|
The Tan War
|
|
|
The brand new breed of Republican politicians elected in 1918 were set to have the stage and the limelight. The Irish people had elected their first Dail and they would respect and obey their laws, England was muted. She had just barely won a war, with American help, when there was an ominous loud knock on the back door. Her peace was shattered at Soloheadbeg. Nine Volunteers ambushed a patrol of R.I.C. who were escorting a cart which contained a load of gelignite. When called upon to surrender, two of the R.I.C. men raised their rifles, went down on one knee and prepared to fire. The Volunteers fired first and the two policemen were mortally wounded. The remainder of the escort fled, leaving the gelignite behind. This action was not welcomed by the leaders of the Irish political side and Volunteer Headquarters was upset too, because the action at Soloheadbeg was absolutely unofficial. Nevertheless, it set the pattern for the type of warfare which Ireland's fighting army was to develop in the coming two years. Despite the displeasure, there was no denying — the War of Independence was on. Armed attacks on the R.I.C. became more frequent and larger numbers of Volunteers became involved. The attacks on barracks were mostly in rural areas. The tactic was to drive the Constabulary into the towns so that the Volunteer Movement would control the whole of rural Ireland. In this they were very successful for as soon as a barracks was vacated it was burned to the ground with no hope of being re-occupied. Meanwhile the Dail began to function. The Volunteer Organisation recognised Dail Eireann as the lawful government of Ireland and came directly under the control of the Dail Minister for Defence. He took full responsibility for the military actions of the Volunteers. From then onwards they were known as the Irish Republican Army, or I.R.A. Each officer and volunteer now took an Oath of Allegiance to the Government of the Irish Republic. The Minister for Home Affairs, Austin Stack, proceeded to set up Republican Courts, mostly in areas from which the R.I.C. had been ejected. A Republican Police Force was founded, drawn from local I.R.A. Companies and by the end of the year the British legal system — now aged 700 years — had broken down to such an extent that even those who opposed the Republic were taking their civil actions into Republican Courts. As the year ended the I.R.A. was re-organised along certain lines. In each brigade area, Flying Columns of 100 to 150 men became full-time soldiers who, after intensive training, moved and attacked over a wide area. They hit hard and retired speedily and inflicted heavy casualties. In the cities smaller units appeared, known as A.S.U. or Active Service Units. These were also full-time soldiers. TOP Early 1920, England had a full scale war to deal with. She was no longer fighting a handful of rebels but the united might of a nation; soldiers backed by people. To her eternal discredit she accepted the challenge. Tlie fact th it her own army was depleted, that the survivors were disgruntled did not deter her or delay the retaliation. Over the next two years horrific crimes and murders were committed in the name of law and order. The role of dishonour was her mantle and the Roll of Honour was our inheritance. 1920 With hindsight, it is clear and should have been clear to the British Cabinet, that the lemming-like forward thrust of the spirit of Republicanism could not be halted. The seeds sown by the Fenians, nurtured by the I.R.B. and now being harvested by the I.R.A. had weathered all the measures and all the forces levelled against them. Unfortunately, and it has been said many times, they never learn; they never bothered to learn, but with foolhardiness born of centuries of empire superiority continued to hope the problem would go away. Unfortunately also, their measures resulted in our Roll of Honour being horribly extended. 1920 was no exception. It was the year of the knock on the door; the year of terror; of pitiful, grief-stricken parents, the hunters and the hunted. TOP The Irish Republican Army was having such great military success that on May 11th a British Cabinet meeting was attended by General Macready and they decided to send eight further battalions of regular troops to Ireland. Two days later it was further announced that an entirely new force was being organised to assist the Law. They were described as "Auxiliaries to the Police" and were mainly ex-army officers who had seen service in World War I. Their wages were to be £1 per day all found and it was specifically laid down that they were not amenable to military discipline. In other words "the Auxies" were given full licence in trying to subdue the rebel Irish. The bottom of the barrel was really scraped. A third type of force was to be sent over. Advertisements appeared in English newspapers calling for recruits for the Royal Irish Constabulary and, as a result, many with criminal records applied and were accepted. Cell doors were left open so that new recruits could walk into the new force. When they arrived in Ireland they were dressed in a most peculiar way. They had been recruited so hurriedly that it was impossible to have new R.I.C. uniforms ready for them all. So some of them wore a policeman's coat and army trousers whilst others wore a soldier's tunic to match a policeman's black trousers. As a result of their odd dress the Irish people quickly christened them "the Black and Tans" — and by that name they languish in history as the most unscrupulous, vicious terrorists of all time. The records speak for themselves and the stories that follow are testimony to the suffering that went with the successes of the Four Glorious Years. As the year 1920 closed, the British Parliament passed the Government of Ireland Act which provided for Partition. There was to be a Crown Colony Government in Belfast to govern six Ulster counties and a Dominion Government in Dublin. The Act became law on December 23rd, and four days later another Act was passed making it a capital offence for any Irish person to be found in possession of arms or to take part in any armed activity against the Crown. They still had not learned. Meanwhile, the nation was faced with more intensive warfare in the opening months of 1921. TOP 1921 Just six months more of determined and bitter fighting and then — a Truce. At least 20 Republican soldiers were executed for being found in arms against the Crown Forces. Raids, burning and arrests continued. At Crossbarry in Cork, on March 19, British troops travelling in lorries were ambushed. The I.R.A. lost three dead and four wounded while the enemy lost 35 men. There were successful ambushes in Co. Mayo and Co. Longford and Fermoy Barracks was captured and stripped of arms and ammunitions. The most outstanding leaders of the period were Tom Barry of Cork, Liam Lynch, O.C. of Southern Divisions, Sean McKeown in Longford/Westmeath, Tom McGuire in Co. Mayo, Sean Treacy of Co. Tipperary and Humphrey Murphy in Co. Kerry. The biggest operation of the year, however, was the burning of the Dublin Custom House by the Dublin Brigade of the I.R.A. The main object was to paralyse British Administration in this country. The Local Government Board had been embarrassed for over eighteen months by the refusal of Local Bodies to recognise its authority and its own little contribution to the British war effort was, to make its records available to Military Intelligence. Funds were withheld from recalcitrant Councils and Republican representatives were subjected to raids and arrest. The L.G. Board records and the files of two taxing departments were completely destroyed. One direct result of the operation was that the British Government decided to sue for a Truce and by so doing to recognise the Irish Republican Army as a belligerent fighting force, lawfully entitled to wage war. But before conceding they tried one more gambit. Elections were called for the two partitioned parliaments. Briefly, what came to be known as "The Partition Election" backfired, and with the return of unopposed Republican candidates in every constituency to the Second Dail Eireann, it was no less than a clear endorsement by the Irish people of their earlier verdict — Sinn Fein was still the dominant political force in Ireland. Meanwhile, secret negotiations were taking place to bring about a Truce. July 11, at noon, the terms were agreed. They were as follows: TOP "On behalf of the British Army it is agreed as follows:
Note: There are other details connected with courts martial, motor permits and R.C.I.R. to be agreed later. On behalf of the Irish Army it is agreed that:
Ireland's four glorious years had ended. The nation's hopes were high. Their unity and resolve were superb. They had stood the test without knowing, of course, of the dark and evil days ahead, when brother would fight brother because compromise supplanted resolve as a weapon.
|
|
|