Irish Republican Police
Encyclopedia
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.
. It was initiated by Richard Mulcahy
the IRA Chief of Staff, and Cathal Brugha
, Minister for Defence. It was handed over to the Minister for Home Affairs Arthur Griffith
and later to his successor Austin Stack
. Simon Donnelly
, an IRA Staff Officer at GHQ, was transferred to the Department of Home Affairs as Chief of Police. At this time there were only six full-time Republican Police in Dublin city. Donnelly immediately instructed that a paid full-time policeman be appointed to each of the seventy-two IRA Brigade areas. They were chosen by the Brigades, and most though not all were IRA volunteers. The purpose of the IRP was to provide security for the Republican Courts
, to enforce their judgements, to put into effect the Decrees of the Dáil and to maintain general order. It also occupied itself with such mundane matters as enforcing licensing regulations, dealing with theft and maintaining street patrols. From a propaganda
perspective, as with all the institutions of the Irish Republic, it sought to put into effect secession
from the United Kingdom
. More specifically, the existence of the IRP was considered an important component in the campaign to undermine the authority of the Royal Irish Constabulary
.
In 1920, the IRP had a presence in 21 of Ireland’s 32 counties
. In June 1920, the Irish Bulletin
claimed that the IRP had arrested 84 criminals in 24 counties within 13 days.
government and as a result, members of the IRP were shot or arrested by Crown Forces
as for example the killing of James Cogan (Séamus de Cógáin) on 21 July 1920 by British soldiers. He had two men in custody, accused of stealing cattle, when he drove his car through a military check-point which came under fire. Even after the 1921 Truce
, the RIC challenged the authority of the Dáil Courts and threatened its officials.
The operation of the IRP was also made difficult by some confusion regarding the separation of civil
and military structures during the Irish War of Independence
. For individual volunteers, their military role as members of the Irish Republican Army
and their police function in the IRP were not always clearly differentiated nor was this difference always obvious to the general public.
The IRP had no permanent jails or prisons in which to confine suspects and offenders. Despite this obvious limitation in a system of criminal justice
, improvised solutions were found to detain prisoners. Some of those convicted by the Republican Courts were expelled from the area and even from the country. In one incident, three offenders who had been banished
by a Republican Land Court to an island off the coast of County Clare
for three weeks refused to be rescued by the RIC declaring that as citizens of the Irish Republic, the RIC had no jurisdiction over them. Abandoned buildings in isolated areas were also used for detention, as in the case of a former barracks in the Nire Valley deep in the Comeragh Mountains
. A suggestion by the Chief of Police that "incorrigible criminals" should be flogged was turned down by his superiors as "a barbarous form of punishment".
condemning those who had emigrated during the war as 'deserters'
and 'degenerates'. There quickly followed a proclamation
from the Dáil with instructions regarding the procedure for obtaining an Emigration Permit. For legal travel other than to Britain, (which still required an internal Travel Permit) a British Passport
was necessary and often a visa
from the receiving state. The Republican Police were charged with the responsibility of issuing Permit application forms, forwarding them with the specified fee of five shilling
s to the Minister for Home Affairs, and transmitting to the applicant the permit or, more generally a letter of refusal. The irony of the IRP on the one hand enforcing deportation
orders as a punishment, while on the other preventing voluntary emigration of people personally known to them, was not lost on local IRP members. There is considerable correspondence from local officials seeking a more lenient interpretation of the Emigration ban by the Department. It may be that because it was so rigidly applied with little apparent prospect of being enforced that it was widely ignored. This served to further undermine the authority of local officers. The Department responded by ordering shipping companies and Emigration Agents not to receive money from prospective migrants that did not possess a Permit under threat of their premises being raided or burned. The manager at the offices of Thomas Cook
, a prominent travel company in Grafton Street, Dublin, narrowly avoided being killed for persistent non-compliance with this instruction. Simon Donnelly had ordered him to be shot, however Austin Stack
decided instead on the destruction of the offices. The operation was scheduled for the morning of 11 July 1921, but had not been carried out before the Truce took effect at noon that day.
, where the IRP had a considerable presence, the IRA elected officers for duty with the IRP. The following extract taken from a contemporary memo, gives a precise overview of the numbers involved nationwide as reported by the officer in charge.
The members of the IRP wore no uniform, however some wore armbands with the letters IRP
, the Adjutant-General of the National Army addressing Kevin O'Higgins
, Acting Minister of Home Affairs, issued an internal memorandum regarding the local policing situation in Cork. This was done on his return to Dublin from a tour of inspection in the south of the country. Gearóid O'Sullivan
reported that
As a replacement, he confirmed authorisation for the establishment of a force of one hundred locally recruited men, to be paid at a rate of £3 6s 0d per week by the Government. The force was called the Cork City Civil Patrol. Recruiting had commenced on the 11th of August and they were drawn from ‘neutral’ IRA men, and former British Army and Navy personnel. They were to be augmented by fifty Civic Guards from Dublin, and those found suitable would be gradually absorbed onto the new national police force. The Cork police were unarmed and in lieu of a uniform wore “a white brassard
with the letters CCP inscribed on it in black.” In case there was any doubt that they were, at least temporarily, under the authority of the Army rather than the Department of Defence
much less Home Affairs, each new member took the following pledge:
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 was administered by the Department for Home Affairs
Interior minister
An interior ministry is a government ministry typically responsible for policing, national security, and immigration matters. The ministry is often headed by a minister of the interior or minister of home affairs...
of that government.
Foundation
The IRP was founded between April and June 1920 under the authority of Dáil ÉireannDáil 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...
. It was initiated by Richard Mulcahy
Richard Mulcahy
Richard James Mulcahy was an Irish politician, army general and commander in chief, leader of Fine Gael and Cabinet Minister...
the IRA Chief of Staff, and Cathal Brugha
Cathal Brugha
Cathal Brugha was an Irish revolutionary and politician, active in the Easter Rising, Irish War of Independence, and the Irish Civil War and was the first Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann.-Background:...
, Minister for Defence. It was handed over to the Minister for Home Affairs Arthur Griffith
Arthur Griffith
Arthur Griffith was the founder and third leader of Sinn Féin. He served as President of Dáil Éireann from January to August 1922, and was head of the Irish delegation at the negotiations in London that produced the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921.-Early life:...
and later to his successor Austin Stack
Austin Stack
Austin Stack was an Irish revolutionary and politician.-Early life:Stack was born in Ballymullen, Tralee, County Kerry. He was educated at the Christian Brothers School in Tralee. At the age of fourteen he left school and became a clerk in a solicitor's office. A gifted Gaelic footballer, he...
. Simon Donnelly
Simon Donnelly (Irish Republican)
Simon Donnelly was a member of the Irish Republican Army and a founder member of both Córas na Poblachta and Clann na Poblachta....
, an IRA Staff Officer at GHQ, was transferred to the Department of Home Affairs as Chief of Police. At this time there were only six full-time Republican Police in Dublin city. Donnelly immediately instructed that a paid full-time policeman be appointed to each of the seventy-two IRA Brigade areas. They were chosen by the Brigades, and most though not all were IRA volunteers. The purpose of the IRP was to provide security for the Republican Courts
Dáil Courts
During the Irish War of Independence, the Dáil Courts were the judicial branch of government of the short-lived Irish Republic. They were formally established by a decree of the First Dáil Éireann on 29 June 1920, replacing more limited Arbitration Courts that had been authorised a year earlier...
, to enforce their judgements, to put into effect the Decrees of the Dáil and to maintain general order. It also occupied itself with such mundane matters as enforcing licensing regulations, dealing with theft and maintaining street patrols. From a propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
perspective, as with all the institutions of the Irish Republic, it sought to put into effect secession
Secession
Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...
from the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. More specifically, the existence of the IRP was considered an important component in the campaign to undermine the authority of the 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...
.
In 1920, the IRP had a presence in 21 of Ireland’s 32 counties
Counties of Ireland
The counties of Ireland are sub-national divisions used for the purposes of geographic demarcation and local government. Closely related to the county is the County corporate which covered towns or cities which were deemed to be important enough to be independent from their counties. A county...
. In June 1920, the Irish Bulletin
Irish Bulletin
The Irish Bulletin was the official gazette of the government of the Irish Republic. It was produced by the Department of Propaganda during the Irish War of Independence. and its offices were originally located at No. 6 Harcourt Street, Dublin. The paper's first editor was Desmond FitzGerald,...
claimed that the IRP had arrested 84 criminals in 24 counties within 13 days.
Functioning
The IRP faced considerable difficulties in enforcing its authority. It was viewed as an illegal and subversive body by the BritishUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
government and as a result, members of the IRP were shot or arrested by Crown Forces
British Armed Forces
The British Armed Forces are the armed forces of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.Also known as Her Majesty's Armed Forces and sometimes legally the Armed Forces of the Crown, the British Armed Forces encompasses three professional uniformed services, the Royal Navy, the...
as for example the killing of James Cogan (Séamus de Cógáin) on 21 July 1920 by British soldiers. He had two men in custody, accused of stealing cattle, when he drove his car through a military check-point which came under fire. Even after the 1921 Truce
Irish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence , Anglo-Irish War, Black and Tan War, or Tan War was a guerrilla war mounted by the Irish Republican Army against the British government and its forces in Ireland. It began in January 1919, following the Irish Republic's declaration of independence. Both sides agreed...
, the RIC challenged the authority of the Dáil Courts and threatened its officials.
The operation of the IRP was also made difficult by some confusion regarding the separation of civil
Civil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
and military structures during the Irish War of Independence
Irish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence , Anglo-Irish War, Black and Tan War, or Tan War was a guerrilla war mounted by the Irish Republican Army against the British government and its forces in Ireland. It began in January 1919, following the Irish Republic's declaration of independence. Both sides agreed...
. For individual volunteers, their military role as members of the Irish Republican Army
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...
and their police function in the IRP were not always clearly differentiated nor was this difference always obvious to the general public.
The IRP had no permanent jails or prisons in which to confine suspects and offenders. Despite this obvious limitation in a system of criminal justice
Criminal justice
Criminal Justice is the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts...
, improvised solutions were found to detain prisoners. Some of those convicted by the Republican Courts were expelled from the area and even from the country. In one incident, three offenders who had been banished
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
by a Republican Land Court to an island off the coast of County Clare
County Clare
-History:There was a Neolithic civilisation in the Clare area — the name of the peoples is unknown, but the Prehistoric peoples left evidence behind in the form of ancient dolmen; single-chamber megalithic tombs, usually consisting of three or more upright stones...
for three weeks refused to be rescued by the RIC declaring that as citizens of the Irish Republic, the RIC had no jurisdiction over them. Abandoned buildings in isolated areas were also used for detention, as in the case of a former barracks in the Nire Valley deep in the Comeragh Mountains
Comeragh Mountains
The Comeragh Mountains are a glaciated mountain range situated in the south east of Ireland in County Waterford. They are located between the town of Clonmel on the County Tipperary border and the villages of Kilrossanty and Kilmacthomas in County Waterford.The twelve mountains which form the...
. A suggestion by the Chief of Police that "incorrigible criminals" should be flogged was turned down by his superiors as "a barbarous form of punishment".
Policing emigration
On June 4 1920, Cathal Brugha as Minister for Defence, issued a manifestoManifesto
A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature. Manifestos relating to religious belief are generally referred to as creeds. Manifestos may also be life stance-related.-Etymology:...
condemning those who had emigrated during the war as 'deserters'
Desertion
In military terminology, desertion is the abandonment of a "duty" or post without permission and is done with the intention of not returning...
and 'degenerates'. There quickly followed a proclamation
Proclamation
A proclamation is an official declaration.-England and Wales:In English law, a proclamation is a formal announcement , made under the great seal, of some matter which the King in Council or Queen in Council desires to make known to his or her subjects: e.g., the declaration of war, or state of...
from the Dáil with instructions regarding the procedure for obtaining an Emigration Permit. For legal travel other than to Britain, (which still required an internal Travel Permit) a British Passport
Passport
A passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....
was necessary and often a visa
Visa (document)
A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
from the receiving state. The Republican Police were charged with the responsibility of issuing Permit application forms, forwarding them with the specified fee of five shilling
Shilling
The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...
s to the Minister for Home Affairs, and transmitting to the applicant the permit or, more generally a letter of refusal. The irony of the IRP on the one hand enforcing deportation
Deportation
Deportation means the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. Today it often refers to the expulsion of foreign nationals whereas the expulsion of nationals is called banishment, exile, or penal transportation...
orders as a punishment, while on the other preventing voluntary emigration of people personally known to them, was not lost on local IRP members. There is considerable correspondence from local officials seeking a more lenient interpretation of the Emigration ban by the Department. It may be that because it was so rigidly applied with little apparent prospect of being enforced that it was widely ignored. This served to further undermine the authority of local officers. The Department responded by ordering shipping companies and Emigration Agents not to receive money from prospective migrants that did not possess a Permit under threat of their premises being raided or burned. The manager at the offices of Thomas Cook
Thomas Cook
Thomas Cook of Melbourne, Derbyshire, England founded the travel agency that is now Thomas Cook Group.- Early days :...
, a prominent travel company in Grafton Street, Dublin, narrowly avoided being killed for persistent non-compliance with this instruction. Simon Donnelly had ordered him to be shot, however Austin Stack
Austin Stack
Austin Stack was an Irish revolutionary and politician.-Early life:Stack was born in Ballymullen, Tralee, County Kerry. He was educated at the Christian Brothers School in Tralee. At the age of fourteen he left school and became a clerk in a solicitor's office. A gifted Gaelic footballer, he...
decided instead on the destruction of the offices. The operation was scheduled for the morning of 11 July 1921, but had not been carried out before the Truce took effect at noon that day.
Organisation
IRP recruits generally came from the ranks of the Irish Republican Army. In the city of CorkCork (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...
, where the IRP had a considerable presence, the IRA elected officers for duty with the IRP. The following extract taken from a contemporary memo, gives a precise overview of the numbers involved nationwide as reported by the officer in charge.
"The Police were formally organised according to the military areas, and the Brigade was the basis of organisation. The details of strength were:-
One Brigade Police Officer for the area.
One Officer for each Battalion Area.
One Company Officer and four men for each Company Area.
The approximate strength of the force under this scheme was 72 Brigade Officers, about 340 Battalion Officers, 1,910 Company Officers and 7,640 rank and file. This force was, of course, rather big but owing to the fact that the men were untrained and were working under great difficulty and under extraordinary circumstances, it was found necessary to retain them. The scheme came into operation last June (ed. 1921)."
The members of the IRP wore no uniform, however some wore armbands with the letters IRP
Civil war and replacement of IRP
On the 25th August, 1922, following the outbreak of civil warIrish 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....
, the Adjutant-General of the National Army addressing 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...
, Acting Minister of Home Affairs, issued an internal memorandum regarding the local policing situation in Cork. This was done on his return to Dublin from a tour of inspection in the south of the country. Gearóid O'Sullivan
Gearóid O'Sullivan
Gearóid O'Sullivan was an Irish teacher, Irish language scholar, army officer, barrister and Sinn Féin and Fine Gael politician.-Early life and education:...
reported that
"prior to and during the Irregular occupation of Cork, the work of policing the city was carried on by the Irish Republican Police. These men were paid by the Merchants, who voluntarily paid up to £200 for the purpose. They were admitted on all sides to have been fairly efficient in preventing ordinary crime, but when the Irregulars fled the city at the approach of the National Forces, Cork was without a police force of any sort. Robbery, burglary and looting became rife."
As a replacement, he confirmed authorisation for the establishment of a force of one hundred locally recruited men, to be paid at a rate of £3 6s 0d per week by the Government. The force was called the Cork City Civil Patrol. Recruiting had commenced on the 11th of August and they were drawn from ‘neutral’ IRA men, and former British Army and Navy personnel. They were to be augmented by fifty Civic Guards from Dublin, and those found suitable would be gradually absorbed onto the new national police force. The Cork police were unarmed and in lieu of a uniform wore “a white brassard
Brassard
A brassard or armlet is an armband or piece of cloth or other material worn around the upper arm, used as an item of military uniform to which rank badges may be attached instead of being stitched into the actual clothing...
with the letters CCP inscribed on it in black.” In case there was any doubt that they were, at least temporarily, under the authority of the Army rather than the Department of Defence
Department of Defence (Ireland)
The Department of Defence is the department of the Government of Ireland that is responsible for preserving peace and security in Ireland and abroad...
much less Home Affairs, each new member took the following pledge:
I hereby undertake and agree to obey the lawful orders of Captain Joseph MacCarthy, or any other officer nominated by General DaltonEmmet DaltonEmmet Dalton was an Irish soldier and film producer. He served in the British Army in the First World War, reaching the rank of Major. However, on his return to Ireland he became one of the senior figures in the Dublin Brigade of the guerrilla Irish Republican Army which fought against British...
for the time being in charge of the Patrol. I acknowledge that any employment is purely temporary and agree that one weeks notice on either side may terminate same,
Dated this ______ day of August 1922