Irish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence was fought by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) against the British soldiers (known as the Black and Tans because of the colour of their uniform) who were trying to keep Ireland under British control.
The war was fought between 1919 and June 1921. The fighting stopped while a peace treaty was worked out.
Events
The Irish War of Independence began because of the 1916 Easter Rising. During this rebellion, The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) fought British soldiers in Dublin. The IRB wanted Ireland to be its own country and wanted Britain to move its army out of Ireland. IRB members were killed during the rebellion, including 3 who were executed. These executions angered the Irish people, leading many of them to become Republicans. Republicans lived mostly in the south of Ireland. Meanwhile, because of the Ulster Plantations, Ulster was the most unionist part of Ireland. The Unionists wanted to stay under control of the British Government.
In 1917 the IRB was renamed the IRA. The fighting started two years later. By the end of 1919, the IRA had defeated the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), the armed police of the United Kingdom in Ireland, and Ireland had no police forces. In London, the British government began to debate who should rule Ireland.
Peace treaty
The war waged on until 1921, when Irish Sinn Féin leaders and British Members of Parliament made a peace treaty (called the Anglo-Irish Treaty). This treaty created the Irish Free State, which meant that Ireland was given Dominion Status. The treaty gave all the same rights to the Irish government as the Canadian and Australian governments had.
The treaty also gave the Irish Government power of 26 of the 32 counties in the country. The British Government kept the other 6 counties, which were all in Ulster, and formed Northern Ireland.
Irish War Of Independence Media
- 1918 United Kingdom general election (Ireland) map - winning party vote share by constituency.svg
Result of the 1918 UK general election in Ireland
- R.I.C. and military leaving Limerick (18442632000).jpg
RIC and British Army personnel near Limerick, c. 1920
- West Connemara Flying Column 1922.jpg
West Connemara IRA flying column
- Daniel Breen police notice.jpg
Police wanted poster for Dan Breen, one of those involved in the Soloheadbeg Ambush in 1919.
- Active service Unite of the Dublin Brigade.jpg
Wall plaque in Great Denmark Street, Dublin where the Dublin IRA Active Service Unit was founded.
- R.I.C. group with County Inspector Hetreed (26931112476).jpg
A group of RIC officers in 1917
- General Collins.jpg
General Michael Collins inspects a soldier.
- Outside the London and North Western Hotel in Dublin, April 21, 1921.jpg
A group of "Black and Tans" and Auxiliaries in Dublin, April 1921
- Military (6393759933).jpg
British soldiers and relatives of the victims outside Jervis Street Hospital during the military enquiry into the Bloody Sunday shootings at Croke Park
- The Burning of Cork (9713428703).jpg
Aftermath of the burning of Cork by British forces
