Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)
Encyclopedia
The original Irish Republican Army
(IRA) fought a guerrilla war against British rule in Ireland in the Irish War of Independence
1919–1921. Following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty
on 6 December 1921, the IRA in the 26 counties that were to become the Irish Free State
split between supporters and opponents of the Treaty. The anti-Treatyites, sometimes referred to by Free State forces as irregulars, continued to use the name Irish Republican Army (IRA) or in Irish
Óglaigh na hÉireann, as did the organisation in the Northern Ireland
which supported the pro-Treaty side. Óglaigh na hÉireann
was also adopted as the name of the pro-Treaty National Army and remains the official legal title of the Irish Defence Forces. This article deals with the anti-Treaty IRA that fought the Irish Civil War
and was defeated by the Irish Free State forces and with its successors up to 1969, when the IRA split again.
and in the IRA. Dáil Éireann
ratified the Treaty by 64 votes to 57 after a lengthy and acrimonious debate, following which President Éamon de Valera
resigned. Sinn Féin split between pro-Treaty and anti-Treaty factions, and the Army followed suit. The majority of headquarters staff, many of whom were close to Michael Collins
, supported the Treaty, but opinion among IRA volunteers was divided. By and large, IRA units in Munster
and most of Connacht
were opposed to the Treaty, while those in favour predominated in the Midlands, Leinster
and Ulster
. The pro-Treaty volunteers formed the nucleus of the new National Army
.
In March 1922 anti-Treaty officers called an army convention, attended by their supporters, which reaffirmed their opposition to the Treaty. They repudiated the authority of the Dáil, claiming that its members had broken their oath to defend the Irish Republic
and declared their own Army Executive to be the real government of the country until the Republic was formally established. The reasons why volunteers chose pro- and anti-Treaty positions are complex. One factor was an evaluation of the military situation. Whereas Collins, Richard Mulcahy
and Eoin O'Duffy
felt that the IRA could not continue to fight the British successfully, anti-Treaty officers such as Ernie O'Malley
and Tom Barry
felt that the IRA's position was stronger than it had ever been. Another factor was the role of powerful personalities, where the leader of an IRA unit — for example Sean McEoin who sided with the Treaty in County Longford
— took sides, the remainder of his command followed suit. The same was also true for anti-Treaty leaders such as Liam Lynch
in Cork.
After the civil war broke out officially in June 1922, the Free State government issued directives to newspapers that its Army was to be called "The National Army", its opponents were to be called "Irregulars" and were not to be associated with the IRA of 1919-1921. This attitude hardened as the civil war went on and especially after the killing of Michael Collins in an ambush in August 1922. Collins wrote to W. T. Cosgrave on 25 July 1922 that the anti-Treaty side were "misguided, but practically all of them are sincere". However, the subsequent government attitude under Cosgrave was that the anti-Treaty side were rebels against the lawful government and were not entitled to recognition as legitimate combatants. Some of the officers of the new Irish Army
led by Liam Tobin
formed an association called the "Old IRA" to distinguish themselves from the anti-Treaty fighters. Some pro-Treaty IRA officers like Eoin O'Duffy
alleged that the "Irregulars" had not fought the British in War of Independence. O'Duffy claimed that the Kerry IRA's sole contribution in 1919-21 was, "the shooting of an unfortunate soldier on the day of the truce". In Kerry's case (which saw more Royal Irish Constabulary
(RIC) men killed than anywhere else outside Dublin and Tipperary), this was far from true, however some areas such as Sligo and Wexford did see considerably more action in the civil war than in the War of Independence. Other IRA men such as Florence O'Donoghue
formed a group called the "neutral IRA", which tried to reconcile the two factions.
Meanwhile the IRA in Northern Ireland maintained their links with Michael Collins
. The only Northern IRA leader to join the anti-Treaty side was Belfast commander Joe McKelvey
. In May 1922 they launched a renewed military offensive, in which they were aided covertly by both the National Army and the anti-Treaty IRA. This was interrupted by the outbreak of civil war in the new Irish Free State. Many Northern IRA men then had to flee the North to escape internment
or worse at the hands of the Northern authorities. Over 500 of them ended up in the National Army during the civil war.
The IRA had been expanded hugely in 1922, from perhaps 15,000 men before the truce with the British in July 1921, to over 72,000 by November 1922. Veterans of the War of Independence derisively termed the new recruits, "truceileers". These were to divide in broadly the same ratio as the veterans, however, most of them did not take part in the civil war. At the beginning of the civil war, the Free State had about 8,000 fighters, mostly pro-Treaty IRA volunteers. The anti-Treaty side could muster about 15,000 men but it could not arm them all. At the start of the war, they had just under 7,000 rifles, a few machine guns and a handful of armoured cars taken from British garrisons (who were under orders not to fire on IRA units) as they evacuated the country. The remainder of anti-Treaty IRA arms were shotguns (3,000 of which were confiscated after the civil war) and other civilian weapons.
was reflected in the victory of the pro-Treaty side in general elections in 1922 and 1923. In April 1922, anti-Treaty forces controversially seized a number of public buildings in Dublin, most notably the Four Courts
. Eventually, after two months and under British pressure, Michael Collins decided to remove them by force. Pro-Treaty forces bombarded the building, which surrendered after two days. Confused fighting raged for another five days, with anti-Treaty elements of the IRA's Dublin Brigade under Oscar Traynor
occupying O'Connell Street until they were dislodged by artillery fire.
In July 1922, the anti-Treaty IRA units held most of the south and west of Ireland. However the Republicans, under new Chief of Staff, Liam Lynch
soon lost most of the territory they initially controlled. While the anti-Treaty side had a numerical advantage at the very start of the war, they were soon both outnumbered and outgunned. The Free State's National Army was quickly expanded to over 38,000 by the end of 1922 and to 55,000 men and 3,000 officers by the end of the war, recruiting Irish ex-servicemen from the British Army amongst others. Additionally, the British met its requests for arms, ammunition, armoured cars, artillery and aeroplanes. By August 1922, the Free State had re-taken all the major towns and territory held by republicans. The Free State's best troops were the Dublin Guard
- a unit composed of former IRA men, mostly from the Dublin Brigade's active service unit who were to the forefront in the Free State's offensive of July–August 1922. They sided with the Free State primarily out of personal loyalty to Collins.
The anti-Treaty IRA was not equipped or trained to fight conventional warfare. Despite some determined resistance to the Free State advance south of Limerick
by late August, most of them had dispersed to fight a guerrilla campaign.
The anti-Treaty guerrilla campaign was spasmodic and ineffective. Much of it was composed of the destruction of infrastructure such as the main railway bridge linking Cork
with Dublin. They also burned many public buildings and "commandeered" supplies by force, alienating many civilians. Furthermore, without the public support that had existed during the War of Independence and facing an enemy who knew them and the countryside intimately, the anti-Treaty forces found that they could not sustain a guerrilla war such as that fought against Britain. Only in county Kerry
was a relatively effective campaign fought, with the IRA units re-taking Kenmare
and other towns from the Free State on several occasions. The IRA's relative popularity in this area had much to do with the brutality of the occupying Free State troops. Other areas of guerilla activity included county Cork
, western county Mayo
, county Wexford
and several other localities.
Despite the limitations of the anti-Treaty IRA's campaign, they still inflicted more fatalities on Free State troops (about 800) in the nine month civil war than they had on British Crown forces, who lost about 600 killed in the almost three year long War of Independence (1919–1921). The disparity is no doubt due to the Free State troops relative paucity of training and equipment compared with British forces.
The conduct of the Civil War resulted in long-lasting bitterness on both sides. In September special emergency legislation came into effect under which military tribunals were empowered to pass death sentences. The head of the anti-Treaty forces, Liam Lynch
, responded with an announcement that Free State TD
s and senators who had voted for the legislation would be targeted. A number of members of the Oireachtas were attacked, TD Sean Hales
was killed and the property of parliamentarians burnt. In addition IRA men around the country burned many of the stately homes of the old Protestant Anglo-Irish
landed class - a policy motivated by both class antagonism and nationalist resentment against a class traditionally seen as "pro-British". The Free State Government, for its part, officially executed 77 anti-Treaty prisoners. Government forces also carried out a number of atrocities against prisoners. This was particularly pronounced in Kerry, where the fighting was most bitter. On at least three occasions in March 1923, IRA prisoners were massacred with land mines in reprisal for the killing of Free State soldiers. Ironically, the men accused of these war-crimes were mostly from the Dublin Guard, themselves IRA veterans from 1919-21. See also: Executions during the Irish Civil War
By 1923, the defeat of the anti-Treaty IRA seemed assured. It controlled no territory and its guerrilla campaign had little public support. The civil war petered out in mid 1923 after the death in action of IRA chief of staff Liam Lynch
. Shortly afterwards, on 24 May 1923 the anti-Treaty forces received an order, issued by Frank Aiken
, their chief-of-staff, to "dump arms". Eamon de Valera supported this in his speech "Legion of the Rearguard":
In de Valera's words, "Further sacrifice of life would now be vain and continuance of the struggle in arms unwise in the national interest and prejudical to the future of our cause. Military victory must be allowed to rest for the moment with those who have destroyed the Republic. Other means must be sought to safeguard the nation's right."
By this time thousands of republicans were already prisoners of the Free State government led by W. T. Cosgrave; many more were arrested after they dumped arms and returned to civilian life. By late 1923, over 12,000 anti-Treaty IRA men were interned. The prisoners were released over the following year, with Eamon De Valera last to leave Kilmainham Gaol
in 1924.
In 1924, the IRA counted 14,500 members in total, including young men aged from 19+, but with just over 5,000 weapons in its dumps. By 1926, the members had shrunk to 5,042. By 1930, the IRA possessed less than 2,000 members and only 859 rifles, indicating the decline in its military potential. The casualties of the anti-Treaty IRA in the civil war have never been accurately counted, but are thought to have been considerably more than the 800 or so deaths suffered by the Free State Army, perhaps two or three times as numerous. Significantly however, the war had not been brought to an end by any kind of agreement between the two sides. The IRA of the post-civil war era would never accept the Free State as a legitimate Irish government and would continue to oppose its existence.
, and many Sinn Féin and IRA members left to support him. De Valera would in 1932 become President of the Executive Council
, at the head of the first Fianna Fáil government.
The IRA considered itself to be upholding the Republic that was declared in the 1916 Proclamation, and held that the governments of the Irish Free State were illegitimate. It maintained that it remained the army of that Republic, in direct continuity with the IRA of the War of Independence period. It should be noted that there were several competing organisations on the radical republican side of Irish politics during this period. In addition to the IRA, these including the hard-line elements of anti-Treaty Sinn Féin who had not followed de Valera into constitutional politics, and the rump of the anti-Treaty members of the Second Dáil
, still proclaiming themselves the only legitimate Irish parliament. For most of this period, the IRA's relations with Sinn Féin were poor (IRA members were even forbidden to join the party), despite the reconciliation attempt represented by the 1929 Comhairle na Poblachta
. In December 1938, a reconciliation finally took place between the IRA and the Second Dáil.
Before the republican Fianna Fáil
party took power after winning the Irish general election, 1932
, many republicans viewed the Free State, with its censorship of newspapers and extensive coercive legislation, as a sham democracy, in the service of British imperialism. The IRA remained prepared to take over the country by insurrection, after which it expected to have to fight the British again. In November 1926, the IRA seized 11 Garda
barracks, shooting dead two Gardaí
. The Free State immediately used its Special Powers Act
to intern 110 IRA men the next day. In 1927, IRA men assassinated Free State minister Kevin O'Higgins
in revenge for his perceived responsibility for executions in the civil war. A total of four Gardaí were killed by the IRA in the period 1926-1936.
When de Valera's Fianna Fáil party won the 1932 election, the IRA expected the Free State party Cumann na nGaedheal not to respect the result and prepared for another civil war. However to their surprise, Cosgrave's party peacefully gave up power and instructed the police and armed forces to obey the new government.
In the first years of Fianna Fáil government 1932-34, the IRA's membership grew from a low of 1,800 to over 10,000. This can be put down to the radicalising impact of the Great Depression
on the population, to which the IRA's new social radicalism (see next section) appealed. Another important factor was the formation of the Blueshirts - a quasi fascist organisation set up by Eoin O'Duffy
, originally composed of veterans of the Free State Army in the Civil War. The IRA and the Blueshirts both attacked political meetings and also fought street brawls against each other. While most of the fighting was conducted with fists or boots, at least one Blueshirt and one IRA man were shot dead in these clashes. IRA leaders saw in these events the beginnings of a republican revolution and the overthrow of the Free State. They were, however to be disappointed.
Initially, De Valera's Fianna Fáil government was friendly towards the IRA, legalising the organisation and freeing all their prisoners who had been interned by Cummann na nGaedhael but by 1935 this relationship had turned to enmity on both sides. The IRA accused Fianna Fáil of "selling out" by not declaring "The Republic" and by tolerating the continued partition of Ireland. In 1936, De Valera banned the IRA after they murdered a landlord's agent Richard More O'Farrell in a land dispute and fired shots at police during a strike of Tramway workers in Dublin. However, most of the IRA's republican constituency were reconciled to the Free State by De Valera's government, which introduced a republican constitution in 1937, abolishing the Oath of Allegiance
to the British monarchy and introducing an elected President as head of state. The document also included a territorial claim to Northern Ireland
. By the late 1930s at the latest, most Irish people disagreed with the residual Irish Republican Army's claims that it remained the legitimate 'army of the Republic'.
In Northern Ireland, the IRA's main role was to try to defend the Catholic community during period outbreaks of sectarian rioting. For this reason, Peadar O'Donnell
, a left wing IRA leader who was opposed to sectarian division, said disparagingly, "we don't have an IRA battalion in Belfast, we have a battalion of armed Catholics".
. The organisation was increasingly influenced by left-wing ideas, although the leadership's varying support for these seems to have owed more to pragmatism than to conviction. Many republicans argued that they had lost the civil war because they had not appealed to the social unrest in the country and had lacked any social or economic programme.
The IRA intervened in a number of strikes during this period, and IRA members campaigned against the payment of land annuities (in respect of the buying-out of landlords by the former British administration), with Peadar O'Donnell
establishing the Anti-Tribute League in 1928. Many Communist Party of Ireland
members were also members of the IRA at this time. Political initiatives such as Saor Éire
in 1931 in 1933 were promoted by left-wing IRA members such as George Gilmore
, Peadar O'Donnell and Frank Ryan
. IRA members also helped establish the "Friends of Soviet Russia", from which they later expelled Communist Party members when relations between the two organisations deteriorated.
This burst of what has sometimes been termed "social republicanism" expired in the mid-1930s. In 1931 Saor Éire had quickly collapsed due to the combination of fierce reaction from the Catholic Church, deeply hostile to anything that appeared communist, and repressive legislation immediately introduced by the government. In 1934, left-wing IRA members, including Peadar O'Donnell, Frank Ryan and George Gilmore, frustrated with the failure of the IRA to achieve either "The Republic" or socialist revolution, left to set up a new party, the Republican Congress
. This in turn, was ultimately a failure, partly because Twomey and other conservative elements in the IRA leadership opposed it and forced its supporters to leave the organisation. The Congress itself also split and collapsed after its first general meeting in 1935. From the debacle of the Republican Congress until it took a leftward turn again in the 1960s, the IRA would be inspired primarily by a conservative, strictly nationalist political outlook.
In 1936-37, a number of IRA men were among the Irish fighters (later to become known as the Connolly Column
) who joined the largely communist and socialist International Brigades
to fight for the Second Spanish Republic
against the Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War
. Frank Ryan was perhaps the most prominent Irish participant. (At the same time, members of the IRA's staunch enemies, the Greenshirts (an openly fascist splinter from the Blueshirts) under Eoin O'Duffy
went to Spain to fight on the opposing side, with Franco
's Nationalists.)
, and republican prisoners were released and the organisation unbanned. Confrontations between the IRA and the Blueshirts were a feature of political life in the early 1930s, with the former breaking up political meetings of Cumann na nGaedheal under the slogan "no free speech for traitors" and accusing the latter of being fascists
.
In 1935, the IRA was banned once again, as were the Blueshirts. Moss Twomey was imprisoned, and was succeeded as chief of staff by Seán MacBride
. De Valera's government increasingly followed a strict anti-IRA policy. In 1938, Seán Russell
became chief of staff and set about preparations for a bombing campaign against Britain. In January 1939, the IRA Army Council declared war against Britain, and the Sabotage Campaign began a few days later.
On 23 December 1939, IRA members stole almost the entire reserve ammunition store of the Irish Army from the Magazine Fort in Dublin's Phoenix Park
. This became known as the "Christmas Raid
" in IRA folklore. The Royal Ulster Constabulary
(RUC) found two and a half tons of the stolen ammunition inside County Armagh
on 2 January 1940. The next day the Irish Minister for Justice, Gerald Boland
, at an emergency session of the Dáil, introduced the Emergency Powers bill to reinstate internment, Military Tribunal, and executions for IRA members. It was rushed through and given its third reading the next day creating the Emergency Powers Act
.
By 1941, the IRA numbered fewer than 1,000 members, many of whom were imprisoned. Most of its able political organisers had left in the mid to late 1930s and its "natural constituency" had been appropriated by Fianna Fáil.
During the Second World War, the IRA leadership hoped for support from Germany
to strike against Britain during the war, and Seán Russell travelled to Germany in 1940 to canvass for arms. He became ill and died on board a German U-boat which was bringing him back to Ireland in August that year along with Frank Ryan (See Operation Dove
). Stephen Hayes, the acting Chief of Staff, prepared an invasion plan for Northern Ireland and sent it to German Intelligence in 1940, this plan was later called Plan Kathleen
, but it was discovered by the Irish authorities within one month of its creation.
Gunther Schuetz, a member of the Abwehr
, parachuted into Ireland and was almost immediately arrested. On 28 February 1942 he escaped. The IRA intended to send him back to Germany with a request for weapons, ammunition, explosives, radio equipment and money. The IRA Army Executive met on 20 April and sanctioned the requests. They resolved “to give military information to powers at war with England, which would not endanger civilian lives, even before any definite contacts have been established with these powers.” An IRA courier was arrested on the Dublin-Belfast train with documentation of the decisions taken, and details of the German contact. This led to the arrest of Schuetz, on 30 April, only hours before he was due to set sail. The boat was seized and the crew arrested.
In 1942, the IRA launched an armed campaign in Northern Ireland
. It has been rumoured that during the war period IRA members may have attempted to aid the German aerial bombing of industrial targets in Northern Ireland. However, information recovered from Germany after the war showed that the planning of raids such as the Belfast Blitz
was based exclusively on the aerial reconnaissance of the Luftwaffe
.
The IRA was severely damaged by the measures taken against it by the governments on both sides of the border during the Second World War. IRA members were interned both north and south of the border, and a number of IRA men, including the chief of staff between 1942 and 1944, Charlie Kerins
, were executed for criminal offences by the Irish government during the war. Kerins had been tried and found guilty of the murder of a local police officer (Garda
).
Under the leadership of Tony Magan
from 1948 on, the IRA rebuilt its organisation. In the 1950s it started planning for a renewed armed campaign, and in 1956 recent recruit Seán Cronin
, who had considerable military experience, drew up a plan codenamed Operation Harvest.
The border campaign
, as it became known, involved various military columns carrying out a range of military operations, from direct attacks on security installations to disruptive actions against infrastructure. The campaign received, initially, significant support from the south. Support increased massively after the deaths of Seán South
and Fergal O'Hanlon
in the Brookeborough Raid
. In the Dail Eireann election
s held in 1957, Sinn Fein fielded candidates and won four seats.
However Internment without trial, introduced first in Northern Ireland and then in the Republic of Ireland
, curtailed IRA operations and ultimately broke morale. Eighteen people in total were killed during the campaign, of whom seven were members of the RUC and eight were members of the IRA itself. The campaign was on the whole a failure. It petered out in the late 1950s, and was officially ended in February 1962.
and Roy Johnston
active in the Connolly Association
. This move to a class-based political outlook and the consequent rejection of any stance that could be seen as sectarian including the use of IRA arms to defend one side, the beleaguered Catholic communities of Belfast in the Northern Ireland riots of August 1969 was to be one of the factors in the 1969 split that led to the Provisional IRA wing of the republican movement, with the latter subscribing to a traditional republican analysis of the situation while the Officials subscribed to the Marxist
view that internal strife among the working classes served only the interest of capital.
The Provisional IRA embarked on a thirty year armed campaign against the British presence in Northern Ireland
that claimed 1707 lives. In 1997 it announced a ceasefire which effectively marked the end of its campaign. In 2005 it formally announced the end of its campaign and destroyed much of its weaponry under international supervision. The movement's political wing, Provisional Sinn Féin
, is a growing electoral force in both Northern Ireland and the Republic.
The Official IRA mounted their own armed campaign in the Troubles
up to 1972, when they called a ceasefire. However, their members on the ground engaged in some armed activities until 1979 when a decision was made to re-orient the group towards what was termed "Special Activities".
Feuds between the two IRAs in the 1970s claimed up to 20 lives on either side.
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916...
(IRA) fought a guerrilla war against British rule in Ireland in the Irish War of Independence
Irish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence , Anglo-Irish War, Black and Tan War, or Tan War was a guerrilla war mounted by the Irish Republican Army against the British government and its forces in Ireland. It began in January 1919, following the Irish Republic's declaration of independence. Both sides agreed...
1919–1921. Following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty
Anglo-Irish Treaty
The Anglo-Irish Treaty , officially called the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was a treaty between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and representatives of the secessionist Irish Republic that concluded the Irish War of...
on 6 December 1921, the IRA in the 26 counties that were to become the Irish Free State
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
split between supporters and opponents of the Treaty. The anti-Treatyites, sometimes referred to by Free State forces as irregulars, continued to use the name Irish Republican Army (IRA) or in Irish
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
Óglaigh na hÉireann, as did the organisation in the Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
which supported the pro-Treaty side. Óglaigh na hÉireann
Óglaigh na hÉireann
Óglaigh na hÉireann , abbreviated ÓnaÉ, is an Irish language idiom that can be translated variously as soldiers of Ireland, warriors of Ireland, volunteers of Ireland or Irish volunteers...
was also adopted as the name of the pro-Treaty National Army and remains the official legal title of the Irish Defence Forces. This article deals with the anti-Treaty IRA that fought the Irish Civil War
Irish Civil War
The Irish Civil War was a conflict that accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State as an entity independent from the United Kingdom within the British Empire....
and was defeated by the Irish Free State forces and with its successors up to 1969, when the IRA split again.
The IRA split
The signature of the Anglo-Irish Treaty by the Irish delegation in London caused an angry reaction among the more radical elements in Sinn FéinSinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
and in the IRA. Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann (1919-1922)
Dáil Éireann was the revolutionary, unicameral parliament of the unilaterally declared Irish Republic from 1919–1922. The Dáil was first formed by 73 Sinn Féin MPs elected in the 1918 United Kingdom general election. Their manifesto refused to recognise the British parliament at Westminster and...
ratified the Treaty by 64 votes to 57 after a lengthy and acrimonious debate, following which President Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera was one of the dominant political figures in twentieth century Ireland, serving as head of government of the Irish Free State and head of government and head of state of Ireland...
resigned. Sinn Féin split between pro-Treaty and anti-Treaty factions, and the Army followed suit. The majority of headquarters staff, many of whom were close to Michael Collins
Michael Collins (Irish leader)
Michael "Mick" Collins was an Irish revolutionary leader, Minister for Finance and Teachta Dála for Cork South in the First Dáil of 1919, Director of Intelligence for the IRA, and member of the Irish delegation during the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations. Subsequently, he was both Chairman of the...
, supported the Treaty, but opinion among IRA volunteers was divided. By and large, IRA units in Munster
Munster
Munster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the south of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial purposes...
and most of Connacht
Connacht
Connacht , formerly anglicised as Connaught, is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the west of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for...
were opposed to the Treaty, while those in favour predominated in the Midlands, Leinster
Leinster
Leinster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the east of Ireland. It comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Mide, Osraige and Leinster. Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the historic fifths of Leinster and Mide gradually merged, mainly due to the impact of the Pale, which straddled...
and Ulster
Ulster
Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...
. The pro-Treaty volunteers formed the nucleus of the new National Army
Irish Army
The Irish Army, officially named simply the Army is the main branch of the Defence Forces of Ireland. Approximately 8,500 men and women serve in the Irish Army, divided into three infantry Brigades...
.
In March 1922 anti-Treaty officers called an army convention, attended by their supporters, which reaffirmed their opposition to the Treaty. They repudiated the authority of the Dáil, claiming that its members had broken their oath to defend the Irish Republic
Irish Republic
The Irish Republic was a revolutionary state that declared its independence from Great Britain in January 1919. It established a legislature , a government , a court system and a police force...
and declared their own Army Executive to be the real government of the country until the Republic was formally established. The reasons why volunteers chose pro- and anti-Treaty positions are complex. One factor was an evaluation of the military situation. Whereas Collins, Richard Mulcahy
Richard Mulcahy
Richard James Mulcahy was an Irish politician, army general and commander in chief, leader of Fine Gael and Cabinet Minister...
and Eoin O'Duffy
Eoin O'Duffy
Eoin O'Duffy was in succession a Teachta Dála , the Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army , the second Commissioner of the Garda Síochána, leader of the Army Comrades Association and then the first leader of Fine Gael , before leading the Irish Brigade to fight for Francisco Franco during...
felt that the IRA could not continue to fight the British successfully, anti-Treaty officers such as Ernie O'Malley
Ernie O'Malley
Ernie O'Malley was an Irish Republican Army officer during the Irish War of Independence and a commander of the anti-treaty IRA during the Irish Civil War. O'Malley wrote three books, On Another Man's Wound, The Singing Flame, and Raids and Rallies. The first describes his early life and role in...
and Tom Barry
Tom Barry
Thomas Barry was one of the most prominent guerrilla leaders in the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence.-Early life:...
felt that the IRA's position was stronger than it had ever been. Another factor was the role of powerful personalities, where the leader of an IRA unit — for example Sean McEoin who sided with the Treaty in County Longford
County Longford
County Longford is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Midlands Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Longford.Longford County Council is the local authority for the county...
— took sides, the remainder of his command followed suit. The same was also true for anti-Treaty leaders such as Liam Lynch
Liam Lynch (general)
Liam Lynch was an officer in the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence and the commanding general of the anti-Treaty Irish Republican Army during the Irish Civil War.-Early life:...
in Cork.
After the civil war broke out officially in June 1922, the Free State government issued directives to newspapers that its Army was to be called "The National Army", its opponents were to be called "Irregulars" and were not to be associated with the IRA of 1919-1921. This attitude hardened as the civil war went on and especially after the killing of Michael Collins in an ambush in August 1922. Collins wrote to W. T. Cosgrave on 25 July 1922 that the anti-Treaty side were "misguided, but practically all of them are sincere". However, the subsequent government attitude under Cosgrave was that the anti-Treaty side were rebels against the lawful government and were not entitled to recognition as legitimate combatants. Some of the officers of the new Irish Army
Irish Army
The Irish Army, officially named simply the Army is the main branch of the Defence Forces of Ireland. Approximately 8,500 men and women serve in the Irish Army, divided into three infantry Brigades...
led by Liam Tobin
Liam Tobin
Major General Liam Tobin was an Irish statesman and officer in the Irish Army. During the Irish War of Independence, he served as an IRA intelligence officer for Michael Collins' Squad.-Early life:...
formed an association called the "Old IRA" to distinguish themselves from the anti-Treaty fighters. Some pro-Treaty IRA officers like Eoin O'Duffy
Eoin O'Duffy
Eoin O'Duffy was in succession a Teachta Dála , the Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army , the second Commissioner of the Garda Síochána, leader of the Army Comrades Association and then the first leader of Fine Gael , before leading the Irish Brigade to fight for Francisco Franco during...
alleged that the "Irregulars" had not fought the British in War of Independence. O'Duffy claimed that the Kerry IRA's sole contribution in 1919-21 was, "the shooting of an unfortunate soldier on the day of the truce". In Kerry's case (which saw more Royal Irish Constabulary
Royal Irish Constabulary
The armed Royal Irish Constabulary was Ireland's major police force for most of the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. A separate civic police force, the unarmed Dublin Metropolitan Police controlled the capital, and the cities of Derry and Belfast, originally with their own police...
(RIC) men killed than anywhere else outside Dublin and Tipperary), this was far from true, however some areas such as Sligo and Wexford did see considerably more action in the civil war than in the War of Independence. Other IRA men such as Florence O'Donoghue
Florence O'Donoghue
Florence O'Donoghue was an Irish historian and head of intelligence of the Cork No. 1 Brigade of the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence.He was born in Rathmore, County Kerry, Ireland in 1895...
formed a group called the "neutral IRA", which tried to reconcile the two factions.
Meanwhile the IRA in Northern Ireland maintained their links with Michael Collins
Michael Collins (Irish leader)
Michael "Mick" Collins was an Irish revolutionary leader, Minister for Finance and Teachta Dála for Cork South in the First Dáil of 1919, Director of Intelligence for the IRA, and member of the Irish delegation during the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations. Subsequently, he was both Chairman of the...
. The only Northern IRA leader to join the anti-Treaty side was Belfast commander Joe McKelvey
Joe McKelvey
Joe McKelvey was an Irish Republican Army officer who was executed during the Irish Civil War. He participated in the anti-Treaty IRA's repudiation of the authority of the Dáil in March 1922 and was elected to the IRA Army Executive...
. In May 1922 they launched a renewed military offensive, in which they were aided covertly by both the National Army and the anti-Treaty IRA. This was interrupted by the outbreak of civil war in the new Irish Free State. Many Northern IRA men then had to flee the North to escape internment
Internment
Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning as: "The action of 'interning'; confinement within the limits of a country or place." Most modern usage is about individuals, and there is a distinction...
or worse at the hands of the Northern authorities. Over 500 of them ended up in the National Army during the civil war.
The IRA had been expanded hugely in 1922, from perhaps 15,000 men before the truce with the British in July 1921, to over 72,000 by November 1922. Veterans of the War of Independence derisively termed the new recruits, "truceileers". These were to divide in broadly the same ratio as the veterans, however, most of them did not take part in the civil war. At the beginning of the civil war, the Free State had about 8,000 fighters, mostly pro-Treaty IRA volunteers. The anti-Treaty side could muster about 15,000 men but it could not arm them all. At the start of the war, they had just under 7,000 rifles, a few machine guns and a handful of armoured cars taken from British garrisons (who were under orders not to fire on IRA units) as they evacuated the country. The remainder of anti-Treaty IRA arms were shotguns (3,000 of which were confiscated after the civil war) and other civilian weapons.
The Civil War
Public support for the Treaty settlement and the new Irish Free StateIrish Free State
The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
was reflected in the victory of the pro-Treaty side in general elections in 1922 and 1923. In April 1922, anti-Treaty forces controversially seized a number of public buildings in Dublin, most notably the Four Courts
Four Courts
The Four Courts in Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's main courts building. The Four Courts are the location of the Supreme Court, the High Court and the Dublin Circuit Court. The building until 2010 also formerly was the location for the Central Criminal Court.-Gandon's Building:Work based on...
. Eventually, after two months and under British pressure, Michael Collins decided to remove them by force. Pro-Treaty forces bombarded the building, which surrendered after two days. Confused fighting raged for another five days, with anti-Treaty elements of the IRA's Dublin Brigade under Oscar Traynor
Oscar Traynor
Oscar Traynor was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and revolutionary. He served in a number of Cabinet positions, most notably as the country's longest-serving Minister for Defence....
occupying O'Connell Street until they were dislodged by artillery fire.
In July 1922, the anti-Treaty IRA units held most of the south and west of Ireland. However the Republicans, under new Chief of Staff, Liam Lynch
Liam Lynch (general)
Liam Lynch was an officer in the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence and the commanding general of the anti-Treaty Irish Republican Army during the Irish Civil War.-Early life:...
soon lost most of the territory they initially controlled. While the anti-Treaty side had a numerical advantage at the very start of the war, they were soon both outnumbered and outgunned. The Free State's National Army was quickly expanded to over 38,000 by the end of 1922 and to 55,000 men and 3,000 officers by the end of the war, recruiting Irish ex-servicemen from the British Army amongst others. Additionally, the British met its requests for arms, ammunition, armoured cars, artillery and aeroplanes. By August 1922, the Free State had re-taken all the major towns and territory held by republicans. The Free State's best troops were the Dublin Guard
Dublin Guard
The Dublin Guard was a unit of the Irish Republican Army, in the Irish War of Independence and then of the Irish National Army during the Irish Civil War 1922-23.-Foundation:...
- a unit composed of former IRA men, mostly from the Dublin Brigade's active service unit who were to the forefront in the Free State's offensive of July–August 1922. They sided with the Free State primarily out of personal loyalty to Collins.
The anti-Treaty IRA was not equipped or trained to fight conventional warfare. Despite some determined resistance to the Free State advance south of Limerick
Limerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
by late August, most of them had dispersed to fight a guerrilla campaign.
The anti-Treaty guerrilla campaign was spasmodic and ineffective. Much of it was composed of the destruction of infrastructure such as the main railway bridge linking Cork
Cork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
with Dublin. They also burned many public buildings and "commandeered" supplies by force, alienating many civilians. Furthermore, without the public support that had existed during the War of Independence and facing an enemy who knew them and the countryside intimately, the anti-Treaty forces found that they could not sustain a guerrilla war such as that fought against Britain. Only in county Kerry
County Kerry
Kerry means the "people of Ciar" which was the name of the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich. In Old Irish "Ciar" meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective...
was a relatively effective campaign fought, with the IRA units re-taking Kenmare
Kenmare
Kenmare is a small town in the south of County Kerry, Ireland. The name Kenmare is the anglicised form of Ceann Mara meaning "head of the sea", referring to the head of Kenmare Bay.-Location:...
and other towns from the Free State on several occasions. The IRA's relative popularity in this area had much to do with the brutality of the occupying Free State troops. Other areas of guerilla activity included county Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...
, western county Mayo
County Mayo
County Mayo is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Mayo, which is now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county is 130,552...
, county Wexford
County Wexford
County Wexford is a county in Ireland. It is part of the South-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Wexford. In pre-Norman times it was part of the Kingdom of Uí Cheinnselaig, whose capital was at Ferns. Wexford County Council is the local...
and several other localities.
Despite the limitations of the anti-Treaty IRA's campaign, they still inflicted more fatalities on Free State troops (about 800) in the nine month civil war than they had on British Crown forces, who lost about 600 killed in the almost three year long War of Independence (1919–1921). The disparity is no doubt due to the Free State troops relative paucity of training and equipment compared with British forces.
The conduct of the Civil War resulted in long-lasting bitterness on both sides. In September special emergency legislation came into effect under which military tribunals were empowered to pass death sentences. The head of the anti-Treaty forces, Liam Lynch
Liam Lynch (general)
Liam Lynch was an officer in the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence and the commanding general of the anti-Treaty Irish Republican Army during the Irish Civil War.-Early life:...
, responded with an announcement that Free State TD
Teachta Dála
A Teachta Dála , usually abbreviated as TD in English, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas . It is the equivalent of terms such as "Member of Parliament" or "deputy" used in other states. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil", though a more literal...
s and senators who had voted for the legislation would be targeted. A number of members of the Oireachtas were attacked, TD Sean Hales
Sean Hales
Sean Hales was an Irish political activist in the early 20th century. Hales was born in Ballinadee, County Cork, where he and his brothers Tom, Donal and Robert were involved in the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence.At the 1921 elections Hales was elected to the Second...
was killed and the property of parliamentarians burnt. In addition IRA men around the country burned many of the stately homes of the old Protestant Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish was a term used primarily in the 19th and early 20th centuries to identify a privileged social class in Ireland, whose members were the descendants and successors of the Protestant Ascendancy, mostly belonging to the Church of Ireland, which was the established church of Ireland until...
landed class - a policy motivated by both class antagonism and nationalist resentment against a class traditionally seen as "pro-British". The Free State Government, for its part, officially executed 77 anti-Treaty prisoners. Government forces also carried out a number of atrocities against prisoners. This was particularly pronounced in Kerry, where the fighting was most bitter. On at least three occasions in March 1923, IRA prisoners were massacred with land mines in reprisal for the killing of Free State soldiers. Ironically, the men accused of these war-crimes were mostly from the Dublin Guard, themselves IRA veterans from 1919-21. See also: Executions during the Irish Civil War
Executions during the Irish Civil War
The executions during the Irish Civil War took place during the guerrilla phase of the Irish Civil War . This phase of the war was bitter, and both sides, the government forces of the Irish Free State and the anti-Treaty Irish Republican Army insurgents, used executions and terror in what...
By 1923, the defeat of the anti-Treaty IRA seemed assured. It controlled no territory and its guerrilla campaign had little public support. The civil war petered out in mid 1923 after the death in action of IRA chief of staff Liam Lynch
Liam Lynch (general)
Liam Lynch was an officer in the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence and the commanding general of the anti-Treaty Irish Republican Army during the Irish Civil War.-Early life:...
. Shortly afterwards, on 24 May 1923 the anti-Treaty forces received an order, issued by Frank Aiken
Frank Aiken
Frank Aiken was a commander of the Irish Republican Army and later an Irish politician. A founding-member of Fianna Fáil, Aiken was first elected to Dáil Éireann in 1923 and at each subsequent election until 1973...
, their chief-of-staff, to "dump arms". Eamon de Valera supported this in his speech "Legion of the Rearguard":
In de Valera's words, "Further sacrifice of life would now be vain and continuance of the struggle in arms unwise in the national interest and prejudical to the future of our cause. Military victory must be allowed to rest for the moment with those who have destroyed the Republic. Other means must be sought to safeguard the nation's right."
By this time thousands of republicans were already prisoners of the Free State government led by W. T. Cosgrave; many more were arrested after they dumped arms and returned to civilian life. By late 1923, over 12,000 anti-Treaty IRA men were interned. The prisoners were released over the following year, with Eamon De Valera last to leave Kilmainham Gaol
Kilmainham Gaol
Kilmainham Gaol is a former prison, located in Kilmainham in Dublin, which is now a museum. It has been run since the mid-1980s by the Office of Public Works , an Irish Government agency...
in 1924.
In 1924, the IRA counted 14,500 members in total, including young men aged from 19+, but with just over 5,000 weapons in its dumps. By 1926, the members had shrunk to 5,042. By 1930, the IRA possessed less than 2,000 members and only 859 rifles, indicating the decline in its military potential. The casualties of the anti-Treaty IRA in the civil war have never been accurately counted, but are thought to have been considerably more than the 800 or so deaths suffered by the Free State Army, perhaps two or three times as numerous. Significantly however, the war had not been brought to an end by any kind of agreement between the two sides. The IRA of the post-civil war era would never accept the Free State as a legitimate Irish government and would continue to oppose its existence.
Ideology of the post-Civil War IRA
In 1926, after failing to persuade Sinn Féin to participate in the political institutions of the Free State, de Valera formed a new political party, called Fianna FáilFianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...
, and many Sinn Féin and IRA members left to support him. De Valera would in 1932 become President of the Executive Council
President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State
The President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State was the head of government or prime minister of the Irish Free State which existed from 1922 to 1937...
, at the head of the first Fianna Fáil government.
The IRA considered itself to be upholding the Republic that was declared in the 1916 Proclamation, and held that the governments of the Irish Free State were illegitimate. It maintained that it remained the army of that Republic, in direct continuity with the IRA of the War of Independence period. It should be noted that there were several competing organisations on the radical republican side of Irish politics during this period. In addition to the IRA, these including the hard-line elements of anti-Treaty Sinn Féin who had not followed de Valera into constitutional politics, and the rump of the anti-Treaty members of the Second Dáil
Second Dáil
The Second Dáil was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 16 August 1921 until 8 June 1922. From 1919–1922 Dáil Éireann was the revolutionary parliament of the self-proclaimed Irish Republic. The Second Dáil consisted of members elected in 1921...
, still proclaiming themselves the only legitimate Irish parliament. For most of this period, the IRA's relations with Sinn Féin were poor (IRA members were even forbidden to join the party), despite the reconciliation attempt represented by the 1929 Comhairle na Poblachta
Comhairle na Poblachta
Comhairle na Poblachta was an Irish republican organisation established in 1929.The organisation had the support of the IRA, which had agreed to its formation at its General Army Convention in January 1929...
. In December 1938, a reconciliation finally took place between the IRA and the Second Dáil.
Before the republican Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...
party took power after winning the Irish general election, 1932
Irish general election, 1932
The Irish general election of 1932 was held on 16 February 1932, just over two weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 29 January. The newly elected 153 members of the 7th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 9 March 1932 when the new President of the Executive Council and Executive Council of...
, many republicans viewed the Free State, with its censorship of newspapers and extensive coercive legislation, as a sham democracy, in the service of British imperialism. The IRA remained prepared to take over the country by insurrection, after which it expected to have to fight the British again. In November 1926, the IRA seized 11 Garda
Garda Síochána
, more commonly referred to as the Gardaí , is the police force of Ireland. The service is headed by the Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.- Terminology :...
barracks, shooting dead two Gardaí
Garda Síochána
, more commonly referred to as the Gardaí , is the police force of Ireland. The service is headed by the Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.- Terminology :...
. The Free State immediately used its Special Powers Act
Special Powers Act
The Special Powers Act is the informal name for several acts of legislation worldwide, including:* The Civil Authorities Act 1922.* The Armed Forces Act, 1958 of India....
to intern 110 IRA men the next day. In 1927, IRA men assassinated Free State minister Kevin O'Higgins
Kevin O'Higgins
Kevin Christopher O'Higgins was an Irish politician who served as Vice-President of the Executive Council and Minister for Justice. He was part of early nationalist Sinn Féin, before going on to become a prominent member of Cumann na nGaedheal. O'Higgins initiated the An Garda Síochána police force...
in revenge for his perceived responsibility for executions in the civil war. A total of four Gardaí were killed by the IRA in the period 1926-1936.
When de Valera's Fianna Fáil party won the 1932 election, the IRA expected the Free State party Cumann na nGaedheal not to respect the result and prepared for another civil war. However to their surprise, Cosgrave's party peacefully gave up power and instructed the police and armed forces to obey the new government.
In the first years of Fianna Fáil government 1932-34, the IRA's membership grew from a low of 1,800 to over 10,000. This can be put down to the radicalising impact of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
on the population, to which the IRA's new social radicalism (see next section) appealed. Another important factor was the formation of the Blueshirts - a quasi fascist organisation set up by Eoin O'Duffy
Eoin O'Duffy
Eoin O'Duffy was in succession a Teachta Dála , the Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army , the second Commissioner of the Garda Síochána, leader of the Army Comrades Association and then the first leader of Fine Gael , before leading the Irish Brigade to fight for Francisco Franco during...
, originally composed of veterans of the Free State Army in the Civil War. The IRA and the Blueshirts both attacked political meetings and also fought street brawls against each other. While most of the fighting was conducted with fists or boots, at least one Blueshirt and one IRA man were shot dead in these clashes. IRA leaders saw in these events the beginnings of a republican revolution and the overthrow of the Free State. They were, however to be disappointed.
Initially, De Valera's Fianna Fáil government was friendly towards the IRA, legalising the organisation and freeing all their prisoners who had been interned by Cummann na nGaedhael but by 1935 this relationship had turned to enmity on both sides. The IRA accused Fianna Fáil of "selling out" by not declaring "The Republic" and by tolerating the continued partition of Ireland. In 1936, De Valera banned the IRA after they murdered a landlord's agent Richard More O'Farrell in a land dispute and fired shots at police during a strike of Tramway workers in Dublin. However, most of the IRA's republican constituency were reconciled to the Free State by De Valera's government, which introduced a republican constitution in 1937, abolishing the Oath of Allegiance
Oath of Allegiance (Ireland)
The Irish Oath of Allegiance was a controversial provision in the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, which Irish TDs and Senators were required to take, in order to take their seats in Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann .-Text of the Oath:The Oath was included in Article 17 of the Irish Free State's 1922...
to the British monarchy and introducing an elected President as head of state. The document also included a territorial claim to Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. By the late 1930s at the latest, most Irish people disagreed with the residual Irish Republican Army's claims that it remained the legitimate 'army of the Republic'.
In Northern Ireland, the IRA's main role was to try to defend the Catholic community during period outbreaks of sectarian rioting. For this reason, Peadar O'Donnell
Peadar O'Donnell
Peadar O'Donnell was an Irish republican and socialist activist and writer.-Early life:Peadar O'Donnell was born into an Irish speaking family in Dungloe, County Donegal in northwest Ireland, in 1893. He attended St. Patrick's College, Dublin, where he trained as a teacher...
, a left wing IRA leader who was opposed to sectarian division, said disparagingly, "we don't have an IRA battalion in Belfast, we have a battalion of armed Catholics".
The IRA from 1926 to 1936: flirtations with socialism
From 1926 to 1936, the remainder of the IRA was led by Moss (Maurice) TwomeyMoss (Maurice) Twomey
Moss ' Twomey was an Irish republican and chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army .-Early life:...
. The organisation was increasingly influenced by left-wing ideas, although the leadership's varying support for these seems to have owed more to pragmatism than to conviction. Many republicans argued that they had lost the civil war because they had not appealed to the social unrest in the country and had lacked any social or economic programme.
The IRA intervened in a number of strikes during this period, and IRA members campaigned against the payment of land annuities (in respect of the buying-out of landlords by the former British administration), with Peadar O'Donnell
Peadar O'Donnell
Peadar O'Donnell was an Irish republican and socialist activist and writer.-Early life:Peadar O'Donnell was born into an Irish speaking family in Dungloe, County Donegal in northwest Ireland, in 1893. He attended St. Patrick's College, Dublin, where he trained as a teacher...
establishing the Anti-Tribute League in 1928. Many Communist Party of Ireland
Communist Party of Ireland
The Communist Party of Ireland is a small all-Ireland Marxist party, founded in 1933. An earlier party, the Socialist Party of Ireland, was renamed the Communist Party of Ireland in 1921 on its affiliation to the Communist International but was dissolved in 1924. The present-day CPI was founded in...
members were also members of the IRA at this time. Political initiatives such as Saor Éire
Saor Éire
Saor Éire was a left-wing political organisation established in September 1931 by communist-leaning members of the Irish Republican Army, with the backing of the IRA leadership. Notable among its founders was Peadar O'Donnell, former editor of An Phoblacht and a leading left-wing figure in the...
in 1931 in 1933 were promoted by left-wing IRA members such as George Gilmore
George Gilmore
George Gilmore was a Protestant Irish Republican Army leader during the 1920s and 1930s. During his period of influence the Republican movement moved significantly to the left...
, Peadar O'Donnell and Frank Ryan
Frank Ryan (Irish republican)
Frank Ryan was a prominent member of the Irish Republican Army, editor of An Phoblacht, leftist activist and leader of Irish volunteers on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War....
. IRA members also helped establish the "Friends of Soviet Russia", from which they later expelled Communist Party members when relations between the two organisations deteriorated.
This burst of what has sometimes been termed "social republicanism" expired in the mid-1930s. In 1931 Saor Éire had quickly collapsed due to the combination of fierce reaction from the Catholic Church, deeply hostile to anything that appeared communist, and repressive legislation immediately introduced by the government. In 1934, left-wing IRA members, including Peadar O'Donnell, Frank Ryan and George Gilmore, frustrated with the failure of the IRA to achieve either "The Republic" or socialist revolution, left to set up a new party, the Republican Congress
Republican Congress
The Republican Congress was an Irish republican political organisation founded in 1934, when left-wing republicans left the Irish Republican Army. The Congress was led by such IRA veterans as Peadar O'Donnell, Frank Ryan and George Gilmore. It was a socialist organisation and was dedicated to a...
. This in turn, was ultimately a failure, partly because Twomey and other conservative elements in the IRA leadership opposed it and forced its supporters to leave the organisation. The Congress itself also split and collapsed after its first general meeting in 1935. From the debacle of the Republican Congress until it took a leftward turn again in the 1960s, the IRA would be inspired primarily by a conservative, strictly nationalist political outlook.
In 1936-37, a number of IRA men were among the Irish fighters (later to become known as the Connolly Column
Connolly Column
The Connolly Column was the name given to the Irish volunteers who fought for the Second Spanish Republic in the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War. They were named after James Connolly, the executed leader of the Irish Citizen Army...
) who joined the largely communist and socialist International Brigades
International Brigades
The International Brigades were military units made up of volunteers from different countries, who traveled to Spain to defend the Second Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939....
to fight for the Second Spanish Republic
Second Spanish Republic
The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
against the Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
. Frank Ryan was perhaps the most prominent Irish participant. (At the same time, members of the IRA's staunch enemies, the Greenshirts (an openly fascist splinter from the Blueshirts) under Eoin O'Duffy
Eoin O'Duffy
Eoin O'Duffy was in succession a Teachta Dála , the Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army , the second Commissioner of the Garda Síochána, leader of the Army Comrades Association and then the first leader of Fine Gael , before leading the Irish Brigade to fight for Francisco Franco during...
went to Spain to fight on the opposing side, with Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
's Nationalists.)
Legalisation and renewed repression: the 1930s and 1940s
In 1932 Fianna Fáil under de Valera formed its first government in the Irish Free StateIrish Free State
The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
, and republican prisoners were released and the organisation unbanned. Confrontations between the IRA and the Blueshirts were a feature of political life in the early 1930s, with the former breaking up political meetings of Cumann na nGaedheal under the slogan "no free speech for traitors" and accusing the latter of being fascists
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
.
In 1935, the IRA was banned once again, as were the Blueshirts. Moss Twomey was imprisoned, and was succeeded as chief of staff by Seán MacBride
Seán MacBride
Seán MacBride was an Irish government minister and prominent international politician as well as a Chief of Staff of the IRA....
. De Valera's government increasingly followed a strict anti-IRA policy. In 1938, Seán Russell
Seán Russell
Seán Russell was an Irish republican who held senior positions in the IRA until the end of the Irish War of Independence...
became chief of staff and set about preparations for a bombing campaign against Britain. In January 1939, the IRA Army Council declared war against Britain, and the Sabotage Campaign began a few days later.
On 23 December 1939, IRA members stole almost the entire reserve ammunition store of the Irish Army from the Magazine Fort in Dublin's Phoenix Park
Phoenix Park
Phoenix Park is an urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying 2–4 km west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its 16 km perimeter wall encloses , one of the largest walled city parks in Europe. It includes large areas of grassland and tree-lined avenues, and since the seventeenth...
. This became known as the "Christmas Raid
Christmas Raid
The term Christmas Raid is a name used within the folklore of the Irish Republican Army to describe a raid in the Republic of Ireland against the Irish Army, and the theft of a huge quantity of weapons and munitions from an Irish Army ammunition Magazine Fort storage depot in Dublin's Phoenix...
" in IRA folklore. The Royal Ulster Constabulary
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary was the name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2000. Following the awarding of the George Cross in 2000, it was subsequently known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC. It was founded on 1 June 1922 out of the Royal Irish Constabulary...
(RUC) found two and a half tons of the stolen ammunition inside County Armagh
County Armagh
-History:Ancient Armagh was the territory of the Ulaid before the fourth century AD. It was ruled by the Red Branch, whose capital was Emain Macha near Armagh. The site, and subsequently the city, were named after the goddess Macha...
on 2 January 1940. The next day the Irish Minister for Justice, Gerald Boland
Gerald Boland
Gerald Boland was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. A founder-member of the party, he served in a number of Cabinet positions, most notably as the country's longest-serving Minister for Justice.-Early life:...
, at an emergency session of the Dáil, introduced the Emergency Powers bill to reinstate internment, Military Tribunal, and executions for IRA members. It was rushed through and given its third reading the next day creating the Emergency Powers Act
Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939
The Emergency Powers Act 1939 was emergency legislation passed just prior to the outbreak of World War II by the Parliament of the United Kingdom to enable the British Government to take up emergency powers to prosecute the war effectively...
.
By 1941, the IRA numbered fewer than 1,000 members, many of whom were imprisoned. Most of its able political organisers had left in the mid to late 1930s and its "natural constituency" had been appropriated by Fianna Fáil.
The IRA during World War II
- Main articles: IRA Abwehr World War II, Northern Campaign (IRA)Northern Campaign (IRA)Northern Campaign is a term used to describe attacks involving volunteers of the Irish Republican Army during the Second World War between September 1942 and December 1944. It was a plan conceived by the then IRA Northern Command to launch attacks within Northern Ireland during this period...
, and The Emergency
During the Second World War, the IRA leadership hoped for support from Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
to strike against Britain during the war, and Seán Russell travelled to Germany in 1940 to canvass for arms. He became ill and died on board a German U-boat which was bringing him back to Ireland in August that year along with Frank Ryan (See Operation Dove
Operation Dove (Ireland)
Operation Dove also sometimes known as Operation Pigeon, was an Abwehr sanctioned mission devised in early 1940...
). Stephen Hayes, the acting Chief of Staff, prepared an invasion plan for Northern Ireland and sent it to German Intelligence in 1940, this plan was later called Plan Kathleen
Plan Kathleen
Plan Kathleen, sometimes referred to as Artus Plan, was a military plan for the invasion of Northern Ireland sanctioned by Stephen Hayes, Acting Irish Republican Army Chief of Staff, in 1940...
, but it was discovered by the Irish authorities within one month of its creation.
Gunther Schuetz, a member of the Abwehr
Abwehr
The Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
, parachuted into Ireland and was almost immediately arrested. On 28 February 1942 he escaped. The IRA intended to send him back to Germany with a request for weapons, ammunition, explosives, radio equipment and money. The IRA Army Executive met on 20 April and sanctioned the requests. They resolved “to give military information to powers at war with England, which would not endanger civilian lives, even before any definite contacts have been established with these powers.” An IRA courier was arrested on the Dublin-Belfast train with documentation of the decisions taken, and details of the German contact. This led to the arrest of Schuetz, on 30 April, only hours before he was due to set sail. The boat was seized and the crew arrested.
In 1942, the IRA launched an armed campaign in Northern Ireland
Northern Campaign (IRA)
Northern Campaign is a term used to describe attacks involving volunteers of the Irish Republican Army during the Second World War between September 1942 and December 1944. It was a plan conceived by the then IRA Northern Command to launch attacks within Northern Ireland during this period...
. It has been rumoured that during the war period IRA members may have attempted to aid the German aerial bombing of industrial targets in Northern Ireland. However, information recovered from Germany after the war showed that the planning of raids such as the Belfast Blitz
Belfast Blitz
The Belfast Blitz was an event that occurred on the night of Easter Tuesday, 15 April 1941 during World War II. Two hundred bombers of the German Air Force attacked the city of Belfast in Northern Ireland. Nearly one thousand people died as a result of the bombing and 1,500 were injured. In terms...
was based exclusively on the aerial reconnaissance of the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
.
The IRA was severely damaged by the measures taken against it by the governments on both sides of the border during the Second World War. IRA members were interned both north and south of the border, and a number of IRA men, including the chief of staff between 1942 and 1944, Charlie Kerins
Charlie Kerins
Charlie Kerins was a prominent Irish Republican, who following his killing of policeman Dennis O'Brien, was named the Chief of Staff of the IRA...
, were executed for criminal offences by the Irish government during the war. Kerins had been tried and found guilty of the murder of a local police officer (Garda
Garda Síochána
, more commonly referred to as the Gardaí , is the police force of Ireland. The service is headed by the Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.- Terminology :...
).
The Border Campaign
- Main article: Border Campaign (IRA)Border Campaign (IRA)The Border Campaign was a campaign of guerrilla warfare carried out by the Irish Republican Army against targets in Northern Ireland, with the aim of overthrowing British rule there and creating a united Ireland.Popularly referred to as the Border Campaign, it was also referred to as the...
Under the leadership of Tony Magan
Tony Magan
Tony Magan was an Irish republican and chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army .Magan was a son of farmer James Magan and his wife Elizabeth, of Kilmore, County Meath....
from 1948 on, the IRA rebuilt its organisation. In the 1950s it started planning for a renewed armed campaign, and in 1956 recent recruit Seán Cronin
Seán Cronin
Seán Cronin was a journalist and former Irish Army officer and twice Irish Republican Army chief of staff.Cronin was born in Dublin in 1920 but spent his childhood years in Ballinskelligs, in the County Kerry Gaeltacht....
, who had considerable military experience, drew up a plan codenamed Operation Harvest.
The border campaign
Border Campaign (IRA)
The Border Campaign was a campaign of guerrilla warfare carried out by the Irish Republican Army against targets in Northern Ireland, with the aim of overthrowing British rule there and creating a united Ireland.Popularly referred to as the Border Campaign, it was also referred to as the...
, as it became known, involved various military columns carrying out a range of military operations, from direct attacks on security installations to disruptive actions against infrastructure. The campaign received, initially, significant support from the south. Support increased massively after the deaths of Seán South
Seán South
Seán South was a member of an IRA military column led by Sean Garland on a raid against a Royal Ulster Constabulary barracks in Brookeborough, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland on New Year's Day, 1957...
and Fergal O'Hanlon
Fergal O'Hanlon
Feargal O'Hanlon Feargal O'Hanlon Feargal O'Hanlon (Irish: Feargal Ó hAnnluain (b. 2 February 1936, Ballybay, County Monaghan, Ireland – d. 1 January 1957, Brookeborough, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland) was a member/volunteer in the Pearse Column of the Irish Republican Army....
in the Brookeborough Raid
Brookeborough
Brookeborough is a village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It lies between Enniskillen and Belfast just off the A4 trunk road, about five miles from the County Tyrone boundary....
. In the Dail Eireann election
Irish general election, 1957
The Irish general election of 1957 was held on 5 March 1957, just over three weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 4 February. The newly elected members of the 16th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 20 March when the new Taoiseach and government were appointed.The general election took place...
s held in 1957, Sinn Fein fielded candidates and won four seats.
However Internment without trial, introduced first in Northern Ireland and then in the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
, curtailed IRA operations and ultimately broke morale. Eighteen people in total were killed during the campaign, of whom seven were members of the RUC and eight were members of the IRA itself. The campaign was on the whole a failure. It petered out in the late 1950s, and was officially ended in February 1962.
The 1960s: Marxist tendency and the 1969 split
In the 1960s the IRA once more came under the influence of left-wing thinkers, especially those such as C. Desmond GreavesC. Desmond Greaves
Charles Desmond Greaves was an Irish activist and historian. He wrote a number of books on Irish history as a Marxist historian....
and Roy Johnston
Roy Johnston
Roy Johnston is an Irish physicist. He was a Marxist who as a member of the IRA in the 1960s argued for a National Liberation Strategy to unite the Catholic and Protestant working classes...
active in the Connolly Association
Connolly Association
The Connolly Association is an organisation based among Irish emigrants in Britain which supports the aims of Irish republicanism. It takes its name from James Connolly, an socialist republican, born in Edinburgh, Scotland and executed by the British Army in 1916 for his part in the Easter Rising...
. This move to a class-based political outlook and the consequent rejection of any stance that could be seen as sectarian including the use of IRA arms to defend one side, the beleaguered Catholic communities of Belfast in the Northern Ireland riots of August 1969 was to be one of the factors in the 1969 split that led to the Provisional IRA wing of the republican movement, with the latter subscribing to a traditional republican analysis of the situation while the Officials subscribed to the Marxist
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
view that internal strife among the working classes served only the interest of capital.
The Provisional IRA embarked on a thirty year armed campaign against the British presence in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
that claimed 1707 lives. In 1997 it announced a ceasefire which effectively marked the end of its campaign. In 2005 it formally announced the end of its campaign and destroyed much of its weaponry under international supervision. The movement's political wing, Provisional Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
, is a growing electoral force in both Northern Ireland and the Republic.
The Official IRA mounted their own armed campaign in the Troubles
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
up to 1972, when they called a ceasefire. However, their members on the ground engaged in some armed activities until 1979 when a decision was made to re-orient the group towards what was termed "Special Activities".
Feuds between the two IRAs in the 1970s claimed up to 20 lives on either side.
Sources
- C Desmond Greaves Liam Mellowes and the Irish Revolution (Lawrence and Wishart, 1989)
- Dorothy Macardle, The Irish Republic (Corgi, 1968)
- Mike Millotte, Communism in Modern Ireland: The Pursuit of the Workers' Republic since 1916 (Pluto, 1984) ISBN 074530317X
- Ulick O'Connor, The Troubles (Mandarin, 1989)
- Enno Stephan, Spies in Ireland (Macdonald & Co, 1963)
- Michael Hopkinson, Green against Green - the Irish Civil War, Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2004.
- Brian Hanley, The IRA 1926-36, Four Courts Press, Dublin 2002.
- Seosamh Ó Longaigh, Emergency Law in Independent Ireland, 1922-1948, Four Courts Press, 2006.
Further reading
- Henry Patterson, The Politics of Illusion: Socialism and Republicanism in Modern Ireland (Radius, 1989) ISBN 0091742595