in English to refer to the The Irish Transport and General Workers Union, an Irish Trade union, was founded by James Larkin in 1908 as a general union Train drivers were brought over from England after Irish drivers refused to carry British troops. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The strike badly hampered British troop movements until December 1920 when it was called off. The British government managed to bring the situation to an end when they threatened to withhold grants from the railway companies, which would have meant that workers would no longer have been paid. [17]
Violent attacks by the IRA also steadily increased, however. By the spring of 1920, they were attacking isolated RIC stations in rural areas, causing them to be abandoned as the Police retreated to the larger towns.
Collapse of the British administration
In early April, 400 abandoned RIC barracks were burned to the ground to prevent them being used again, along with almost one hundred income tax offices. This had two effects. Firstly the RIC withdrew from much of the countryside, leaving it in the hands of IRA. [18] In June-July 1920, summer assizes failed all across the South and West of Ireland. The Court of Assize, or Assizes, is a medieval term for Legal codes (such as Assizes of Jerusalem) that continues to be used in modern times Trials by jury could not be held because jurors would not attend. The Chief Secretary for Ireland, Hamar Greenwood, informed the Coalition Cabinet that "the administrative machinery of the courts has been brought to a standstill". The office before 1800 The dominant position of the Lord Lieutenant in the Irish governmental system had been central to the British administration for much of the history of Hamar Greenwood 1st Viscount Greenwood PC, KC ( 7 February 1870 &ndash 10 September 1948) was a British The collapse of the court system demoralized the Royal Irish Constabulary. Many police resigned and retired over the summer. The Irish Republican Police (IRP) was founded between April and June 1920 under the authority of Dáil Éireann and the IRA Chief of Staff Cathal Brugha to replace the RIC and to enforce the ruling of the Dáil Courts, set up under the Irish Republic. The Irish Republican Police (IRP was the police force of the 1919-1922 Irish Republic and was administered by the Department for Home Affairs of that government Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar Dáil Éireann (English Assembly of Ireland) was the revolutionary unicameral parliament of the unilaterally declared Irish Republic Cathal Brugha ( pronounced bˠɾˠuː born Charles William St The Dáil Courts were widely established by September 1920 under the authority of Dáil Éireann as the judicial branch of government of the Irish Republic By 1920, the IRP had a presence in 21 of Ireland’s 32 counties. Since the late 16th century the Island of Ireland has been divided into 32 counties ( Irish language contae or condae [19] The Dáil Courts were generally socially conservative, despite their revolutionary origins, and refused to re-distribute the lands of wealthy landowners to poor farmers. [20]
Secondly, the Inland Revenue ceased to operate in most of Ireland. The Inland Revenue was until April 2005 a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including People were instead encouraged to subscribe to Collins' "National Loan", set up to raise funds for the young government and its army. By the end of the year the loan had reached £358,000. It eventually reached £380,000. An even larger amount, totalling over $5,000,000, was raised in the United States by Irish Americans and sent to Ireland to finance the Republic. Irish Americans (Gael-Mheiriceánach are citizens of the United States who can claim ancestry originating in Ireland. [21] Rates were still paid to local councils, but nine out of eleven of these were controlled by Sinn Féin, who naturally refused to pass them on to the British government. Rates are a type of taxation system in the United Kingdom, and in places with systems deriving from the British one used to fund Local government. [22] Thus, by mid 1920, the Irish Republic was a reality in the lives of many people, enforcing its own law, maintaining its own armed forces and collecting its own taxes. The British Liberal Journal, The Nation wrote in August 1920 that "the central fact of the present situation in Ireland is that the Irish Republic exists". [23]
The British forces, in trying to re-assert their control over the country, often resorted to arbitrary reprisals against republican activists and the civilian population. An unofficial government policy of reprisals began in September 1919 in Fermoy, County Cork, when 200 British soldiers looted and burned the main businesses of the town, after one of their number had been killed in an arms raid by the local IRA. Fermoy ( in County Cork, Ireland is a Town of some 5800 inhabitants environs included (2006 census situated on the River Blackwater in County Cork (Contae Chorcaí is the most southerly and the largest of the modern counties of Ireland. [24] President of the Irish Republic Arthur Griffith estimated that in the first 18 months of the conflict, Crown forces carried out 38,720 raids on private homes, arrested 4,982 suspects, committed 1,604 armed assaults, sacked and shot up 102 towns and killed 77 unarmed republicans or other civilians. President of the Republic was the title given to the head of the Irish ministry or Aireacht in August 1921 by an amendment to the Dáil Constitution, which replaced Arthur Griffith (Art Ó Gríobhtha 31 March 1872 &ndash 12 August 1922 was the founder and third leader of Sinn Féin.
In March 1920, Tomás Mac Curtain, the Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Cork, was shot dead, in front of his wife at his home, by men with blackened faces who were later seen returning to the local police barracks. Tomás Mac Curtain ( March 20, 1884 - March 20, 1920) was a Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Cork, Ireland. Sinn Féin () is a political party in Ireland. The current party led by Gerry Adams was formed following a split in January 1970 The Lord Mayor of Cork is the symbolic head of the local government in the city of Cork in the Republic of Ireland. The jury at the inquest into his death returned a verdict of wilful murder against David Lloyd George (the British Prime Minister) and District Inspector Swanzy, among others. An inquest is a judicial investigation usually by a group of court-appointed people ( Jury) in Common law Jurisdictions The most common kind of inquest David Lloyd George 1st Earl Lloyd George of Dwyfor OM, PC (17 January 1863 &ndash 26 March 1945 was a British Statesman and the only Swanzy was later tracked down and killed in Lisburn, in County Antrim. Lisburn (Lios na gCearrbhach meaning fort of the gamblers) is a predominantly Unionist city in Northern Ireland, south-west of and adjoining Belfast County Antrim ( Contae Aontroma or simply Aontroim in Irish) is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, and one of nine counties This pattern of killings and reprisals escalated in the second half of 1920 and in 1921. [25]
IRA organization and operations
Michael Collins was the main driving force behind the independence movement. Michael John ("Mick" Collins (Mícheál Seán Ó Coileáin 16 October 1890 &ndash 22 August 1922 was an Irish revolutionary leader, Minister for Nominally the Minister of Finance in the Republic's government as well as IRA Director of Intelligence, he was actively involved in providing funds and arms to the IRA units that needed them, and in the selection of officers. The finance minister is a Cabinet position in a Government. A minister of Finance (also called financial affairs the treasury the economy or economic Collins' natural intelligence, organisational capability and sheer drive galvanised many who came in contact with him. He established what proved an effective network of spies among sympathetic members of the Dublin Metropolitan Police's (DMP) "G division" and other important branches of the British administration. The Dublin Metropolitan Police ( DMP) was the Police force of Dublin, Ireland, from 1836 to 1925 when it amalgamated into the new Garda The G division men were detested by the IRA as often they were used to identify volunteers who would have been unknown to British soldiers or the later Black and Tans. The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. The term Black and Tans (Dúchrónaigh refers to the Royal Irish Constabulary Reserve Force ( Fórsa Chúltaca Chonstáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann) which was one of Collins set up the "Squad", a group of men whose sole duty was to seek out and kill "G-men", members of the DMP's relatively small political division active in subverting the republican movement, and other British spies and agents. The Squad also known as the Twelve Apostles, were an Irish Republican Army unit founded by Michael Collins to counter the British intelligence efforts during Collins began killing RIC intelligence officers from 1919 onwards. Many G-men were offered a chance to resign or leave Ireland by the IRA, and some took these options.
The Chief of Staff of the IRA was Richard Mulcahy, who was responsible for organising and directing IRA units around the country. Richard James Mulcahy (Risteárd Séamus Ó Maolchatha (10 May 1886 &ndash 16 December 1971 was an Irish politician, Army general and Commander in In theory, both Collins and Mulcahy were responsible to Cathal Brugha, the Dáil's Minister of Defence. Cathal Brugha ( pronounced bˠɾˠuː born Charles William St However, in practice, Brugha had only a supervisory role, recommending or objecting to specific actions. A great deal also depended on IRA leaders in local areas (such as Liam Lynch, Tom Barry, Sean Moylan, Sean MacEoin and Ernie O'Malley) who organised guerrilla activity, largely on their own initiative. For other people named Liam Lynch see Liam Lynch Liam Lynch (Liam Ó Loinsigh 9 November, 1893 &ndash 10 April ---- Thomas (Tom Barry (Tomás de Barra ( July 1 1897 - July 2 1980) was one of the most prominent guerrilla leaders in Seán Moylan (19 November 1888 &ndash 16 November 1957 was a Commandant of the Irish Republican Army and a senior Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil politician Seán Mac Eoin (30 September 1893 &ndash 7 July 1973 was an Irish Fine Gael Politician and Soldier. Ernie O'Malley (26 May 1897 &ndash 25 March 1957 was born in Castlebar, County Mayo, Ireland. For most of the conflict, IRA activity was concentrated in Munster and Dublin, with only isolated active IRA units elsewhere, such as in north county Longford and western county Mayo. Munster ( Irish: An Mhumhain, ənˈvuːnʲ Cúige Mumhan or Mumha) is the southernmost of the four Provinces of Ireland. County Longford (Contae an Longfoirt is a county situated in the Irish Midlands, in northwest Leinster.
While the paper membership of the IRA, carried over from the Irish Volunteers, was over 100,000 men, Michael Collins estimated that only 15,000 men actively served in the IRA during the course of the war, with about 3,000 on active service at any time. The Irish Volunteers ( Óglaigh na hÉireann) was a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists. There were also support organisations Cumann na mBan (the IRA women's group) and Fianna Éireann (youth movement), who carried weapons and intelligence for IRA men and secured food and lodgings for them. Cumann na mBan (ˈkumˠən̪ˠ n̪ˠə mˠɒn̪ˠ Women's League is an Irish republican women's paramilitary organisation formed in Dublin on April 1914 as an auxiliary The name Fianna Éireann (ˈfʲiənə ˈeːɾʲən) also rendered as Fianna na hÉireann and Na Fianna Éireann ( Irish: " Soldiery of
The IRA benefited from the widespread help given to them by the general Irish population, who generally refused to pass information to the RIC and the British military and who often provided "safe houses" and provisions to IRA units "on the run". Much of the IRA's popularity was due to the excessive reaction of the Crown forces to IRA activity.
When Éamon de Valera returned from the United States, he demanded in the Dáil that the IRA desist from the ambushes and assassinations that were allowing the British to successfully portray it as a terrorist group, and to take on the British forces with conventional military methods. Éamon de Valera (ˈeɪmən dɛvəˈlɛrə (born Edward George de Valera) (14 October 1882 &ndash 29 August 1975 was one of the dominant political figures in 20th century The United States of America —commonly referred to as the ga '''Dáil Éireann''' ( English House of Representatives of Ireland) is the principal chamber of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament Terrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion This unrealistic proposal was immediately dismissed, but illustrated how many in the Sinn Féin leadership were out of touch with the nature of the conflict.
British response
The British responded to the escalating violence in Ireland with increasing use of force. Reluctant to deploy the regular British Army into the country in greater numbers, they set up two paramilitary police units to aid the RIC. The "Black and Tans" were set up to bolster the flagging RIC. The term Black and Tans (Dúchrónaigh refers to the Royal Irish Constabulary Reserve Force ( Fórsa Chúltaca Chonstáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann) which was one of 7,000 strong, they were mainly ex-British soldiers demobilised after World War I. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All First deployed to Ireland in March 1920, most came from English and Scottish cities. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. While officially they were part of the RIC, in reality they were a paramilitary force. A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military force but which are not regarded as having the same status After their deployment in March 1920, they rapidly gained a reputation for drunkenness and ill discipline that did more harm to the British government's moral authority in Ireland than any other group. In response to IRA actions, in the summer of 1920, the "Tans" burned and sacked numerous small towns throughout Ireland, including Balbriggan, Trim, Templemore and others. Balbriggan ( Baile Brigín in Irish) is a town in north county Dublin, Ireland. Trim ( is the traditional County town of County Meath in Ireland, although the county town is now Navan. Templemore ( An Teampall Mór, meaning The Big Church in Irish) is a town in County Tipperary in Ireland.
In July 1920, another quasi-military police body, the Auxiliaries, consisting of 2,214 former British army officers, arrived in Ireland. The term auxiliaries comes from the Latin auxilia (help It is generally used to describe people employed in an organisation often pre-existing as a Reserve The Auxiliary Division had a reputation just as bad as the Tans for their mistreatment of the civilian population but tended to be more effective and more willing to take on the IRA. The Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary (ADRIC generally known as the Auxiliaries or Auxies, was a Paramilitary organization The policy of reprisals, which involved public denunciation or denial and private approval, was famously satirised by Lord Hugh Cecil when he said: "It seems to be agreed that there is no such thing as reprisals, but they are having a good effect. For the British political figure Lord Hugh Cecil (1869-1956 see Hugh Cecil 1st Baron Quickswood Hugh Cecil Saunders (1889&mdashafter 1939 "
On August 9, 1920, the British Parliament passed the Restoration of Order in Ireland Act, which suspended all coroners' courts, due to the large number of warrants served on members of the Crown forces. The Restoration of Order in Ireland Act 1920 was in effect a special extension of the Defence of the Realm Act to address the collapse of the British civilian administration They were replaced with "military courts of enquiry". In addition, the powers of military court martials were extended to cover the whole population and were empowered to use the death penalty and internment without trial. A court-martial (plural courts-martial) is a Military court. These military courts can determine Punishments for members of the Military subject Capital punishment, the death penalty or execution, is the Killing of a person by judicial process as Punishment. Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people commonly in large groups without trial Finally, government payments to local governments in Sinn Féin hands were suspended. This act has been interpreted by historians as a choice by Prime Minister David Lloyd George to put down the rebellion in Ireland rather than negotiate with the Republican leadership. This article is about the government position For other uses see Prime Minister (disambiguation. David Lloyd George 1st Earl Lloyd George of Dwyfor OM, PC (17 January 1863 &ndash 26 March 1945 was a British Statesman and the only [26] As a result, violence escalated steadily from that summer, and sharply after November 1920 until July 1921.
It was in this period that a large-scale mutiny broke out among the Irish Connaught Rangers, stationed in India, and some of them paid with their lives for joining the cause of rebellious Ireland. Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly-situated individuals (typically members of the Military; or the Crew of any ship even The Connaught Rangers ("the Devil's Own" was an Irish Regiment of the British Army, formed by the almagation in 1881 of the 88th Regiment India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country
November 1920-July 1921
On November 21, 1920, Collins' Squad killed 14 and wounded 5 British intelligence agents (known as the "Cairo Gang") at different places around Dublin. Events 164 BC - Judas Maccabaeus, son of Mattathias of the Hasmonean family restores the Temple in Jerusalem. Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar The " Cairo Gang " was a group of British Intelligence agents who were sent to Dublin during the Anglo-Irish War to conduct intelligence operations against In response, Auxiliaries drove in trucks into Croke Park (Dublin's GAA football and hurling ground) during a football match, shooting into the crowd. Croke Park (Páirc an Chrócaigh in Dublin, Ireland is the largest sports Stadium in Ireland (fifth largest in Europe) and the principal stadium The Gaelic Athletic Association ( GAA) ( Irish: Cumann Lúthchleas Gael /'kʊmˠən̪ˠ 'l̪ˠuh Fourteen unarmed people were killed and 65 wounded. Later that day two republican prisoners, and an unassociated friend who had been arrested with them, were supposedly "shot while trying to escape" (in fact executed) in Dublin Castle. This day became known as Bloody Sunday. Bloody Sunday was a day of violence on 21 November 1920 in Dublin, during the Irish War of Independence ( 1919 - 1921) Today a stand in Croke Park is named the Hogan Stand, after a Tipperary player who was killed in the attack. County Tipperary (Contae Thiobraid Árann is a County in Ireland situated in the Province of Munster.
On November 28, 1920, only a week after Bloody Sunday in Dublin, the west Cork unit of the IRA, under Tom Barry, ambushed a patrol of Auxiliaries at Kilmichael in County Cork, killing all but one of the 18-man patrol. For the town in Argentina, see 28 de Noviembre. Events Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar ---- Thomas (Tom Barry (Tomás de Barra ( July 1 1897 - July 2 1980) was one of the most prominent guerrilla leaders in The Kilmichael Ambush (Luíochán Chill Mhichíl on November 28 1920 was a turning point in the Irish War of Independence. County Cork (Contae Chorcaí is the most southerly and the largest of the modern counties of Ireland. This action marked a significant escalation of the conflict, with counties Cork, Kerry, Limerick, and Tipperary—all in the province of Munster—being put under martial law on December 10. Munster ( Irish: An Mhumhain, ənˈvuːnʲ Cúige Mumhan or Mumha) is the southernmost of the four Provinces of Ireland. Martial law is the system of rules that takes effect when the military takes control of the normal administration of justice Events 1041 - Empress Zoe of Byzantium elevates her adoptive son to the throne of the Eastern Roman Empire as Michael V Shortly afterwards, in January of 1921, "official reprisals" were sanctioned by the British and they began with the burning of seven houses in Midleton in Cork. Midleton ( Mainistir na Corann in Irish) is a town in south-eastern County Cork, Ireland.
It was burned by the IRA in 1921, but subsequently rebuilt by the Irish Free State.
The Lord Mayor of Cork, Terence MacSwiney, died on hunger strike in Brixton Prison in London in November, while two other IRA prisoners, Joe Murphy and Michael Fitzgerald, died in Cork Jail. Terence Joseph MacSwiney (məkˈswiːni Tordhealbhach Mac Suibhne (20 March 1879 – 25 October 1920 was born in Cork City, County Cork Ireland. A hunger strike is a method of Non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political Protest, or to provoke feelings of HM Prison Brixton is a local Prison in Brixton, London, England. Joseph Murphy was a member of the Irish Republican Army who died on hunger strike in Cork in 1920 during the Irish War of Independence. Michael Fitzgerald was a member of the Irish Republican Army who died on Hunger strike at Cork Jail in October 1920 The centre of Cork was burnt out by Crown forces, who then prevented firefighters from tackling the blaze, on December 11, 1920 in reprisal for an IRA ambush in the city. Events 359 - Honoratus, the first known Prefect of the City of Constantinople, takes office Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar
The following eight months until the Truce of July 1921 saw a spiralling of the death toll in the conflict, with 1,000 people including the RIC Police, British Military, IRA volunteers and civilians, being killed in the months between January and July 1921 alone. [27] This represents about 70% of the total casualties for the entire three-year conflict. In addition, 4,500 IRA personnel (or suspected sympathisers) were interned in this time. Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people commonly in large groups without trial [28] In the middle of this violence, the Dáil formally declared war on Britain in March 1921.
On February 1, the first execution under martial law of an IRA man took place. Events 1327 - Teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Cornelius Murphy of Millstreet, Cork was shot in Cork city. Millstreet ( Sráid an Mhuilinn in Irish) is a town in west County Cork, Ireland with a population of approximately 1500 Cork (Corcaigh is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland 's third most populous city after Dublin and Belfast On February 28, six more were executed, again in Cork. Events 202 BC - coronation ceremony of Liu Bang as Emperor Gaozu of Han takes place initiating four centuries of the Han Dynasty 's rule In all, 14 IRA Volunteers were officially executed in the course of the war.
On March 19, 1921, Tom Barry's 100-strong West Cork IRA unit fought a large-scale action against 1,200 British troops - the Crossbarry Ambush. Events 1279 - A Mongolian victory in the Battle of Yamen ends the Song Dynasty in China. Year 1921 ( MCMXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1921 calendar of the Gregorian calendar The Crossbarry Ambush on March 19, 1921 in the village of Crossbarry twenty Kilometres south-west of Cork city was one of the largest engagements Barry's men narrowly avoided being trapped by converging British columns and inflicted between ten and thirty killed on the British side. Just two days later, on March 21, the Kerry IRA attacked a train at the Headford junction near Killarney. Events 630 - Byzantine emperor Heraclius restores the True Cross to Jerusalem. Headford ( Áth Cinn in Irish) is a town in County Galway, located 26 km north of Galway city in the west of Ireland. Killarney (Cill Airne meaning "The church of the sloes" is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. An estimated twenty British soldiers were killed, as well as two IRA men and three civilians. Most of the actions in the war were on a smaller scale than this, but the IRA did have other significant victories in ambushes, for example at Millstreet in Cork and at Scramogue in Roscommon, also in March 1921 and at Tourmakeady and Carowkennedy in Mayo in May and June. Millstreet ( Sráid an Mhuilinn in Irish) is a town in west County Cork, Ireland with a population of approximately 1500 The Scramogue Ambush was an incident in Ireland 's War of Independence. Tourmakeady (official name Tuar Mhic Éadaigh) is a rural district in County Mayo in the west of Ireland. The Carrowkennedy Ambush was an incident in Ireland 's War of Independence. Equally common, however, were failed ambushes, the worst of which, for example at Upton and Clonmult in Cork in February 1921, saw five and twelve IRA men killed respectively and more captured. The IRA in Mayo suffered a comparable reverse at Kilmeena. Kilmeena is a small village in County Mayo near Westport. The village has a Catholic church and a school Fears of informers after such failed ambushes often led to a spate of IRA shootings of informers, real and imagined.
The biggest single loss for the IRA, however, came in Dublin. On May 25, 1921, several hundred IRA men from the Dublin Brigade occupied and burned the Custom House (the centre of local government in Ireland) in Dublin city centre. Events 1085 - Alfonso VI of Castile takes Toledo Spain back from the Moors. Year 1921 ( MCMXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1921 calendar of the Gregorian calendar The Custom House (Teach an Chustaim is a neoclassical 18th century building in Dublin, Ireland which houses the Department of Environment Heritage Symbolically, this was intended to show that British rule in Ireland was untenable. However, from a military point of view, it was a fiasco, which saw five IRA men killed and over eighty captured. This showed the IRA was not well enough equipped or trained to take on British forces in a conventional manner. However, it did not, as is sometimes claimed, cripple the IRA in Dublin. The Dublin Brigade carried out 107 attacks in the city in May and 93 in June, showing a falloff in activity, but not a dramatic one. However, by July 1921, most IRA units were chronically short of both weapons and ammunition. Also, for all their effectiveness at guerrilla warfare, they had, as Richard Mulcahy recalled, "as yet not been able to drive the enemy [the British] out of anything but a fairly good sized police barracks". Richard James Mulcahy (Risteárd Séamus Ó Maolchatha (10 May 1886 &ndash 16 December 1971 was an Irish politician, Army general and Commander in [29]
Still, many military historians have concluded that the IRA fought a largely successful and lethal guerrilla war, which forced the British government to conclude that the IRA could not be defeated militarily. The Irish Republican Army ( IRA) (Óglaigh na hÉireann was a military organisation descended from the Irish Volunteers, established 25 November 1913 and who [30] The failure of the British efforts to put down the guerrillas was illustrated by the events of "Black Whitsun" on May 13-15 1921. A general election for the parliament of Southern Ireland was held on May 13. Southern Ireland (Deisceart Éireann was the short lived autonomous region (or Constituent country) of the United Kingdom established on 3 May Events 1497 - Pope Alexander VI excommunicates Girolamo Savonarola. Sinn Féin won 124 of the new parliament's 128 seats unopposed, but its elected members refused to take their seats. Sinn Féin () is a political party in Ireland. The current party led by Gerry Adams was formed following a split in January 1970 Under the terms of the Government of Ireland Act, the Southern Parliament was dissolved, and Southern Ireland was to be ruled as a crown colony. An Act to Provide for the Better Government of Ireland, more usually the Government of Ireland Act 1920, (and sometimes called the Fourth Home Rule Act) was an Act Southern Ireland (Deisceart Éireann was the short lived autonomous region (or Constituent country) of the United Kingdom established on 3 May Over the next two days (May 14-15), the IRA killed fifteen policemen. These events marked the complete failure of the British Coalition Government's Irish policy - both the failure to enforce a settlement without negotiating with Sinn Féin and a failure to defeat the IRA.
By the time of the Truce, however, many Republican leaders, including Michael Collins, were convinced that if the war went on for much longer, there was a chance that the IRA campaign as it was then organised could be brought to a standstill. Because of this, plans were drawn up to "bring the war to England". England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The IRA did take the campaign to the streets of Glasgow. [31] It was decided that key economic targets, such as the Liverpool docks, would be bombed. Liverpool ( is a City and Metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary Nineteen warehouses there had been burned to the ground by the IRA the previous November. The units charged with these missions would more easily evade capture because England was not under, and British public opinion was unlikely to accept, martial law. Martial law is the system of rules that takes effect when the military takes control of the normal administration of justice These plans were abandoned because of the Truce.
The North-east
1st Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. Craig tacitly approved of "organised reprisals" on nationalists for IRA attacks. HMSO image
In the Government of Ireland Act 1920 (proposed in July 1920, ratified in December 1920), the British government attempted to solve the conflict by creating two Home Rule parliaments in Ireland, Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. The Office of Public Sector Information ( OPSI) is the body responsible for the operation of Her Majesty's Stationery Office (usually abbreviated as HMSO An Act to Provide for the Better Government of Ireland, more usually the Government of Ireland Act 1920, (and sometimes called the Fourth Home Rule Act) was an Act Home rule refers to a demand that constituent parts of a state be given greater self-government within the greater administrative purview of the central government Northern Ireland (Tuaisceart Éireann Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a Country within the United Kingdom, lying in the northeast of Southern Ireland (Deisceart Éireann was the short lived autonomous region (or Constituent country) of the United Kingdom established on 3 May While Dáil Éireann ignored this, deeming the Irish Republic to be already in existence, unionists in the north-east accepted it and prepared to form their own government. The Irish Republic ( Irish: Poblacht na hÉireann or Saorstát Éireann) was a unilaterally declared independent state of Ireland proclaimed Unionism in Ireland, is a belief in the desirability of a full constitutional and institutional relationship between Ireland and Great Britain based on the terms and This part of Ireland, which was predominantly Protestant and Unionist, saw, as a result, a very different pattern of violence from the rest of the country. Whereas in the south and west, the conflict was between the IRA and British forces, in the north-east and particularly in Belfast, it often developed into a cycle of sectarian killings between Catholics, who were largely nationalist, and Protestants, who were mostly unionist. Belfast ( is the capital city of Northern Ireland and the seat of government in Northern Ireland. Sectarianism is Bigotry, Discrimination, Prejudice or Hatred arising from attaching importance to perceived differences between subdivisions
Summer 1920
While IRA attacks were less common in the north-east than elsewhere, the unionist community saw itself as being besieged by armed Catholic nationalists who seemed to have taken over the rest of Ireland. As a result, they retaliated against the northern Catholic community as a whole. Such action was largely condoned by the unionist leadership and abetted by state forces. James Craig, for instance, wrote in 1920, "The Loyalist rank and file have determined to take action. James Craig 1st Viscount Craigavon, Bart, PC ( 8 January 1871 – 24 November 1940) was a prominent Irish unionist . . they now feel the situation is so desperate that unless the Government will take immediate action, it may be advisable for them to see what steps can be taken towards a system of 'organised' reprisals against the rebels". [32]
The first cycle of attacks and reprisals broke out in the summer of 1920. On July 17, 1920, a British Colonel Gerald Smyth was assassinated by the IRA in the County Club in Cork city in response to a speech, allegedly encouraging indiscriminate reprisals, that was made to police officers of Listowel who had refused orders to move into the more urban areas. Events 180 - Twelve inhabitants of Scillium in North Africa are executed for being Christians Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar [33]. Smyth came from Banbridge, County Down in the north-east and his killing provoked retaliation there against Catholics in Banbridge and Dromore. Banbridge ( is a rapidly growing Town in County Down, Northern Ireland. County Down, ( Ulster Scots: Coontie Doun. is one of the nine counties that form the province of Ulster and one of six counties that form On July 21, 1920, partly in response to the killing of Smyth and partly because of competition over jobs due to the high unemployment rate, loyalists marched on the Harland and Wolff shipyards in Belfast and forced over 7,000 Catholic and left-wing Protestant workers from their jobs. Events 356 BC - Herostratus sets fire to the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar Ulster loyalism is a militant unionist ideology held mostly by Protestants in Northern Ireland. Harland and Wolff Heavy Industries is a diversified heavy industrial company specialising in Shipbuilding, Ship breaking, Offshore construction Sectarian rioting broke out in response in Belfast and Derry, resulting in about 40 deaths and many Catholics and Protestants being expelled from their homes. On August 22, 1920, RIC Detective Swanzy was shot dead by Cork IRA men while leaving Church in Lisburn, County Antrim. Events 392 - Arbogast has Eugenius elected Western Roman Emperor. Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar Lisburn (Lios na gCearrbhach meaning fort of the gamblers) is a predominantly Unionist city in Northern Ireland, south-west of and adjoining Belfast County Antrim ( Contae Aontroma or simply Aontroim in Irish) is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, and one of nine counties Swanzy had been blamed by an inquest jury for the killing of Cork Mayor Thomas MacCurtain. Tomás Mac Curtain ( March 20, 1884 - March 20, 1920) was a Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Cork, Ireland. In revenge, local loyalists burned Catholic residential areas of Lisburn - destroying over 300 homes. While several people were later prosecuted for the burnings, no attempt seems to have been made to halt the attacks at the time. Michael Collins, acting on a suggestion by Sean MacEntee, organised a boycott of Belfast goods in response to the attacks on the Catholic community. Seán MacEntee (Seán Mac an tSaoi 22 August 1889 &ndash 10 January 1984 was a senior Irish politician The Dail approved a partial boycott on August 6 and a more complete one was implemented by the end of 1920. ga '''Dáil Éireann''' ( English House of Representatives of Ireland) is the principal chamber of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament Events 1538 - Bogotá, Colombia, is founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada.
Spring 1921
After a lull in violence in the north over the new year, killings there intensified again in the spring of 1921. The northern IRA units came under pressure from the leadership in Dublin to step up attacks in line with the rest of the country. Predictably, this unleashed loyalist reprisals against Catholics. For example, in April 1921, the IRA in Belfast shot dead two Auxiliaries in Donegal Place in Belfast city centre. The same night, two Catholics were killed on the Falls Road. Falls Road also refers to the Rochester Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad, the New York Central Railroad 's line to Niagara Falls New York. On July 10, 1921 the IRA ambushed British forces in Raglan street in Belfast. Events 48 BC - Battle of Dyrrhachium, Julius Caesar barely avoids a catastrophic defeat to Pompey in Macedonia. Year 1921 ( MCMXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1921 calendar of the Gregorian calendar In the following week, sixteen Catholics were killed and 216 Catholic homes burned in reprisal. Killings on the loyalist side were largely carried by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), allegedly with the aid of the RIC police and especially the auxiliary police force, the Ulster Special Constabulary or "B-Specials". The Ulster Volunteer Force (more commonly referred to as the UVF) is a Loyalist group in Northern Ireland. The Ulster Special Constabulary (USC (commonly called the "B-Specials" was a reserve police force in Ireland. The Special Constabulary (set up in September 1920), was largely recruited from Ulster Volunteer Force and Orange Lodges and, in the words of historian Michael Hopkinson, "amounted to an officially approved UVF". The Orange Institution, more commonly known as the Orange Order or the Orange Lodge, is a Protestant fraternal organisation based predominantly [34] In May James Craig came to Dublin to meet the British Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Fitzalan, and was smuggled by the IRA through Dublin to meet Eamon de Valera. James Craig may refer to James Craig (architect (1739&ndash1795 Scottish architect James Henry Craig (1748&ndash1812 British The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (Ard-Leifteanant na hÉireann ( Plural: Lords Lieutenant) also known as the Judiciar in the early Mediaeval period The two leaders discussed the possibility of a truce in Ulster and an amnesty for prisoners. Ulster ( Ulaidh ˈkwɪɟɪ ˈʌlˠu / ˈʌlˠi is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in addition to Connacht, Munster and Leinster Craig proposed a compromise settlement based on the Government of Ireland Act, with limited independence for the South and autonomy for the North within a Home Rule context. Home rule refers to a demand that constituent parts of a state be given greater self-government within the greater administrative purview of the central government However, the talks came to nothing and violence in the north continued. [35]
The propaganda war, Summer 1921
The Irish tricolour which dated back to the Young Ireland rebellion of 1848. Young Ireland ( Irish: Éire Óg) was a political cultural and social movement which was to revolutionise the way that Irish nationalism was perceived Young Ireland ( Irish: Éire Óg) was a political cultural and social movement which was to revolutionise the way that Irish nationalism was perceived
The standard of the Lord Lieutenant, using the union flag created under the Act of Union 1800. The Union Flag, also known as the Union Jack, is the national flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The phrase Act of Union 1800 (or sometimes Act of Union 1801) (Acht an Aontais 1800 is used to describe two complementary Acts whose official United Kingdom titles are
Another feature of the war was the use of propaganda by both sides. The British tried to portray the IRA as anti-Protestant in order to encourage loyalism in Irish Protestants and win sympathy for their harsh tactics in Britain. Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. For example, in their communiqués they would always mention the religion of spies or collaborators the IRA had killed if the victim was Protestant, but not if they were Catholic (which was more often), trying to give the impression, in Ireland and abroad, that the IRA were slaughtering Protestants. They encouraged newspaper editors, often forcefully, to do the same. In the summer of 1921, a series of articles appeared in a London magazine, entitled "Ireland under the New Terror, Living Under Martial Law". While purporting to be an impartial account of the situation in Ireland, it portrayed the IRA in a very unfavourable light when compared with the Crown forces. In reality the author, Ernest Dowdall, was an Auxiliary and the series was one of many articles planted by the Dublin Castle Propaganda Department (established in August 1920) to influence public opinion in a Britain increasingly dismayed at the behaviour of its security forces in Ireland.
The Catholic hierarchy was critical of the violence of both sides, but especially that of the IRA, continuing a long tradition of condemning militant republicanism. The Bishop of Kilmore, Dr. Finnegan, said: "Any war. . . to be just and lawful must be backed by a well grounded hope of success. What hope of success have you against the mighty forces of the British Empire? None. The British Empire was the largest empire in history and for over a century was the foremost global power. . . none whatever and if it unlawful as it is, every life taken in pursuance of it is murder. " Thomas Gilmartin, the Archbishop of Tuam, issued a letter saying that IRA men who took part in ambushes "have broken the truce of God, they have incurred the guilt of murder. The Archdiocese of Tuam ( Irish: Ard-Deoise an Tuaim) is a Roman Catholic Archdiocese in west Ireland. " However in May 1921, Pope Benedict XV dismayed the British government when he issued a letter that encouraged the "English as well as Irish to calmly consider. Pope Benedict XV ( Latin: Benedictus PP XV) (Benedetto XV ( November 21 1854 &ndash January 22 1922 born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa . . some means of agreement", as they had been pushing for a condemnation of the rebellion. They declared that his comments "put HMG (His Majesty's Government) and the Irish murder gang on a footing of equality".
Desmond FitzGerald and Erskine Childers were active in producing the Irish Bulletin, which detailed government atrocities Irish and British newspapers were unwilling or unable to cover. Desmond FitzGerald (13 February 1888 &ndash 9 April 1947 was an Irish revolutionary Poet and Cumann na nGaedhael politician Robert Erskine Childers DSC (25 June 1870&ndash24 November 1922 was an author and Irish nationalist who was executed by the authorities of the nascent The Irish Bulletin was the official newspaper of the short-lived Irish Republic. It was printed secretly and distributed throughout Ireland, as well as to international press agencies and American, European and sympathetic British politicians. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the
While the military war made most of Ireland ungovernable from early 1920, it did not actually remove British forces from any part. But the success of Sinn Féin's propaganda campaign did remove the option from the British administration to deepen the conflict. Sinn Féin () is a political party in Ireland. The current party led by Gerry Adams was formed following a split in January 1970 The British cabinet had not sought the war that had developed since 1919. By 1921 one of its members, Winston Churchill, reflected: What was the alternative? It was to plunge one small corner of the empire into an iron repression, which could not be carried out without an admixture of murder and counter-murder. Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC, PC (Can ( 30 November 1874 . . Only national self-preservation could have excused such a policy, and no reasonable man could allege that self-preservation was involved. [36]
Truce, July 1921 - December 1921
The war of independence in Ireland ended with a truce on July 11, 1921. The conflict had reached a stalemate. Talks that had looked promising the previous year had petered out in December when David Lloyd George insisted that the IRA first surrender their arms. David Lloyd George 1st Earl Lloyd George of Dwyfor OM, PC (17 January 1863 &ndash 26 March 1945 was a British Statesman and the only Fresh talks, after the Prime Minister had come under pressure from Herbert Henry Asquith and the Liberal opposition, the Labour Party and the Trades Union Congress, resumed in the spring and resulted in the Truce. Herbert Henry Asquith 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, KG, PC ( 12 September 1852 &ndash 15 February 1928) served The Liberal Party was one of the two major British political parties from the early 19th century until the rise of the Labour Party in the 1920s and a third party The Labour Party is a Political party in the United Kingdom. Founded at the start of the 20th century it has been since the 1920s the principal party of the The Trades Union Congress (TUC is a national trade union centre, a federation of Trade unions in the United Kingdom, representing the majority of trade From the point of view of the British government, it appeared as if the IRA's guerrilla campaign would continue indefinitely, with spiralling costs in British casualties and in money. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927 More importantly, the British government was facing severe criticism at home and abroad for the actions of Crown forces in Ireland. On June 6, 1921, the British made their first conciliatory gesture, calling off the policy of house burnings as reprisals. On the other side, IRA leaders and in particular Michael Collins, felt that the IRA as it was then organised could not continue indefinitely. Michael John ("Mick" Collins (Mícheál Seán Ó Coileáin 16 October 1890 &ndash 22 August 1922 was an Irish revolutionary leader, Minister for It had been hard pressed by the deployment of more regular British soldiers to Ireland and by the lack of arms and ammunition.
The initial breakthrough that led to the truce was credited to three people: King George V, General Jan Smuts of South Africa and British Prime Minister David Lloyd George. Field Marshal Jan Christiaan Smuts, OM, CH, PC, ED, KC, FRS (24 May 1870 &ndash 11 September 1950 was a prominent The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the political leader of the United Kingdom The King, who had made his unhappiness at the behaviour of the Black and Tans in Ireland well known to his government, was dissatisfied with the official speech prepared for him for the opening of the new Parliament of Northern Ireland, created as a result of the partition of Ireland. The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule Legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, Smuts, a close friend of the King, suggested to him that the opportunity should be used to make an appeal for conciliation in Ireland. The King asked him to draft his ideas on paper. Smuts prepared this draft and gave copies to the King and to Lloyd George. Lloyd George then invited Smuts to attend a British cabinet meeting consultations on the "interesting" proposals Lloyd George had received, without either man informing the Cabinet that Smuts had been their author. Faced with the endorsement of them by Smuts, the King and the Prime Minister, ministers reluctantly agreed to the King's planned 'reconciliation in Ireland' speech.
The speech, when delivered in Belfast on June 22, had a massive impact. It called on "all Irishmen to pause, to stretch out the hand of forbearance and conciliation, to forgive and to forget, and to join in making for the land they love a new era of peace, contentment, and good will. "
On June 24, 1921, the British Coalition Government's Cabinet decided to propose talks with the leader of Sinn Féin. Events 972 - Battle of Cedynia, the first documented victory of Polish forces takes place Year 1921 ( MCMXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1921 calendar of the Gregorian calendar Coalition Liberals and Unionists agreed that an offer to negotiate would strengthen the Government's position if the revolutionaries refused. Austen Chamberlain, the new leader of the Unionist Party, said that "the King's Speech ought to be followed up as a last attempt at peace before we go to full martial law". Sir Joseph Austen Chamberlain KG ( 16 October 1863 &ndash 17 March 1937) was a British Statesman, Seizing the momentum, Lloyd George then issued an appeal for talks to Éamon de Valera in July 1921. The Irish responded by agreeing to talks. De Valera and Lloyd George ultimately agreed to a truce that was intended to end the fighting and lay the ground for detailed negotiations. Its terms were signed on July 9 and came into effect on July 11. Events 455 - Roman military commander Avitus is proclaimed Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Events 911 - Signing of the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between Charles the Simple and Rollo of Normandy. Negotiations on a settlement, however, were delayed for some months as the British government insisted that the IRA first decommission its weapons, but this demand was eventually dropped. It was agreed that British troops would remain confined to their barracks.
Most IRA officers on the ground interpreted the Truce merely as a temporary respite and continued recruiting and training volunteers. Nor did attacks on the RIC or British Army cease altogether. Between December 1921 and February of the next year, there were 80 recorded attacks by the IRA on the soon to be disbanded RIC, leaving 12 dead. [37] On February 18, 1922, Ernie O'Malley's IRA unit raided the RIC barracks at Clonmel, taking 40 policemen prisoner and seizing over 600 weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Events 3102 BC - Epoch (origin of the Kali Yuga. 1229 - The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II Holy Year 1922 ( MCMXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Ernie O'Malley (26 May 1897 &ndash 25 March 1957 was born in Castlebar, County Mayo, Ireland. Clonmel ( Cluain Meala in Irish) in County Tipperary is the county seat of South Tipperary County Council. [38] In addition, some IRA units used the truce period as an opportunity to settle old scores. In April 1922, in the Dunmanway Massacre, an IRA party in Cork killed 10 local Protestants in retaliation for the shooting of one of their men. The Dunmanway Massacre refers to the killings of ten Protestant civilians allegedly by maverick elements of the Irish Republican Army, in and around Dunmanway Those killed were allegedly named in captured British files as informers before the Truce signed the previous July. [39] Over 100 Protestant families fled the area after the atrocity.
The continuing militancy of many IRA leaders was one of the main factors in the outbreak of the Irish Civil War as they refused to accept the Anglo-Irish Treaty that Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith had negotiated with the British. The Irish Civil War ( June 28 1922 &ndash May 24 1923) pitted supporters of the Anglo-Irish Treaty against its opponents The Anglo-Irish Treaty (An Conradh Angla-Éireannach officially called the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was a Treaty
The letter defined the Irish delegates to the Anglo-Irish negotiations as plenipotentiaries.
Treaty, December 1921 - March 1922
Ultimately, the peace talks led to the negotiation of the Anglo-Irish Treaty (1921), which was then ratified in triplicate: by Dáil Éireann in December 1921 (so giving it legal legitimacy under the governmental system of the Irish Republic), by the House of Commons of Southern Ireland in January 1922 (so giving it constitutional legitimacy according to British theory of who was the legal government in Ireland), and by both Houses of the British parliament. The Anglo-Irish Treaty (An Conradh Angla-Éireannach officially called the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was a Treaty ga '''Dáil Éireann''' ( English House of Representatives of Ireland) is the principal chamber of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament The Irish Republic ( Irish: Poblacht na hÉireann or Saorstát Éireann) was a unilaterally declared independent state of Ireland proclaimed House of Commons of Southern Ireland was the lower house of the Irish parliament created by the Government of Ireland Act, passed in 1920 during the Irish War
The treaty allowed Northern Ireland, which had been created by the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, to opt out of the Free State if it wished, which it duly did under the procedures laid down. Northern Ireland (Tuaisceart Éireann Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a Country within the United Kingdom, lying in the northeast of An Act to Provide for the Better Government of Ireland, more usually the Government of Ireland Act 1920, (and sometimes called the Fourth Home Rule Act) was an Act As agreed, an Irish Boundary Commission was then created to decide on the precise location of the border of the Free State and Northern Ireland. The Boundary Commission was established by the Anglo-Irish Treaty that ended the Anglo-Irish War in 1921 The Irish negotiators understood that the Commission would redraw the border according to local nationalist or unionist majorities. Since the 1920 local elections in Ireland had resulted in outright nationalist majorities in County Fermanagh, County Tyrone, the City of Derry and in many District Electoral Divisions of County Armagh and County Londonderry (all north and west of the "interim" border), this might well have left Northern Ireland unviable. County Fermanagh (fɚr'mænɘ Contae Fhear Manach or Fear Manach ('Men of Monach'in Irish) is the westernmost of the six counties that form Northern A District Electoral Division (often abbreviated as DED) was a low-level territorial division in Ireland. County Armagh ( Contae Ard Mhacha in Irish - from the height of Macha) is a county in Ulster in the north east of Ireland However, the Commission chose to leave the border unchanged; as a trade-off, the money owed to Britain by the Free State under the Treaty was not demanded.
A new system of government was created for the new Irish Free State, though for the first year two governments co-existed; an Aireacht answerable to the Dáil and headed by President Griffith, and a Provisional Government nominally answerable to the House of Commons of Southern Ireland and appointed by the Lord Lieutenant. (The complexity of this was even shown in the manner by which Lord FitzAlan appointed Collins as head of the Provisional Government. Edmund Bernard FitzAlan-Howard 1st Viscount FitzAlan of Derwent, KG, PC, ( 1 June 1855 – 18 May 1947) was a British In British theory, they met to allow Collins to "Kiss Hands". In Irish theory, they met to allow Collins to take the surrender of Dublin Castle. )
The first head of government in the Free State. William Thomas Cosgrave (Liam Tomás Mac Cosgair 6 June 1880 &ndash 16 November 1965 known generally as W
Most of the Irish independence movement's leaders were willing to accept this compromise, at least for the time being, though many militant Republicans were not. A majority of the pre-Truce IRA who had fought in the War of Independence, led by Liam Lynch, refused to accept the Treaty and in March 1922 repudiated the authority of the Dáil and the new Free State government, which it accused of betraying the ideal of the Irish Republic. For other people named Liam Lynch see Liam Lynch Liam Lynch (Liam Ó Loinsigh 9 November, 1893 &ndash 10 April The anti-treaty IRA were supported by the former president of the Republic, Eamon de Valera, and ministers Cathal Brugha and Austin Stack.
Northern Ireland's bloody birth
July 1921-July 1922
While the fighting in the south was largely ended by the Truce on July 11, 1921, in the north killings continued and actually escalated until the summer of 1922. Events 911 - Signing of the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between Charles the Simple and Rollo of Normandy. Year 1921 ( MCMXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1921 calendar of the Gregorian calendar In Belfast, 16 people were killed in the two days after the truce alone. The violence in the city took place in bursts, as attacks on both Catholics and Protestants were rapidly followed by reprisals on the other community. In this way, 20 people died in street fighting and assassinations in north and west Belfast over August 29 to September 1 1921 and another 30 from November 21-25. Loyalists had by this time taken to firing and throwing bombs randomly into Catholic areas and the IRA responded by bombing trams which took Protestant workers to their places of employment. A tram, tramcar, trolley, trolley car, or streetcar is a railborne vehicle, of lighter weight and construction than a Train [40]
Moreover, despite the Dail's acceptance of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in January 1922, which confirmed the future existence of Northern Ireland, there were clashes between the IRA and British Crown forces along the new border from early 1922. ga '''Dáil Éireann''' ( English House of Representatives of Ireland) is the principal chamber of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament The Anglo-Irish Treaty (An Conradh Angla-Éireannach officially called the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was a Treaty In part, this reflected Michael Collins' view that the Treaty was a tactical move, or "stepping stone", rather than a final settlement. A number of IRA men were arrested in Derry when they travelled there as part of the Monaghan Gaelic football team. The Monaghan County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA (Cumann Luthchleas Gael Coiste Muineachán or Monaghan GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the Gaelic football ( Irish: Peil, Peil Ghaelach, or Caid) commonly referred to as " football " is a form of Football In retaliation, Michael Collins had forty-two loyalists taken hostage in Fermanagh and Tyrone. Right after this incident, a group of B-Specials were confronted by an IRA unit at Clones in Southern territory, who demanded that they surrender. This page refers to the Irish town For other uses see Clones (disambiguation, or Clone Clones (Cluain Eois &ndash ˈkloʊnɪs The IRA unit's leader was shot dead and a gun battle broke out, in which four Special Constables were killed. The withdrawal of British troops from Ireland was temporarily suspended as a result of this event. Despite the setting up of a Border Commission to mediate between the two sides in late February, March saw IRA raids on three British barracks along the border. All of these actions provoked retaliatory killings in Belfast. In the two days after the Fermanagh kidnappings, 30 people lost their lives in the city, including six Catholic children who were killed by a loyalist bomb on Weaver street. The month of March saw 60 die in Belfast, including six members of the Catholic McMahon family, who were targeted for assassination by members of the Special Constabulary in revenge for the IRA killing of two policemen. [41] April saw the deaths of another 30 people in the Northern capital, including another so called 'uniform attack', when five Catholics were killed by uniformed policemen. [42].
Winston Churchill arranged a meeting between Collins and James Craig on January 21, 1922 and the southern boycott of Belfast goods was lifted but then re-imposed after several weeks. James Craig may refer to James Craig (architect (1739&ndash1795 Scottish architect James Henry Craig (1748&ndash1812 British Events 1189 - Philip II of France and Richard I of England begin to assemble troops to wage the Third Crusade. Year 1922 ( MCMXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The two leaders had several further meetings, but despite a joint declaration that "Peace is declared" on March 30, the violence continued. Events 240 BC - 1st recorded Perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. [43]
Failed IRA offensive
From April to June 1922, Collins launched a clandestine guerrilla IRA offensive against Northern Ireland. By this time, the IRA was split over the Anglo-Irish Treaty, but both pro and anti-treaty units were involved in the operation. The Anglo-Irish Treaty (An Conradh Angla-Éireannach officially called the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was a Treaty Arms sent by the British to arm the new Irish Army were in fact given to IRA units and their weapons were sent to the North. The Irish Army ( Arm na hÉireann) is the main branch of the Irish Defence Forces ( Óglaigh na hÉireann) However, the offensive, launched with a series of IRA attacks in the North on May 17-19, ultimately proved a failure. On May 22, after the assassination of unionist politician William Twaddell, 350 IRA men were arrested in Belfast, crippling its organisation there. Events 334 BC - The Greek army of Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of the Granicus. William John Twaddell (1884 &ndash 22 May 1922) was a Unionist politician from Belfast. The largest single clash came in June, when British troops had to use artillery to dislodge an IRA unit from the village of Pettigo, killing seven, wounding six and taking four prisoners. Pettigo (also spelt Pettigoe; Irish: Poiteagó) is a small picturesque village on the border of County Donegal and County Fermanagh This was the last major confrontation between the IRA and British forces in the period 1919-1922. [44] The cycle of sectarian atrocities against civilians however continued into June 1922. May saw 75 people killed in Belfast and another 30 died there in June. Several thousand Catholics fled the violence and sought refuge in Glasgow and Dublin. Glasgow (ˈglæzgoʊ is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom Dublin (ˈdʌblɨn/ /ˈdʊblɨn or /ˈdʊbəlɪn/, bˠalʲə aːha klʲiəh or cliə(ɸ is both the largest city and capital of Ireland. [45] On June 17, in revenge for the killing of two Catholics, Frank Aiken's IRA unit killed six Protestant civilians in Altnaveigh, south Armagh. Events 1462 - Vlad III the Impaler attempts to assassinate Mehmed II ( The Night Attack) forcing him to retreat Frank Aiken (Proinsias Mac Aodhagáin new spelling Proinsias Mac Aogáin; 13 February 1898 – 18 May 1983 was a senior Irish Politician.
Michael Collins held the British general Henry Hughes Wilson responsible for the attacks on Catholics in the north and had him killed in June 1922, an event that inadvertently helped to trigger the Irish Civil War (Winston Churchill insisted after the killing that Collins take action against the Anti-Treaty IRA, whom he assumed to be responsible). Field Marshal Sir Henry Hughes Wilson 1st Baronet, GCB, DSO, ( 5 May 1864 – 22 June 1922) was a The Irish Civil War ( June 28 1922 &ndash May 24 1923) pitted supporters of the Anglo-Irish Treaty against its opponents This article deals with the Irish republican organisation opposed to the Anglo-Irish Treaty styling itself "Irish Republican Army" as it existed from the time of the Treaty The outbreak of the civil war in the South had the ironic effect of ending the violence in the North, as the war demoralised the IRA in the northeast and distracted the attention of the rest of the organisation from the question of partition. After Collins' death in August 1922, the new Irish Free State quietly ended his overt violent aggression towards Northern Ireland.
The violence in the north fizzled by late 1922, the last reported killing of the conflict in what was now Northern Ireland took place on October 5. [46]
Casualties
The total number killed in the guerrilla war of 1919-21 between Republicans and Crown Forces in what became the Irish Free State came to over 1,400. Phibsborough ( Baile Phib in Irish) often spelled Phibsboro, is a district of Dublin in Ireland. Dublin (ˈdʌblɨn/ /ˈdʊblɨn or /ˈdʊbəlɪn/, bˠalʲə aːha klʲiəh or cliə(ɸ is both the largest city and capital of Ireland. The Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann (1922&ndash1937 was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by Of these, 363 were Police personnel, 261 were from the regular British Army, about 550 were IRA volunteers (including 14 official executions), and about 200 were civilians. [47] Some other sources give higher figures. [48]
A total of 557 people died in political violence in what would become Northern Ireland between July 1920 and July 1922. This death toll is usually counted separately from the southern casualties, as many of these deaths took place after the July 11 truce that ended fighting in the rest of Ireland. Of these deaths, between 303 and 340 were Catholic civilians, 35 were IRA men, between 172 and 196 were Protestant civilians and 82 were Crown Forces personnel (38 were RIC and 44 were Ulster Special Constables). Belfast saw the majority of the violence, 452 people being killed there - 267 Catholics and 185 Protestants. [49]
Irish nationalists have argued that this northern violence represented a pogrom against their community, as 58% of the victims were Catholics, even though Catholics were only around 35% of the population. Irish nationalism (Náisiúnachas Éireannach refers to political and sociological movements and sentiment that embodies a love for Irish ancestry, culture and language and A pogrom is a form of Riot directed against a particular group whether ethnic religious or other and characterized by destruction of their Homes Businesses Historian of the period Alan Parkinson has suggested that the term 'pogrom' is 'unhelpful and misleading in explaining the events of the period' as the violence was not state directed or one sided. [50].
Independence and the Irish Civil War
St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral, Dublin, August 1922. The Irish Civil War ( June 28 1922 &ndash May 24 1923) pitted supporters of the Anglo-Irish Treaty against its opponents Michael John ("Mick" Collins (Mícheál Seán Ó Coileáin 16 October 1890 &ndash 22 August 1922 was an Irish revolutionary leader, Minister for St Mary's Church (Leas-Ardeaglais Naomh Muire known also as St Mary's Pro-Cathedral or simply the Pro-Cathedral, is a Pro-cathedral and is the episcopal Dublin (ˈdʌblɨn/ /ˈdʊblɨn or /ˈdʊbəlɪn/, bˠalʲə aːha klʲiəh or cliə(ɸ is both the largest city and capital of Ireland.
While the violence in the north was still raging, the South of Ireland was pre-occupied with the split in the Dáil and in the IRA over the Treaty. In April 1922, an Executive of IRA officers repudiated the Treaty and the authority of the Provisional Government which had been set up to administer it. These Republicans held that the Dáil did not have the right to dis-establish the Irish Republic. A hardline group of Anti-Treaty IRA men occupied several public buildings in Dublin in an effort to bring down the Treaty and re-start the war with the British. There were a number of armed confrontations between pro and anti-treaty troops before matters came to a head in late June 1922. Desperate to get the new Irish Free State off the ground and under British pressure, Michael Collins attacked the Anti-Treaty militants in Dublin, causing fighting to break out around the country.
The subsequent Irish Civil War lasted until mid-1923 and cost of the lives of many of the leaders of the independence movement, notably the head of the Provisional Government Michael Collins, ex minister Cathal Brugha, as well as anti-Treaty republicans Harry Boland, Rory O'Connor, Liam Mellows, Liam Lynch and many others: total casualties were several times those in the earlier fighting against the British. The Irish Civil War ( June 28 1922 &ndash May 24 1923) pitted supporters of the Anglo-Irish Treaty against its opponents Michael John ("Mick" Collins (Mícheál Seán Ó Coileáin 16 October 1890 &ndash 22 August 1922 was an Irish revolutionary leader, Minister for Cathal Brugha ( pronounced bˠɾˠuː born Charles William St Harry Boland (1887&ndash1922 was an Irish nationalist of the early Twentieth century Rory O'Connor (1883 - 1922 was an Irish republican activist He is best remembered for his role in the Irish Civil War 1922-1923 which led to his execution Liam Mellows (25 May 1895 – 8 December 1922 often spelled 'Liam Mellowes' was an Irish Nationalist and Sinn Féin politician For other people named Liam Lynch see Liam Lynch Liam Lynch (Liam Ó Loinsigh 9 November, 1893 &ndash 10 April President Arthur Griffith also died. Arthur Griffith (Art Ó Gríobhtha 31 March 1872 &ndash 12 August 1922 was the founder and third leader of Sinn Féin.
Following the deaths of Griffith and Collins, W. T. Cosgrave became head of government. William Thomas Cosgrave (Liam Tomás Mac Cosgair 6 June 1880 &ndash 16 November 1965 known generally as W On 6 December 1922, following the coming into legal existence of the Irish Free State, W. Events 1060 - Béla I of Hungary is crowned king of Hungary 1240 - Mongol invasion of Rus: Kiev Year 1922 ( MCMXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann (1922&ndash1937 was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by T. Cosgrave became President of the Executive Council, the first internationally recognised head of an independent Irish government. The President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State ( Irish: Uachtarán ar Ard-Chomhairle Shaorstát Éireann) was the Head of government or prime
The war ended in mid-1923 in defeat for the anti-treaty side.
Later in his life, as President of Ireland, when asked what had been his biggest political mistake, Éamon de Valera said "not accepting the Treaty". The President of Ireland (Uachtarán na hÉireann n̪ˠə ˈheːɾʲən̪ˠ is the Head of state of Ireland. Éamon de Valera (ˈeɪmən dɛvəˈlɛrə (born Edward George de Valera) (14 October 1882 &ndash 29 August 1975 was one of the dominant political figures in 20th century
Memorial
A memorial called the Garden of Remembrance was erected in Dublin in 1966, on the fiftieth anniversary of the Easter Rising. The Garden of Remembrance (An Gairdín Cuimhneacháin is an Irish Memorial Garden, created in Dublin dedicated to the memory of all those who The Easter Rising (Éirí Amach na Cásca was a rebellion staged in Ireland in Easter Week, 1916 The date of signing of the truce is commemorated by the National Day of Commemoration, when all those Irish men and women who fought in wars in specific armies (e. The National Day of Commemoration (Lá Cuimhneacháin Náisiúnta of Ireland, is held annually in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham on the Sunday nearest July g. the Irish unit(s) fighting in the British Army in 1916 at the Battle of the Somme) are commemorated.
Films & Television
- 1996 - Michael Collins
- 2001 - Rebel Heart
- 2006 - The Wind That Shakes the Barley
Notes
- ^ (Hopkinson, Irish War of Independence p 201-202)
- ^ Hopkinson, Irish War of Independence p 201-202) Hopkinson lists 363 RIC killed in Southern Ireland 1919-21, Robert Lynch, the Northern IRA and the Early Years of Partition, gives a figure of 38 RIC and 43 USC personnel killed in Northern Ireland 1920-22 p. Michael Collins a 1996 Biopic about Michael Collins, the Irish patriot and Revolutionary who died in the Rebel Heart is a 2001 drama Miniseries staring James D'Arcy as the fictional Ernie Coyne an Irish nationalist The Wind That Shakes the Barley is a 2006 Ken Loach Film set during the Irish War of Independence (1919–21 and the Irish Civil War 227 and p. 67. The RIC casualty figure includes 4 Dublin Metropolitan Policemen and 2 Harbour Police
- ^ Hopkinson lists 200 killed in southern Ireland 1919-21,Richard English, Armed Struggle, a History of the IRA, gives a total of 557 killed in Northern Ireland in 1920-1922 page 39-40
- ^ The war is often referred to as the "Irish War of Independence" in Ireland and as the "Anglo-Irish War" in Britain, the "Tan War" by anti-Treaty republicans and was known contemporaneously as "the Troubles," not to be confused with the later conflict in Northern Ireland, which is also referred to as the "the Troubles. "
- ^ According to Republican Sinn Féin, "The executions of the 1916 leaders quickly swung public support behind the ideals and objectives of those who had participated in and led the Rising "ending British rule and the establishment of a free and independent Irish Republic. Republican Sinn Féin ( RSF; Irish: Sinn Féin Poblachtach) is a Political party operating in Ireland. "Sinn Féin 100 years of unbroken continuity 1905-2005
- ^ History Ireland, May 2007, p. 56.
- ^ Dáil Éireann - Volume 1 - 10 April, 1919
- ^ Dáil Éireann - Volume 1 - 25 January, 1921
- ^ Dáil Éireann - Volume 1 - 11 March, 1921
- ^ Hopkinson, Irish War of Independence, pg. 26
- ^ M. E. Collins, Ireland 1868-1966, pg. 254
- ^ Hopkinson, Irish War of Independence, pg. 42
- ^ The RIC's strength in late 1919 was down to 9,300 but extensive recruitment saw it reach a height of over 14,000 by June 1921, Hopkinson, Irish War of Independence, pg. 49
- ^ Hopkinson, War of Independence, pg. 26
- ^ Hopkinson, Irish War of Independence pg 201-2
- ^ The Irish Times referred to this committee as a Limerick Soviet [1]
- ^ Hokinson, Irish War of Independence pg. The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet news paper launched in the late 1850s. In the midst of the Irish War of Independence and the more general wave of Revolutions of 1917-23, the Limerick Soviet ( Sóivéid Luimnigh) was 43
- ^ M. E. Collins, Ireland 1868-1966, p. 258
- ^ M. E Collins, Ireland, pg. 252
- ^ Hopkinson, Irish War of Independence, pg. 44
- ^ Hopkinson, Irish War of Independence, pg. 43
- ^ Ibid. pg. 44
- ^ Hopkinson, Irish War of Independence, pg 42
- ^ September 1919
- ^ Collins, Ireland, pg. 262
- ^ Michael Hopkinson, The Irish War of Independence, p. 65, Hopkinson has characterised the Act as a "halfway house to martial law"
- ^ Peter Hart (above) has described this as ethnic cleansing of Protestants from Munster. Peter Hart (born c 1970 is a Canadian historian specialising in modern Irish history Ethnic cleansing is a Euphemism referring to the persecution through imprisonment expulsion or killing of members of an ethnic minority by a majority to achieve ethnic homogeneity Munster ( Irish: An Mhumhain, ənˈvuːnʲ Cúige Mumhan or Mumha) is the southernmost of the four Provinces of Ireland. Ryan (also above) quotes Lionel Curtis, political advisor to Lloyd George, writing in early 1921 "Protestants in the south do not complain of persecution on sectarian grounds. If Protestant farmers are murdered, it is not by reason of their religion, but rather because they are under suspicion as Loyalist. The distinction is fine, but a real one. " Nevertheless, between 1911 and 1926, the territory of the Free State lost 34 percent of its (small) Protestant population to migration.
- ^ (M. E. Collins, Ireland p 265)
- ^ Dorhty McArdle, The Irish Republic, pg. 568
- ^ According to historian Michael Hopkinson, the guerrilla warfare, "was often courageous and effective" (Hopkinson, Irish War of Independence p202). Another historian, David Fitzpatrick notes that, "The guerrilla fighters. . . were vastly outnumbered by the forces of the Crown. . . the success of the Irish Volunteers in surviving so long is therefore noteworthy" (Bartlett, Military History of Ireland, p 406)
- ^ Battle of Rottenrow
- ^ (Hopkinson, Irish War of Independence, p. 158)
- ^ Constable Jeremiah Mee, leader of the mutiny among the police officers, suggested in a publication of the Sinn Féin newspaper Irish Bulletin, that Smyth had said that the officers should shoot IRA suspects on sight. In reality, Order No. 5, which Smyth had already said to colleagues that he was going to read out to the officers, said that IRA suspects should be shot as a last resort if the IRA men didn't surrender when challenged. This episode, along with the mutiny, has come down to be known as the Listowel mutiny
- ^ Hopkinson, Irish War of Independence, p. The Listowel mutiny occurred when police officers under the command of County Inspector O'Shea refused to be relocated out of their rural police station in Listowel, 158
- ^ Hopkinson, Irish War of Independence, page 162
- ^ W. Churchill, The Aftermath (Thornton 1929) p297.
- ^ Niall C. Harrington Kerry Landing, p. 8
- ^ Harrington p. 10
- ^ Meda Ryan, Tom Barry, IRA Freedom Fighter, p. 157
- ^ Alan F Parkinson, Belfast's Unholy War, ISBN1-85182-792-7 hbk p316
- ^ Parkinson, Unholy War, p237
- ^ Parkinson, Unholy War, p316
- ^ Michael Hopkinson, Green Against Green, the Irish Civil War, page79-83
- ^ Hopkinson, Green Against Green, page 83-87
- ^ Parkinson, Unholy War, p. 316
- ^ Parkinson, Unholy War, p. 316
- ^ (Hopkinson, Irish War of Independence p 201-202)
- ^ The PSNI, successor to the RIC via the RUC, lists the figures of RIC killed as 418, with 146 British soldiers killed. One in twenty of the RIC dead with one in twelve wounded. See figures available here
- ^ Richard English, Armed Struggle, a History of the IRA, page 39-40. Robert Lynch, the Northern IRA and the Early Years of Partition, p. 227 and p. 67
- ^ 'despite disproportionate loss of life and serious injury among the Catholic community, there were also hundreds of Protestant dead and injured'. Also he argues that 'co-ordination of the murder campaign was not executed by the official administration for the area and many killings appeared to have been done in a random and reactive fashion'. Parkinson, Unholy War, p. 314
Bibliography
- Coogan, Tim Pat. Michael Collins
- Collins, M. E. Ireland 1868-1966 (Educational Company, 1993)
- Lyons, F. S. L. Ireland Since the Famine
- MacCardle, Dorothy. The Irish Republic (Corgi paperback)
- Pakenham, Frank (Earl of Longford). Peace By Ordeal: An Account from First-Hand Sources of the Negotiation and Signature of the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 (1935) ISBN 978-0-283-97908-8
- Hopkinson, Michael. The Irish War of Independence (Gill & Macmillan, 2002)
- Hopkinson, Michael. Green against Green, the Irish Civil War (Gill & Macmillan, 2004)
- Hart, Peter. The IRA at War 1916-1923 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003). ISBN 0-19-925258-0
- Hart, Peter. The IRA and Its Enemies: Violence and Community in Cork, 1916-1923 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998). ISBN 0-19-820806-5
- Ryan, Meda. Tom Barry: IRA Freedom Fighter (Cork: Mercier Press, 2003). ISBN 1-85635-425-3
- English, Richard. Armed Struggle, a History of the IRA (MacMillan, 2003)
- Comerford, Richard. Ireland: Inventing the Nation (Hodder, 2003).
External links
- Chronology of Irish History 1919 - 1923
- Cork's War of Independence
- Eleven killed in an IRA gun ambush outside Dromkeen February 3, 1921, on the Limerick Leader web site. Events 1112 - Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona and Douce I of Provence marry uniting the fortunes of those two states Year 1921 ( MCMXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1921 calendar of the Gregorian calendar The Limerick Leader is a weekly local Newspaper in Limerick, Ireland.
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