Ireland's OWN: History

 

A Brief History of the Irish Republican Army* —by Michealin Dhochartaigh,  K Mc Gorrian & BG Oh Anluian  The goal of the United Irishmen of the 1790s was to achieve equality and freedom for the people of Ireland. Initially choosing  non-violent means to achieve their goals, they took up arms after being met time and time again with repressive measures from the British government. Armed uprisings against British rule occurred in 1798, 1803, 1848, and 1867; yet the British government continuously denied demands for legislative independence. Then came the Irish Holocaust (AKA the Irish Famine) in which between 1845 and 1852 at least a million people died of starvation and a million more emigrated to America, Australia, and Canada. The Holocaust was followed by the Fenian Movement. In 1867, the Fenians staged a rebellion that only lasted a few  months. The last of the Fenians was Jeremiah O' Donavan  Rossa, and it was at his graveside oration that Padraig Pearse said, "The fools, the fools, the fools, they have left us our Fenian dead, but while Ireland holds these graves, Ireland unfree shall never be at peace." Forty-nine years then passed before Irish Nationalists attempted another armed resistance. Those 49 years, however, were an intense political period in which the overwhelming  majority of the Irish people continued to express their desire for independence and sought to do so via democratic means; but legislation for Home Rule was defeated in the British parliament in 1886 and again 1893. During this period, the unionists and conservatives organised the importation of arms illegally and pledged to resist Home Rule by force -- thus, the birth of the ulster volunteer force (UVF) in 1913. The formation of Oglaigh Na hEireann followed. The literal meaning of the term when directly translated from Gaeilge to English is "Irish Volunteers" (soldiers). They were the Irish Republican Brotherhood, later to be known as the Irish Republican Army.1 Their counterpart, the chief Irish separatist movement in the US, was Clan na Gael, headed by John DeVoy.2 Clan na Gael had formed during the American Civil War and had even tried to invade Canada to secure a land for the Irish. In 1914 the UVF was allowed to import arms unhindered by the brits; yet, when Oglaigh Na hEireann imported a much smaller quantity of arms, crown forces viciously attacked them. The Easter Rising of 1916 is regarded by many as the defining event in the history of Irish Republicanism, with the Proclamation of the Republic issued then as the founding document of the IRA. It declared an independent Republic and pledged Republicans to "equal rights and equal opportunities" for all the Irish people. Sadly, the Easter Rising was crushed within a week, with sixteen of its leaders executed by the British government. In 1918 the threat of impending conscription for brit forces in WWI was hanging over the Irish, and by 1919 a widespread and effective guerrilla campaign began. In 1919 Sinn F�in established an independent Irish parliament -- Dail Eireann -- and declared sovereignty of Ireland as a Republic. The Irish Volunteers became the Army of the Republic, under the Ministry of Defence. The response from the British government was to ban all of these  institutions and declare war on the new Irish democracy. Martial law was declared; streets, shops and factories in many towns were burnt down; there were executions in prisons and torture in internment camps. In response the IRA waged another effective guerrilla campaign.  The guerrilla tactics used at this time later became classic examples of guerrilla warfare. Then in 1921, on the basis of agreement by the British government to negotiate with Irish leaders, the IRA called a truce. However, subsequent negotiations produced a Treaty that split Nationalist Ireland.  A Civil War  followed  between the "regulars" and the "irregulars." The "regulars" were the pro-treaty forces also known as freestaters. The "irregulars" were the anti-treaty forces known as republicans -- almost all the fighting took place in Dublin. One of the first acts of the war was the shelling of the fourcourts, which had been taken over by the "irregulars" led by Rory O Connor. After the assassination of Sir Henry Wilson in London, Lloyd George (brit PM at the time ) demanded action against the "irregulars"; and it was Michael Collins who shelled them out. In May 1923 the Civil War ended.  However, it was not until 1939, that the IRA began a bombing campaign in english cities. This was effectively over by 1941, with relatively few attacks having occurred. By 1945 the IRA was a scattered and depleted army, although some units existed independently. Ex-Republicans of Fianna Fail (FF) had helped deplete the IRA of the 1940s. One ex-IRA FF minister Kevin Boland stated that �the IRA was dead and that he had killed it.� And whereas the noted IRA execution of that time was Tom Williams in the north, FF executed 6 in the south. With the execution of the Chief of Staff in 1944, Charlie Kerins, there was no longer a C/S, Army Council, Executive or GHQ Staff. During this time, however, Cathal Goulding was instrumental in reorganising the IRA. And, S�an Garland was an Active Service Volunteer, along with Daithi O Connell, et al., during the 1957 Brookeborough RUC Barracks attack in 1957 (the night South and Oh Anluian died). During the next 30 years, the IRA were a small and ill-armed unit of men and women, dedicated to the ideal of a 32-county  Ireland and the removal of British presence in the north of Ireland; but since the border campaign of the late 50s and early 60s, the IRA existed in name only. They were politically naive in many ways. Their arms (what little they had to start with) were almost totally depleted (and at one stage it was considered more important to save the weapons rather than the volunteers, if the case arose). The right to bear arms against an oppressive regime, like that in the north of Ireland, was the only perspective to which they held credence. But their political naivete, more so among the "ground troops," served as bond between them, and the lack of "in house" bickering was unheard of for the most part. By the early '70s, the emergence of a more formidable and politically aware republican movement, led by Joe Cahill, Seamus Twomey, Ruairi O Bradaigh, and Daithi O Connell on the political front, and up and coming young militarists like Cathal Goulding, Joe Mc Cann, and Sean MacStiofain, created a split within the republican movement as to which direction they should go politically. The split saw the birth of what  is now known as the PROVISIONAL IRA (PIRA), and those opposed to the change as the OFFICIAL IRA (OIRA) or "Stickies"; but both claimed the title Oglaigh Na hEireann when carrying out acts of war or the releasing press statements. Joe Mc Cann, along with Cathal Goulding, stayed within the OIRA. Sean MacStiofain became Chief of staff of the Reorganised IRA led by the "Provisional" Army Council in 1969/70. He remained C/S until 1972/3. Some believe that the OIRA arms cache was seized in the early '70s by the People's Liberation Army, a forerunner of the IRISH  NATIONAL LIBERATION ARMY (INLA) and IRISH REPUBLICAN SOCIALIST PARTY (IRSP).  However, the OIRA continues to exist. It has some strength in parts of Belfast and in Newry. Following the Sticky Ceasefire in 1972, OIRA continued to carry out operations in a clandestine manner to appease the militant. It murdered many ex-members some of whom had gone over to the INLA, such as Hugh Ferguson, and in 1977 most notably Seamus "The Boy General" Costello. As late as 1982 there were militants on the Stick�s GHQ pushing for a PEOPLES WAR. The last Sticky-IRSP defections are believed to have taken place at that time, including senior ex-Stick military men. In 1986, the republican movement also took another turn in which, as a result of policy differences, Ruair� � Bradaigh walked out of the Sinn F�in Ard Fheis.  Along with O Bradaigh, went  people who had been with the republican movement a long time, and regarded the change of policy as a betrayal of party policy in regard to taking seats in elections (the Abstensionist Policy). Ruairi O Bradaigh went on to form REPUBLICAN SINN FEIN, and it had been suggested by the media that the Continuity IRA (CIRA) was the military wing of RSF. The CIRA was first heard of in 1996, when a bomb in Enniskillen exploded at the Kilyhelvin hotel. To date, most of their efforts to carry out explosions, either in Britain or in the North of Ireland have been thwarted by the Special branch (police force) in the republic, the RUC in the north, and the anti-terrorist squad in Britain, resulting in several arrests including some (thought to be) key figures within the movement. The existence of the OIRA was again highlighted at the 1992 WORKERS PARTY Ard Fheis, which led to the split that spawned the "Democratic Left." Senior Party members who went over to the Democratic Left claimed that they only found out the morning of the Ard Fheis that OIRA still existed! There was a split in 1997/8 between the rump still loyal to OIRA Chief of Staff Cathal Goulding, et al., and a splinter group: THE OFFICIAL REPUBLICAN MOVEMENT. On 20th July 1997, the PIRA called a ceasefire which to date has been upheld, but the cessation of an armed struggle against the British forces caused a certain amount of dissension within the ranks of the PIRA. Those opposed to the ceasefire were thought to have included the Quarter Master General (the person responsible for weapons, etc.) of the PIRA, a prominent SF councillor, and a few well-known and publicized names. Their formation of a group calling itself the �32 County Sovereignty Movement� is widely believed to be the political wing of �glaigh Na h�ireann (the name they adopted) but better known as the REAL IRA (RIRA). Their opposition to the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) and the PIRA's cessation of an armed struggle made headlines on 15 Aug 1998, when in the market town of Omagh in County Tyrone, they exploded a bomb. Video footage of the incident shows the BA/RUC moving people into rather than away from the danger, thus killing 29 people and injuring hundreds. They subsequently declared a ceasefire. Footnotes: 1 Republican guerrilla armies can effectively, and do, refer to their armies as Oglaigh Na hEireann. Ironically, the Freestate Army also calls itself Oglaigh Na hEireann! 2 Clan na Gael is a fraternal/paternal organization, much like its predecessors -- the Fenian Brotherhood and the Emmet Monument Association. * Note: This article was orginally written in 1998; it was slightly revised in 2000.  Yet much has changed since then. On 23 October 2001, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) surrendered its weapons to the occupied forces. The occupied forces remain armed. The struggle continues for real republicans. --md (dawn)   See Also: The Birth of the Provisionals Page updated 20 Jul 2008 Ireland's OWN Logo by Eamann Website Design and Celtic Background by Míchealín Daugherty Copyright © 2008 Ireland's OWN All Rights Reserved.