The term Black and Tans refers to the Royal Irish Constabulary Reserve Force The term Black and Tans refers to the Royal Irish Constabulary Reserve Force The term Black and Tans refers to the Royal Irish Constabulary Reserve Force ' onMouseout='HidePop("93316")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/World_War_I">World War I
World War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
. First deployed to Ireland in March 1920, most came from
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and
ScottishScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
cities. While officially they were part of the RIC, in reality they were a
paramilitaryA paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military force, but which is not regarded as having the same status...
force. After their deployment in March 1920, they rapidly gained a reputation for drunkenness and ill discipline that did more harm to the British government's moral authority in Ireland than any other group. In response to IRA actions, in the summer of 1920, the "Tans" burned and sacked numerous small towns throughout Ireland, including
BalbrigganBalbriggan is a town in the northern part of Fingal county, within the historic County Dublin, Ireland. The 2006 census population was 15,559 for Balbriggan and its environs.- Name :...
,
TrimTrim is the traditional county town of County Meath in Ireland, although the county town is now Navan. The town was recorded in the 2006 census to have a population of 6,870....
,
TemplemoreTemplemore is a town in County Tipperary in Ireland. Since February 1964, the former Richmond Barracks in the town has been the site of the Garda Síochána College, the centre for training Ireland's police force...
and others.
In July 1920, another quasi-military police body, the
AuxiliariesThe Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary , generally known as the Auxiliaries or Auxies, was a paramilitary organization within the RIC during the Irish War of Independence.-Recruitment and organization:...
, consisting of 2,215 former British army officers, arrived in Ireland. The
Auxiliary DivisionThe Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary , generally known as the Auxiliaries or Auxies, was a paramilitary organization within the RIC during the Irish War of Independence.-Recruitment and organization:...
had a reputation just as bad as the Tans for their mistreatment of the civilian population but tended to be more effective and more willing to take on the IRA. The policy of reprisals, which involved public denunciation or denial and private approval, was famously satirised by Lord
Hugh CecilHugh Richard Heathcote Cecil, 1st Baron Quickswood PC was a British Conservative Party politician, known as Lord Hugh Cecil before 1941....
when he said: "It seems to be agreed that there is no such thing as reprisals, but they are having a good effect."
On 9 August 1920, the British Parliament passed the Restoration of Order in Ireland Act, which suspended all coroners' courts, because of the large number of warrants served on members of the British forces. They were replaced with "military courts of enquiry". In addition, the powers of military court martials were extended to cover the whole population and were empowered to use the death penalty and
internmentInternment 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"...
without trial. Finally, government payments to local governments in Sinn Féin hands were suspended. This act has been interpreted by historians as a choice by
Prime MinisterThe Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the political leader of the United Kingdom and the Head of Her Majesty's Government...
David Lloyd GeorgeDavid Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British statesman and the only Welsh Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; he is also the only one to have spoken English as a second language, Welsh having been his first.During a long tenure of office, mainly as Chancellor of the...
to put down the rebellion in Ireland rather than negotiate with the Republican leadership. As a result, violence escalated steadily from that summer, and sharply after November 1920 until July 1921.
It was in this period that a large-scale
mutinyMutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly-situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an existing authority...
broke out among the Irish Connaught Rangers, stationed in
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
. Two were killed whilst trying to storm an armoury and one was later executed.
October 1920 – July 1921
On 21 November 1920, Collins' Squad killed 14 and wounded 5 people consisting of British Army officers, police officers and civilians. These included members of the so-called "
Cairo GangThe Cairo Gang was a group of British Intelligence agents who were sent to Dublin during the Anglo-Irish War to conduct intelligence operations against prominent members of the Irish Republican Army...
" and a Courts-martial officer at different places around Dublin. In response, Auxiliaries drove in trucks into
Croke ParkCroke Park in Dublin, Ireland is the largest sports stadium in Ireland and the fourth largest stadium in Europe. It is the principal stadium and headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association , Ireland's biggest sporting organisation...
(Dublin's GAA football and hurling ground) during a football match, shooting into the crowd. Fourteen unarmed people were killed including one of the players,
Michael HoganMichael Hogan was a Gaelic footballer, and one-time Captain of the Tipperary GAA team. He was a member of the Irish Volunteers and was born in the Grangemockler area of Co. Tipperary.- Bloody Sunday :...
from
Tipperary GAAThe Tipperary County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Tipperary GAA is one of the 34 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Tipperary...
and a further 65 people were wounded. Later that day two republican prisoners,
Dick McKeeRichard “Dick” McKee was a prominent member of the Irish Republican Army . He was also friend to some senior members in the Republican movement, including Éamon de Valera, Austin Stack and Michael Collins...
,
Peadar ClancyPeadar Clancy was a member of the Irish Republican Army who served in the Four Courts garrison during the 1916 Easter Rising and was second-in-command of the Dublin Brigade, IRA during the War of Independence...
and an unassociated friend,
Conor CluneConor Clune was one of three men along with Dick McKee and Peadar Clancy killed in controversial circumstances in Dublin Castle on Bloody Sunday, 1920, a day that also saw the killing of a network of British spies by the "Squad" unit of the Irish Republican Army and the killing of 14 people in...
who had been arrested with them, were killed in Dublin Castle. The official account was that the three men were shot "while trying to escape", which was rejected by Irish nationalists who were certain the men had been tortured then murdered. This day became known as
Bloody SundayBloody Sunday was a day of violence in Dublin on 21 November 1920, during the Irish War of Independence. In total, 31 people were killed – fourteen British, fourteen Irish civilians and three republican prisoners....
. Today a stand in Croke Park is named the Hogan Stand, after the player who was killed in the attack.
On 28 November 1920, only a week after Bloody Sunday in Dublin, the west Cork unit of the IRA, under
Tom BarryThomas Barry was one of the most prominent guerrilla leaders in the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence.-Early life:...
, ambushed a patrol of Auxiliaries at
KilmichaelThe Kilmichael Ambush was an ambush near the village of Kilmichael in County Cork on 28 November 1920 carried out by the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence. Thirty-six local IRA volunteers commanded by Tom Barry killed seventeen members of the RIC Auxiliary Division...
in
County CorkCounty Cork is one of the traditional counties of Ireland. It is located within the province of Munster, and was named after the city of Cork...
, killing all but one of the 18-man patrol. This action marked a significant escalation of the conflict, with counties Cork, Kerry, Limerick, and Tipperary—all in the province of
MunsterMunster is a province of Ireland, located in the south-west of the island. The province is not used as an administration division as such, with the counties filling that role. Much of the area aside from Clare is represented internationally by the South constituency of the European Parliament...
—being put under
martial lawMartial law is the system of rules that takes effect when the military takes control of the normal administration of justice.Martial law is sometimes imposed during wars or occupations in the absence of any other civil government. Examples of this form of military rule include Germany and Japan...
on 10 December. Shortly afterwards, in January 1921, "official reprisals" were sanctioned by the British and they began with the burning of seven houses in
MidletonMidleton , historically known as Ballymacora, is a town in south-eastern County Cork, Ireland. It lies some 22 km east of Cork City on the Owenacurra River and the N25 road, which connects Cork to the port of Rosslare...
in Cork.
The Lord Mayor of Cork,
Terence MacSwineyTerence Joseph MacSwiney was born in Cork City, Ireland. Elected as Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Cork during the Irish War of Independence in 1920, MacSwiney was arrested by the British on charges of sedition and imprisoned in Brixton prison in England...
, died on
hunger strikeA hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
in Brixton Prison in London in October, while two other IRA prisoners on hunger strike,
Joe MurphyJoseph Murphy was a member of the Irish Republican Army who died on hunger strike in Cork in 1920 during the Irish War of Independence.Joe Murphy was born in Lynn, Massachusetts in the United States of America in March 1895 the son of Irish parents who subsequently returned home to their native...
and
Michael FitzgeraldMichael Fitzgerald was a member of the Irish Republican Army who died on Hunger strike at Cork Jail in October 1920.A native of Ballyoran, Fermoy, County Cork, Fitzgerald was educated at the Christian Brothers School in the town and subsequently found work as a mill worker in the locality...
, died in Cork Jail. The centre of Cork was burnt out by British forces, who then shot at firefighters trying to tackle the blaze, in reprisal for an IRA ambush in the city on 11 December 1920 which killed one Auxiliary and wounded eleven.
During the following eight months until the Truce of July 1921, there was a spiralling of the death toll in the conflict, with 1,000 people including the RIC police, British military, IRA volunteers and civilians, being killed in the months between January and July 1921 alone. This represents about 70% of the total casualties for the entire three-year conflict. In addition, 4,500 IRA personnel (or suspected sympathisers) were
internedInternment 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"...
in this time. In the middle of this violence, the Dáil formally declared war on Britain in March 1921.
Between 1 November 1920 and 7 June 1921 twenty four men were executed by the British. The first IRA volunteer to be executed was
Kevin BarryKevin Gerard Barry was the first Republican to be executed by the British since the leaders of the Easter Rising. Barry was sentenced to death for his part in an IRA operation which resulted in the deaths of three British soldiers.Barry's death is considered a watershed moment in the Irish conflict...
, one of
The Forgotten TenThe Forgotten Ten is the term applied to ten members of the Irish Republican Army who were executed in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin by British forces following courts martial from 1920-1921 during the Irish War of Independence. Based upon military law at the time, they were buried within the prison...
who were buried in unmarked graves in
unconsecrated groundConsecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service, usually religious. The word "consecration" literally means "to associate with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different groups.A synonym for consecration is to...
inside
Mountjoy PrisonMountjoy Prison , founded as Mountjoy Gaol, nicknamed The Joy, is a closed, medium security prison located in Phibsboro in the centre of Dublin, Ireland....
until 2001. On 1 February, the first execution under martial law of an IRA man took place. Cornelius Murphy of
MillstreetMillstreet is a town in north County Cork, Ireland with a population of approximately 1,500. It is located at the foot of Clara Mountain. The town's Catholic church is dedicated to St. Patrick. Since October 1985, the town has been twinned with Pommerit-le-Vicomte in Brittany, France.In July 2006,...
, Cork was shot in
CorkCork 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...
city. On 28 February, six more were executed, again in Cork.
On 19 March 1921, Tom Barry's 100-strong West Cork IRA unit fought a large-scale action against 1,200 British troops - the
Crossbarry AmbushThe Crossbarry Ambush occurred on 19 March 1921 and was one of the largest engagements of the Irish War of Independence.It took place at the rural crossroads of Crossbarry, County Cork, around 20 km south west of Cork city. About 100 Irish Republican Army volunteers escaped an attempt by over...
. Barry's men narrowly avoided being trapped by converging British columns and inflicted between ten and thirty killed on the British side. Just two days later, on 21 March, the Kerry IRA
attacked a trainThe Headford Ambush took place on 21 March 1921, during the Irish War of Independence.The Second Kerry Brigade of the Irish Republican Army ambushed a train carrying British troops at Headford Junction railway station...
at the
HeadfordHeadford is a town in County Galway, located 26 km north of Galway city in the west of Ireland. The N84 national secondary route from Galway to Castlebar passes through the town. The R333 road travels from Headford to Tuam...
junction near
KillarneyKillarney is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is located north of the MacGillicuddy Reeks, on the northeastern shore of the Lough Lein/Leane which are part of Killarney National Park. The town and its surrounding region is home to St...
. Twenty British soldiers were killed or injured, as well as two IRA men and three civilians. Most of the actions in the war were on a smaller scale than this, but the IRA did have other significant victories in ambushes, for example at
MillstreetMillstreet is a town in north County Cork, Ireland with a population of approximately 1,500. It is located at the foot of Clara Mountain. The town's Catholic church is dedicated to St. Patrick. Since October 1985, the town has been twinned with Pommerit-le-Vicomte in Brittany, France.In July 2006,...
in Cork and at
ScramogueThe Scramogue Ambush was an ambush carried out by the Irish Republican Army on 23 March 1921, during the Irish War of Independence. It took place in the townland of Scramogue, County Roscommon.-Background:...
in Roscommon, also in March 1921 and at
TourmakeadyTourmakeady is a rural district in County Mayo in the west of Ireland. It has a population of approximately 1000 people. It is located on the shores of Lough Mask. Part of Tourmakeady was originally in neighbouring County Galway, but was placed under the administration of County Mayo in 1898...
and
CarowkennedyThe Carrowkennedy Ambush was an ambush carried out by the Irish Republican Army on 2 June 1921, during the Irish War of Independence. It took place in Carrowkennedy, County Mayo....
in Mayo in May and June. Equally common, however, were failed ambushes, the worst of which, for example at
UptonThe Upton Train Ambush took place on 15 February 1921, during the Irish War of Independence.The Irish Republican Army mounted an attack on a train carrying British soldiers at Upton, County Cork. The action was a disaster for the IRA; three of its volunteers were killed and two wounded. Six...
and
ClonmultThe Clonmult Ambush took place on 20 February 1921, during the Irish War of Independence.Irish Republican Army volunteers occupying a farmhouse in Clonmult, County Cork were surrounded by a force of British Army, RIC and Auxiliaries. In the action that followed, twelve IRA volunteers were killed,...
in Cork in February 1921, saw three and twelve IRA men killed respectively and more captured. The IRA in Mayo suffered a comparable reverse at
KilmeenaKilmeena is a small village in County Mayo, Ireland, near Westport. The village has a Catholic church and a school.-History:Kilmeena was the scene of a defeat for the local Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence. On May 19 1921, British troops surprised an IRA ambush party at...
. Fears of informers after such failed ambushes often led to a spate of IRA shootings of informers, real and imagined.
The biggest single loss for the IRA, however, came in Dublin. On 25 May 1921, several hundred IRA men from the Dublin Brigade occupied and burned
the Custom HouseThe Custom House is a neoclassical 18th century building in Dublin, Ireland which houses the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government...
(the centre of local government in Ireland) in Dublin city centre. Symbolically, this was intended to show that British rule in Ireland was untenable. However, from a military point of view, it was a
catastropheA catastrophe is an extremely large-scale disaster, a horrible event.It may also refer to:*Catastrophe bond, a risk-linked security used to share risks with bond investors...
in which five IRA men were killed and over eighty were captured. This showed the IRA was not well enough equipped or trained to take on British forces in a conventional manner. However, it did not, as is sometimes claimed, cripple the IRA in Dublin. The Dublin Brigade carried out 107 attacks in the city in May and 93 in June, showing a falloff in activity, but not a dramatic one. However, by July 1921, most IRA units were chronically short of both weapons and ammunition. Also, for all their effectiveness at guerrilla warfare, they had, as
Richard MulcahyRichard James Mulcahy was an Irish politician, army general and commander in chief, leader of Fine Gael and Cabinet Minister...
recalled, "as yet not been able to drive the enemy [the British] out of anything but a fairly good sized police barracks".
Still, many military historians have concluded that the IRA fought a largely successful and lethal guerrilla war, which forced the British government to conclude that the IRA could not be defeated militarily. The failure of the British efforts to put down the guerrillas was illustrated by the events of "Black Whitsun" on 13–15 May 1921. A general election for the parliament of
Southern IrelandSouthern Ireland was the short-lived autonomous region of the United Kingdom established on 3 May 1921 and dissolved on 6 December 1922....
was held on 13 May.
Sinn FéinSinn Féin is a political party in Ireland. The current party, led by Gerry Adams, was formed following a split in January 1970 and traces its origins back to the original Sinn Féin party formed in 1905. It is a major party of Irish republicanism and its political ideology is left wing...
won 124 of the new parliament's 128 seats unopposed, but its elected members refused to take their seats. Under the terms of the Government of Ireland Act, the Southern Parliament was dissolved, and
Southern IrelandSouthern Ireland was the short-lived autonomous region of the United Kingdom established on 3 May 1921 and dissolved on 6 December 1922....
was to be ruled as a
crown colonyA Crown colony was a type of colonial administration of the British Empire.Crown colonies were ruled by a governor appointed by the Crown...
. Over the next two days (14–15 May), the IRA killed fifteen policemen. These events marked the complete failure of the British Coalition Government's Irish policy—both the failure to enforce a settlement without negotiating with Sinn Féin and a failure to defeat the IRA.
By the time of the truce, however, many Republican leaders, including Michael Collins, were convinced that if the war went on for much longer, there was a chance that the IRA campaign as it was then organised could be brought to a standstill. Because of this, plans were drawn up to "bring the war to
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
". The IRA did take the campaign to the streets of Glasgow. It was decided that key economic targets, such as the
LiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
docks, would be bombed. Nineteen warehouses there had been burned to the ground by the IRA the previous November. The units charged with these missions would more easily evade capture because England was not under, and British public opinion was unlikely to accept,
martial lawMartial law is the system of rules that takes effect when the military takes control of the normal administration of justice.Martial law is sometimes imposed during wars or occupations in the absence of any other civil government. Examples of this form of military rule include Germany and Japan...
. These plans were abandoned because of the truce.
The north-east
In the
Government of Ireland Act 1920An Act to Provide for the Better Government of Ireland, more usually the Government of Ireland Act 1920, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
(enacted in December 1920), the British government attempted to solve the conflict by creating two
Home RuleHome rule is where constituent parts of a state are given greater self-government within the administrative purview of the central government....
parliaments in Ireland,
Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and it is situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
and
Southern IrelandSouthern Ireland was the short-lived autonomous region of the United Kingdom established on 3 May 1921 and dissolved on 6 December 1922....
. While Dáil Éireann ignored this, deeming the
Irish RepublicThe Irish Republic was a unilaterally declared independent state of Ireland proclaimed in the Easter Rising of 1916 and formally established on 21 January 1919 by Dáil Éireann...
to be already in existence, Unionists in the north-east accepted it and prepared to form their own government. In this part of Ireland, which was predominantly Protestant and Unionist, there was, as a result, a very different pattern of violence from the rest of the country. Whereas in the south and west, the conflict was between the IRA and British forces, in the north-east and particularly in
BelfastBelfast is the capital of and the largest city in Northern Ireland, a constituent country of the United Kingdom. It is the seat of devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly. It is the largest urban area in the province of Ulster, and the second largest city on the island of...
, it often developed into a cycle of sectarian killings between Catholics, who were largely Nationalist, and Protestants, who were mostly Unionist.
Summer 1920
While IRA attacks were less common in the north-east than elsewhere, the unionist community saw itself as being besieged by armed Catholic nationalists who seemed to have taken over the rest of Ireland. As a result, they retaliated against the northern Catholic community as a whole. Such action was largely condoned by the unionist leadership and abetted by state forces.
James CraigJames Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon PC was a prominent Irish unionist politician, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party and the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland...
, for instance, wrote in 1920:
The LoyalistUlster loyalism is a militant unionist ideology held mostly by Protestants in Northern Ireland. Some individuals claim that Ulster loyalists are working-class unionists willing to use violence in order to achieve their aims...
rank and file have determined to take action... they now feel the situation is so desperate that unless the Government will take immediate action, it may be advisable for them to see what steps can be taken towards a system of 'organised' reprisals against the rebels.
The first cycle of attacks and reprisals broke out in the summer of 1920. On 19 June a week of inter-sectarian rioting and sniping started in
DerryDerry or Londonderry often called the Maiden City, is a city in Northern Ireland. It is the second largest city in Northern Ireland and fourth largest city in the island of Ireland...
, resulting in 18 deaths. On 17 July 1920, a British Colonel Gerald Smyth was assassinated by the IRA in the County Club in Cork city in response to a speech that was made to police officers of Listowel who had refused orders to move into the more urban areas, in which he stated "you may make mistakes occasionally, and innocent persons may be shot, but that cannot be helped. No policeman will get in trouble for shooting any man". Smyth came from
BanbridgeBanbridge is a rapidly growing town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Bann and the A1 road. It grew as a coaching stop and from Irish linen manufacturing. Its population was 14,744 people in the 2001 Census though is said to have raised in population by a fifth since then,...
,
County DownCounty Down is one of the traditional counties of Ireland. It is located within the province of Ulster and is part of Northern Ireland....
in the north-east and his killing provoked retaliation there against Catholics in Banbridge and
DromoreThere are a number of settlements called Dromore:In Northern Ireland:* Dromore, County Down* Dromore, County TyroneIn the Republic of Ireland:* Dromore, County Clare*Dromore WestAlso the Roman Catholic diocese in Northern Ireland:...
. On 21 July 1920, partly in response to the killing of Smyth and partly because of competition over jobs due to the high unemployment rate,
loyalistsUlster loyalism is a militant unionist ideology held mostly by Protestants in Northern Ireland. Some individuals claim that Ulster loyalists are working-class unionists willing to use violence in order to achieve their aims...
marched on the
Harland and WolffHarland and Wolff Heavy Industries is a British diversified heavy industrial company specialising in shipbuilding, ship breaking, offshore construction, modular construction, civil and marine engineering, renewables and associated project management, located in Belfast, Northern Ireland.The...
shipyards in Belfast and forced over 7,000 Catholic and left-wing Protestant workers from their jobs. Sectarian rioting broke out in response in Belfast and
DerryDerry or Londonderry often called the Maiden City, is a city in Northern Ireland. It is the second largest city in Northern Ireland and fourth largest city in the island of Ireland...
, resulting in about 40 deaths and many Catholics and Protestants being expelled from their homes. On 22 August 1920, RIC Detective Swanzy was shot dead by Cork IRA men while leaving church in
LisburnLisburn is the third-largest city in Northern Ireland. It is situated south-west of Belfast on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down...
,
County AntrimCounty Antrim is one of the traditional counties of Ireland. It is located within the province of Ulster and is part of Northern Ireland. It was named after the town of Antrim ....
. Swanzy had been blamed by an inquest jury for the killing of Cork Mayor
Tomás Mac CurtainTomás Mac Curtain was a Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Cork, Ireland. He was elected in January 1920.He was born at Ballyknockane in the Parish of Mourne Abbey in March 1884. He attended Burnfort National School. In 1897 the family moved to Blackpool on the northside of Cork...
. In revenge, local Loyalists burned Catholic residential areas of Lisburn - destroying over 300 homes. While several people were later prosecuted for the burnings, no attempt seems to have been made to halt the attacks at the time. Michael Collins, acting on a suggestion by
Seán MacEnteeSeán MacEntee was a senior Irish politician. In a career that spanned over forty years as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála, MacEntee was one of the most important figures in post-independence Ireland...
, organised a boycott of Belfast goods in response to the attacks on the Catholic community. The Dail approved a partial boycott on 6 August and a more complete one was implemented by the end of 1920.
Spring 1921
After a lull in violence in the north over the new year, killings there intensified again in the spring of 1921. The northern IRA units came under pressure from the leadership in Dublin to step up attacks in line with the rest of the country. Predictably, this unleashed loyalist reprisals against Catholics. For example, in April 1921, the IRA in Belfast shot dead two Auxiliaries in Donegal Place in Belfast city centre. The same night, two Catholics were killed on the Falls Road. On 10 July 1921 the IRA ambushed British forces in Raglan street in Belfast. In the following week, sixteen Catholics were killed and 216 Catholic homes burned in reprisal. Killings on the loyalist side were largely carried by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), allegedly with the aid of the RIC police and especially the auxiliary police force, the
Ulster Special ConstabularyThe Ulster Special Constabulary was a reserve police force in Northern Ireland viewed with great mistrust by nationalists who claimed, with some proven justification, that the force was anti-Catholic...
or "B-Specials". The Special Constabulary (set up in September 1920), was largely recruited from Ulster Volunteer Force and
Orange LodgesThe Orange Institution, more commonly known as the Orange Order or the Orange Lodge, is a Protestant fraternal organisation based predominantly in Ireland and Scotland with lodges throughout the Commonwealth and the United States...
and, in the words of historian Michael Hopkinson, "amounted to an officially approved UVF". In May
James CraigJames Craig may refer to:* James Craig , Scottish architect* James Henry Craig , British military officer and colonial administrator of The Canadas...
came to Dublin to meet the British
Lord Lieutenant of IrelandThe Lord Lieutenant of Ireland , also known as the Judiciar in the early mediaeval period and as the Lord Deputy as late as the 17th century, was the King's representative and head of the Irish executive during the Lordship of Ireland , the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great...
, Lord Fitzalan, and was smuggled by the IRA through Dublin to meet Eamon de Valera. The two leaders discussed the possibility of a truce in
UlsterUlster is one of the four Provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island.Ulster is composed of nine counties: Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry, and Tyrone are part of Northern Ireland; while Cavan, Donegal, and Monaghan are part of the Republic of Ireland.-Terminology:The...
and an amnesty for prisoners. Craig proposed a compromise settlement based on the Government of Ireland Act, with limited independence for the South and autonomy for the North within a
Home RuleHome rule is where constituent parts of a state are given greater self-government within the administrative purview of the central government....
context. However, the talks came to nothing and violence in the north continued.
The propaganda war, Summer 1921
Another feature of the war was the use of propaganda by both sides. The British tried to portray the IRA as anti-Protestant in order to encourage loyalism in Irish Protestants and win sympathy for their harsh tactics in Britain. For example, in their communiqués they would always mention the religion of spies or collaborators the IRA had killed if the victim was Protestant, but not if they were Catholic (which was more often), trying to give the impression, in Ireland and abroad, that the IRA were slaughtering Protestants. They encouraged newspaper editors, often forcefully, to do the same. In the summer of 1921, a series of articles appeared in a London magazine, entitled "Ireland under the New Terror, Living Under Martial Law". While purporting to be an impartial account of the situation in Ireland, it portrayed the IRA in a very unfavourable light when compared with the British forces. In reality the author, Ernest Dowdall, was an Auxiliary and the series was one of many articles planted by the Dublin Castle Propaganda Department (established in August 1920) to influence public opinion in a Britain increasingly dismayed at the behaviour of its security forces in Ireland.
The
Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
hierarchy was critical of the violence of both sides, but especially that of the IRA, continuing a long tradition of condemning militant republicanism. The Bishop of Kilmore, Dr. Finnegan, said: "Any war... to be just and lawful must be backed by a well grounded hope of success. What hope of success have you against the mighty forces of the
British EmpireThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom, that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was...
? None... none whatever and if it unlawful as it is, every life taken in pursuance of it is murder." Thomas Gilmartin, the Archbishop of Tuam, issued a letter saying that IRA men who took part in ambushes "have broken the truce of God, they have incurred the guilt of murder." However in May 1921,
Pope Benedict XVPope Benedict XV , born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, reigned as Pope from 3 September 1914 to 22 January 1922, succeeding Pope Pius X...
dismayed the British government when he issued a letter that exhorted the "English as well as Irish to calmly consider . . . some means of mutual agreement", as they had been pushing for a condemnation of the rebellion. They declared that his comments "put HMG (His Majesty's Government) and the Irish murder gang on a footing of equality".
Desmond FitzGeraldDesmond FitzGerald was an Irish revolutionary, poet, publicist and Cumann na nGaedhael politician.-Early life:...
and
Erskine ChildersRobert Erskine Childers DSC , universally known as Erskine Childers, was the author of the influential novel Riddle of the Sands and an Irish nationalist, who was executed by the authorities of the nascent Irish Free State during the Irish Civil War...
were active in producing the
Irish BulletinThe Irish Bulletin was an underground news-sheet/magazine published by Sinn Fein and the official newspaper of the short-lived Irish Republic. Created by Robert Erskine Childers appeared in weekly editions from 11 november 1919 to 11 july 1921, under the editorship of Desmond FitzGerald...
, which detailed government atrocities which Irish and British newspapers were unwilling or unable to cover. It was printed secretly and distributed throughout Ireland, and to international press agencies and
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
,
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
an and sympathetic British politicians.
While the military war made most of Ireland ungovernable from early 1920, it did not actually remove British forces from any part. But the success of
Sinn FéinSinn Féin is a political party in Ireland. The current party, led by Gerry Adams, was formed following a split in January 1970 and traces its origins back to the original Sinn Féin party formed in 1905. It is a major party of Irish republicanism and its political ideology is left wing...
's propaganda campaign did remove the option from the British administration to deepen the conflict. The British cabinet had not sought the war that had developed since 1919. By 1921 one of its members,
Winston ChurchillSir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC was a British politician known chiefly for his leadership of the United Kingdom during World War II. He served as Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer...
, reflected:
What was the alternative? It was to plunge one small corner of the empire into an iron repression, which could not be carried out without an admixture of murder and counter-murder.... Only national self-preservation could have excused such a policy, and no reasonable man could allege that self-preservation was involved.
Truce, July 1921 – December 1921
The war of independence in Ireland ended with a truce on 11 July 1921. The conflict had reached a stalemate. Talks that had looked promising the previous year had petered out in December when
David Lloyd GeorgeDavid Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British statesman and the only Welsh Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; he is also the only one to have spoken English as a second language, Welsh having been his first.During a long tenure of office, mainly as Chancellor of the...
insisted that the IRA first surrender their arms. Fresh talks, after the Prime Minister had come under pressure from Herbert Henry Asquith and the
LiberalThe Liberal Party was one of the two major British political parties from the mid 19th century until the rise of the Labour Party in the 1920s, and a third party of varying strength and importance up to 1988, when it merged with the Social Democratic Party to form a new party which would become...
opposition, the
Labour PartyThe Labour Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom. Founded at the start of the 20th century, it has been seen since 1920 as the principal party of the Left in England, Scotland and Wales, but not Northern Ireland, where it has only recently begun to organise again...
and the
Trades Union CongressThe Trades Union Congress is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in the United Kingdom, representing the majority of trade unions...
, resumed in the spring and resulted in the Truce. From the point of view of the British government, it appeared as if the IRA's guerrilla campaign would continue indefinitely, with spiralling costs in
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name and the state form of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927...
casualties and in money. More importantly, the British government was facing severe criticism at home and abroad for the actions of British forces in Ireland. On 6 June 1921, the British made their first conciliatory gesture, calling off the policy of house burnings as reprisals. On the other side, IRA leaders and in particular
Michael CollinsMichael Collins was an Irish revolutionary leader, Minister for Finance and MP 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...
, felt that the IRA as it was then organised could not continue indefinitely. It had been hard pressed by the deployment of more regular British soldiers to Ireland and by the lack of arms and ammunition.
The initial breakthrough that led to the truce was credited to three people: King
George VGeorge V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 1910 through World War I until his death in 1936...
, General
Jan SmutsField Marshal Jan Christiaan Smuts, OM, CH, PC, ED, KC, FRS, GCTE was a prominent South African and British Commonwealth statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various cabinet posts, he served as Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa from 1919 until 1924 and from...
of
South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland, while Lesotho is an independent country surrounded by South Africa.Modern...
and British Prime Minister David Lloyd George. The King, who had made his unhappiness at the behaviour of the Black and Tans in Ireland well known to his government, was dissatisfied with the official speech prepared for him for the opening of the new
Parliament of Northern IrelandThe Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which existed from 22 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended...
, created as a result of the partition of Ireland. Smuts, a close friend of the King, suggested to him that the opportunity should be used to make an appeal for conciliation in Ireland. The King asked him to draft his ideas on paper. Smuts prepared this draft and gave copies to the King and to Lloyd George. Lloyd George then invited Smuts to attend a British cabinet meeting consultations on the "interesting" proposals Lloyd George had received, without either man informing the Cabinet that Smuts had been their author. Faced with the endorsement of them by Smuts, the King and the Prime Minister, ministers reluctantly agreed to the King's planned 'reconciliation in Ireland' speech.
The speech, when delivered in Belfast on 22 June, was universally well received. It called on "all Irishmen to pause, to stretch out the hand of forbearance and conciliation, to forgive and to forget, and to join in making for the land they love a new era of peace, contentment, and good will."
On 24 June 1921, the British Coalition Government's Cabinet decided to propose talks with the leader of Sinn Féin. Coalition Liberals and Unionists agreed that an offer to negotiate would strengthen the Government's position if Sinn Féin refused.
Austen ChamberlainSir Joseph Austen Chamberlain, KG was a British statesman and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.- Early life and career :...
, the new leader of the Unionist Party, said that "the King's Speech ought to be followed up as a last attempt at peace before we go the full lengths of martial law". Seizing the momentum, Lloyd George wrote to Éamon de Valera as "the chosen leader of the great majority in Southern Ireland" on 24 June, suggesting a conference. The Irish responded by agreeing to talks. De Valera and Lloyd George ultimately agreed to a truce that was intended to end the fighting and lay the ground for detailed negotiations. Its terms were signed on 9 July and came into effect on 11 July. Negotiations on a settlement, however, were delayed for some months as the British government insisted that the IRA first decommission its weapons, but this demand was eventually dropped. It was agreed that British troops would remain confined to their barracks.
Most IRA officers on the ground interpreted the Truce merely as a temporary respite and continued recruiting and training volunteers. Nor did attacks on the RIC or British Army cease altogether. Between December 1921 and February of the next year, there were 80 recorded attacks by the IRA on the soon to be disbanded RIC, leaving 12 dead. On 18 February 1922,
Ernie O'Malley'sErnie O'Malley was born in Castlebar, County Mayo, Ireland. He 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...
IRA unit raided the RIC barracks at
ClonmelClonmel in County Tipperary is the county seat of South Tipperary County Council. The town lies mainly on the northern bank of the River Suir with a smaller section south of the river. It lies in a valley, surrounded by mountains and hills. The Comeragh Mountains are to the south, while northeast...
, taking 40 policemen prisoner and seizing over 600 weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition. In addition, some IRA units used the truce period as an opportunity to settle old scores. In April 1922, in the
Dunmanway MassacreThe Dunmanway Massacre refers to the killing of ten Protestant men in and around Dunmanway, County Cork, between April 26-28 1922, in a period of truce after the end of the Irish War of Independence and before the outbreak of the Irish Civil War in June 1922. Eight of those killed were informers to...
, an IRA party in Cork killed 10 local Protestants in retaliation for the shooting of one of their men. Those killed were allegedly named in captured British files as informers before the Truce signed the previous July. Over 100 Protestant families fled the area after the killings.
The continuing militancy of many IRA leaders was one of the main factors in the outbreak of the
Irish Civil WarThe 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....
as they refused to accept the
Anglo-Irish TreatyThe 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 de facto Irish Republic that concluded the Irish War of Independence...
that Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith had negotiated with the British.
Treaty, December 1921 – March 1922
Ultimately, the peace talks led to the negotiation of the
Anglo-Irish TreatyThe 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 de facto Irish Republic that concluded the Irish War of Independence...
(1921), which was then ratified in triplicate: by
Dáil Éireannis the principal chamber of the Oireachtas . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the Single Transferable Vote . Its powers are similar to those of lower houses under many other bicameral parliamentary systems and it is...
on 7 January 1922 (so giving it legal legitimacy under the governmental system of the
Irish RepublicThe Irish Republic was a unilaterally declared independent state of Ireland proclaimed in the Easter Rising of 1916 and formally established on 21 January 1919 by Dáil Éireann...
), by the
House of Commons of Southern IrelandThe House of Commons of Southern Ireland was established under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. It was the lower house of parliament of Southern Ireland...
in January 1922 (so giving it constitutional legitimacy according to British theory of who was the legal government in Ireland), and by both Houses of the British parliament.
The treaty allowed
Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and it is 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 had been created by the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, to opt out of the Free State if it wished, which it duly did under the procedures laid down. As agreed, an Irish Boundary Commission was then created to decide on the precise location of the border of the Free State and Northern Ireland. The republican negotiators understood that the Commission would redraw the border according to local nationalist or unionist majorities. Since the 1920 local elections in Ireland had resulted in outright nationalist majorities in
County FermanaghCounty Fermanagh – ) is one of the traditional counties of Ireland. It is located within the province of Ulster and is part of Northern Ireland. As Fermanagh is situated mostly in the basin of the River Erne, it is often referred to as Ireland's Lake District, together with neighbouring County Cavan...
,
County TyroneCounty Tyrone is one of the traditional counties of Ireland. It is located within the province of Ulster and is part of Northern Ireland....
, the City of
DerryDerry or Londonderry often called the Maiden City, is a city in Northern Ireland. It is the second largest city in Northern Ireland and fourth largest city in the island of Ireland...
and in many District Electoral Divisions of
County ArmaghCounty Armagh is one of the traditional counties of Ireland. It is located within the province of Ulster and is part of Northern Ireland. It was named after the town of Armagh....
and
County LondonderryCounty Londonderry or County Derry is one of the traditional counties of Ireland. It is located within the province of Ulster and is part of Northern Ireland. It was named after its main town – and later city and administrative centre – Derry , which lies in the north-western corner of...
(all north and west of the "interim" border), this might well have left Northern Ireland unviable. However, the Commission chose to leave the border unchanged; as a trade-off, the money owed to Britain by the Free State under the Treaty was not demanded.
A new system of government was created for the new Irish Free State, though for the first year two governments co-existed; an
Aireacht answerable to the Dáil and headed by President Griffith, and a Provisional Government nominally answerable to the House of Commons of Southern Ireland and appointed by the Lord Lieutenant. (The complexity of this was even shown in the manner by which
Lord FitzAlanEdmund Bernard FitzAlan-Howard, 1st Viscount FitzAlan of Derwent KG, PC , known as Lord Edmund Talbot between 1876 and 1921, was a British Conservative politician and the last Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.-Background:...
appointed Collins as head of the Provisional Government. In British theory, they met to allow Collins to "
Kiss HandsTo kiss hands is a constitutional term used in the United Kingdom to refer to the formal installation of Crown-appointed British government ministers to their office....
". In republican theory, they met to allow Collins to take the surrender of Dublin Castle.)
Most of the Irish independence movement's leaders were willing to accept this compromise, at least for the time being, though many militant Republicans were not. A majority of the pre-Truce IRA who had fought in the War of Independence, led by
Liam LynchLiam 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:...
, refused to accept the Treaty and in March 1922 repudiated the authority of the Dáil and the new Free State government, which it accused of betraying the ideal of the Irish Republic. The anti-treaty IRA were supported by the former president of the Republic, Eamon de Valera, and ministers Cathal Brugha and Austin Stack.
July 1921 – July 1922
While the fighting in the south was largely ended by the Truce on 11 July 1921, in the north killings continued and actually escalated until the summer of 1922. In Belfast, 16 people were killed in the two days after the truce alone. The violence in the city took place in bursts, as attacks on both Catholics and Protestants were rapidly followed by reprisals on the other community. In this way, 20 people died in street fighting and assassinations in north and west Belfast over 29 August to 1 September 1921 and another 30 from 21–25 November. Loyalists had by this time taken to firing and throwing bombs randomly into Catholic areas and the IRA responded by bombing trams which took Protestant workers to their places of employment.
Moreover, despite the Dail's acceptance of the
Anglo-Irish TreatyThe 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 de facto Irish Republic that concluded the Irish War of Independence...
in January 1922, which confirmed the future existence of Northern Ireland, there were clashes between the IRA and British forces along the new border from early 1922. In part, this reflected Michael Collins' view that the Treaty was a tactical move, or "stepping stone", rather than a final settlement. A number of IRA men were arrested in
DerryDerry or Londonderry often called the Maiden City, is a city in Northern Ireland. It is the second largest city in Northern Ireland and fourth largest city in the island of Ireland...
when they travelled there as part of the
MonaghanMonaghan are also shite.The Monaghan County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Monaghan GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Monaghan and the Monaghan inter-county football and hurling teams...
Gaelic footballGaelic football , commonly referred to as "Football" , "Gaelic" or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...
team. In retaliation, Michael Collins had forty-two loyalists taken hostage in Fermanagh and Tyrone. Right after this incident, a group of B-Specials were confronted by an IRA unit at
ClonesClones is a small town in western County Monaghan, in the border area of Ireland. The area is part of the Border, Midlands and Western region, earmarked for economic development by the Irish government due to its currently below average economic situation...
in Southern territory, who demanded that they surrender. The IRA unit's leader was shot dead and a gun battle broke out, in which four Special Constables were killed. The withdrawal of British troops from Ireland was temporarily suspended as a result of this event. Despite the setting up of a Border Commission to mediate between the two sides in late February, the IRA raided three British barracks along the border in March. All of these actions provoked retaliatory killings in Belfast. In the two days after the Fermanagh kidnappings, 30 people lost their lives in the city, including six Catholic children who were killed by a Loyalist bomb on Weaver Street. In March, 60 died in Belfast, including six members of the Catholic McMahon family, who were targeted for assassination by members of the Special Constabulary in revenge for the IRA killing of two policemen (See
McMahon MurdersThe McMahon Murders occurred on 24 March 1922 in Belfast, Northern Ireland when six Catholic civilians were shot dead and two injured by members of the Ulster Special Constabulary or Royal Irish Constabulary . The dead were aged between 15 and 50 and all but one were members of the McMahon family....
). In April, another 30 people died in the Northern capital, including another so called 'uniform attack', the
Arnon Street MassacreThe Arnon Street Massacre or Arnon Street Murders took place on 1 April 1922 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Six Catholic civilians were killed in a reprisal attack by Ulster Special Constabulary officers, in retaliation for the Irish Republican Army 's killing of one of their...
, when five Catholics were killed by uniformed policemen..
Winston Churchill arranged a meeting between Collins and
James CraigJames Craig may refer to:* James Craig , Scottish architect* James Henry Craig , British military officer and colonial administrator of The Canadas...
on 21 January 1922 and the southern boycott of Belfast goods was lifted but then re-imposed after several weeks. The two leaders had several further meetings, but despite a joint declaration that "Peace is declared" on 30 March, the violence continued.
Failed IRA offensive
From April to June 1922, Collins launched a clandestine guerilla IRA offensive against Northern Ireland. By this time, the IRA was split over the
Anglo-Irish TreatyThe 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 de facto Irish Republic that concluded the Irish War of Independence...
, but both pro and anti-treaty units were involved in the operation. Arms sent by the British to arm the new
Irish ArmyThe Irish Army is the main branch of the Irish Defence Forces . It was first formed in 1922 after the implementation of the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the subsequent foundation of the Irish Free State...
were in fact given to IRA units and their weapons were sent to the North. However, the offensive, launched with a series of IRA attacks in the North on 17–19 May, ultimately proved a failure. On 22 May, after the assassination of unionist politician
William TwaddellWilliam John Twaddell was a Unionist politician from Belfast.Twaddell was a draper from Belfast who was educated at a Belfast primary school....
, 350 IRA men were arrested in Belfast, crippling its organisation there. The largest single clash came in June, when British troops had to use artillery to dislodge an IRA unit from the village of
PettigoPettigo is a small picturesque village on the border of County Donegal and County Fermanagh. It is bisected by the Termon River which forms the border between Donegal in the Republic of Ireland and Fermanagh in Northern Ireland...
, killing seven, wounding six and taking four prisoners. This was the last major confrontation between the IRA and British forces in the period 1919–1922. The cycle of sectarian atrocities against civilians however continued into June 1922. May saw 75 people killed in Belfast and another 30 died there in June. Several thousand Catholics fled the violence and sought refuge in
GlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
and
DublinDublin is the largest city and capital of Ireland. It is officially known in Irish as Baile Átha Cliath or Áth Cliath ; the English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning "black pool". It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the...
. On 17 June, in revenge for the killing of two Catholics,
Frank AikenFrank Aiken was a commander of the Irish Republican Army and later senior Irish politician. A founding-member of Fianna Fáil, Aiken was first elected to Dáil Éireann in 1923 and at each subsequent election until 1973...
's IRA unit killed six Protestant civilians in Altnaveigh, south Armagh.
Michael Collins held the British general
Henry Hughes WilsonField Marshal Sir Henry Hughes Wilson, 1st Baronet, GCB, DSO, was an Anglo-Irish field marshal and Conservative Party politician. Wilson was assassinated by two Irish Republican Army gunmen in 1922.-Early career:...
responsible for the attacks on Catholics in the north and had him killed in June 1922, an event that inadvertently helped to trigger the
Irish Civil WarThe 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....
(Winston Churchill insisted after the killing that Collins take action against the Anti-Treaty IRA, whom he assumed to be responsible). The outbreak of the civil war in the South ended the violence in the North, as the war demoralised the IRA in the northeast and distracted the attention of the rest of the organisation from the question of partition. After Collins' death in August 1922, the new Irish Free State quietly ended his overt violent aggression towards Northern Ireland.
The violence in the north fizzled by late 1922, the last reported killing of the conflict in what was now Northern Ireland took place on 5 October.
Casualties
The total number killed in the guerrilla war of 1919-21 between Republicans and British forces in what became the
Irish Free StateThe 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....
came to over 1,400. Of these, 363 were police personnel, 261 were from the regular British Army, about 550 were IRA volunteers (including 24 official executions), and about 200 were civilians. Some other sources give higher figures.
On 21 November 1921 the British army held a memorial service for its dead, of all ranks, of which it counted 162 up to the 1921 Truce and 18 killed afterwards.
557 people died in political violence in what would become Northern Ireland between July 1920 and July 1922. This death toll is usually counted separately from the southern casualties, as many of these deaths took place after the 11 July truce that ended fighting in the rest of Ireland. Of these deaths, between 303 and 340 were Catholic civilians, 35 were IRA men, between 172 and 196 were Protestant civilians and 82 were British forces personnel (38 were RIC and 44 were Ulster Special Constables). The majority of the violence took place in Belfast: 452 people were killed there - 267 Catholics and 185 Protestants.
Irish nationalists have argued that this northern violence represented a
pogromA pogrom is a form of riot directed against a particular group, whether ethnic, religious, or other, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes, businesses, and religious centers...
against their community as 58% of the victims were Catholics, even though Catholics were only around 35% of the population. Historian of the period Alan Parkinson has suggested that the term 'pogrom' is 'unhelpful and misleading in explaining the events of the period' as the violence was not state directed or one sided..
Evacuation of British forces 1922
By October 1921 the British army in Ireland numbered 57,000 men, along with 14,200 RIC police and some 2,600 auxiliaries and Black and Tans. The long-planned evacuation from dozens of barracks in what the army called "Southern Ireland" started on 12 January 1922, following the ratification of the Treaty and took nearly a year, organised by
General MacreadyGeneral Sir Cecil Frederick Nevil Macready, 1st Baronet, GCMG, KCB, PC , known as Sir Nevil Macready and affectionately as Make-Ready , was a British Army officer...
. It was a huge logistical operation, but within the month Dublin Castle and Beggar's Bush barracks were transferred to the Provisional Government. The RIC last paraded on 4 April and was formally disbanded on 31 August. By the end of May the remaining forces were concentrated on Dublin, Cork and Kildare. Tensions that led to the Irish Civil War were evident by then and evacuation was suspended. By November about 6,600 soldiers remained in Dublin at 17 locations. Finally on 17 December 1922 the Royal Barracks (now the
National Museum of IrelandThe National Museum of Ireland is the national museum in Ireland. It has three branches in Dublin and one in County Mayo, with a strong emphasis on Irish art, culture and natural history. The Director of the National Museum is Dr...
) was transferred to General
Richard MulcahyRichard James Mulcahy was an Irish politician, army general and commander in chief, leader of Fine Gael and Cabinet Minister...
and the garrison embarked at Dublin Port that evening.
Independence and the Irish Civil War
While the violence in the North was still raging, the South of Ireland was pre-occupied with the split in the Dáil and in the IRA over the treaty. In April 1922, an executive of IRA officers repudiated the treaty and the authority of the Provisional Government which had been set up to administer it. These Republicans held that the Dáil did not have the right to dis-establish the Irish Republic. A hardline group of Anti-Treaty IRA men occupied several public buildings in Dublin in an effort to bring down the treaty and re-start the war with the British. There were a number of armed confrontations between pro and anti-treaty troops before matters came to a head in late June 1922. Desperate to get the new Irish Free State off the ground and under British pressure, Michael Collins attacked the anti-treaty militants in Dublin, causing fighting to break out around the country.
The subsequent
Irish Civil WarThe 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....
lasted until mid-1923 and cost the lives of many of the leaders of the independence movement, notably the head of the Provisional Government
Michael CollinsMichael Collins was an Irish revolutionary leader, Minister for Finance and MP 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...
, ex minister
Cathal BrughaCathal 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, or Speaker, of Dáil Éireann.-Background:Brugha was born in Dublin of mixed Irish Catholic and Irish Protestant parentage...
, and anti-treaty Republicans
Harry BolandHarry Boland was an Irish nationalist of the early Twentieth century.-Early life:Boland was born in Phibsboro, Dublin on 27 April, 1887...
,
Rory O'ConnorRory O'Connor was an Irish republican activist. He is best remembered for his role in the Irish Civil War 1922-1923, which led to his execution.-Background:...
,
Liam MellowsLiam Mellows , often spelled 'Liam Mellowes', was an Irish Nationalist and Sinn Féin politician. Born in England, Mellows grew up in County Wexford in Ireland. He was active with the IRB and Irish Volunteers, and participated in the Easter Rising in County Galway, and the War of Independence...
,
Liam LynchLiam 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:...
and many others: total casualties have never been determined but were perhaps higher than those in the earlier fighting against the British. President
Arthur GriffithArthur 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:Arthur Griffith was born at 61 Upper...
also died of a stroke during the conflict.
Following the deaths of Griffith and Collins, W. T. Cosgrave became head of government. On 6 December 1922, following the coming into legal existence of the
Irish Free StateThe 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....
, W. T. Cosgrave became
President of the Executive CouncilThe 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...
, the first internationally recognised head of an independent Irish government.
The civil war ended in mid-1923 in defeat for the anti-treaty side.
Compensation
The Irish Free State government subsequently passed a 1923 Compensation Act, to cover losses including:
...any injury whether to property or person committed in Ireland during the period between the twenty-first day of January, nineteen hundred and nineteen, and the eleventh day of July, nineteen hundred and twenty-one, both inclusive.
This was amplified in December 1925 to include some British costs:
The Irish Free State hereby assumes all liability undertaken by the British Government in respect of malicious damage done since the twenty-first day of January, nineteen hundred and nineteen, to property in the area now under the jurisdiction of the Parliament and Government of the Irish Free State, and the Government of the Irish Free State shall repay to the British Government, at such time or times and in such manner as may be agreed upon, moneys already paid by the British Government in respect of such damage, or liable to be so paid under obligations already incurred.
Memorial
A memorial called the
Garden of RemembranceThe Garden of Remembrance is a memorial garden in Dublin dedicated to the memory of "all those who gave their lives in the cause of Irish Freedom"...
was erected in Dublin in 1966, on the fiftieth anniversary of the
Easter RisingThe Easter Rising , was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing the Irish Republic...
. The date of signing of the truce is commemorated by the
National Day of CommemorationIn the Republic of Ireland, the National Day of Commemoration commemorates all Irish men and women who died in past wars or on service with the United Nations. It occurs on the Sunday nearest July 11 , the anniversary of the date in 1921 that a truce was signed ending the Irish War of Independence...
, when all those Irish men and women who fought in wars in specific armies (e.g., the Irish unit(s) fighting in the British Army in 1916 at the Battle of the Somme) are commemorated.
Films, Music and television
- 1996 – Michael Collins
Michael Collins is a 1996 historical biopic about General Michael Collins, the Irish patriot and revolutionary who died in the Irish Civil War. It won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.-Plot:...
- 2001 – Rebel Heart
Rebel Heart is a 2001 British television drama miniseries starring James D'Arcy as the fictional Ernie Coyne, an Irish nationalist. It is in four parts, and set during the Irish War of Independence from 1916 until the end of the Civil War. Michael Collins was idolised by Ernie, and was...
- 2006 – The Wind That Shakes the Barley
The Wind That Shakes the Barley is a 2006 Ken Loach film set during the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War...
External links