War of Independence

• Starting on 21 January 1919 (same day as the First Dail), when a Royal Irish Constabulary was ambushed in Soloheadbeg. The ambush was not authorised by the Dail. Due to the IVF being infiltrated by the IRB, they were known as the IRA, as declared as the official army by the Dail.
• Methods of the IRA:

  • Guerrilla warfare - a tactic involving hit-and-runs and ambushes. This tactic was used on RIC barracks for arms + ammunition.
  • The Squad - a group of spies in Dublin organised by Michael Collins, that gathered information from a wide range of people. The spies were assassins to killed British detectives.
  • Flying columns - local units consisting of roughly 80, taking part in large ambushes, raiding police stations for arms and were sheltered by locals, making them hard to locate for the British.
• Key events of the War of Independence:

  • 20 March 1920 - British forces murdered the Mayor of Cork, Tomas MacCurtain, who led the Cork Volunteers in the Rising
  • 25 October 1920 - Terence MacSwiney, mayor of Cork after MacCurtain, died in Brixton Prison while on hunger strike
  • 21 November 1920 - The Squad killed 13 British agents in dawn hours. As a reprisal, Auxiliaries entered Croke Park during a Dublin v. Tipperary match and opened fire, killing 12.
  • 25 May 1921 - the IRA burned down Dublin's Customs House, which housed documents for the past few centuries. 80 IRA men were killed/captured.