War of Independence

• Leaders of the 1916 Rising


  • Executed in Kilmainham Gaol
• Two leaders spared execution

  • Countess Markievicz as she was a woman
  • Éamon de Valera as he was born in America
• After the other leaders had been executed

  The public began to support the rebels and people turned against Britain
• Britain blamed Sinn Féin (a political party) for the Rising but they had not taken part whatsoever
• Many members of Sinn Féin who had been wrongly imprisoned were released by the end of 1916
• The following year Éamon de Valera became leader of Sinn Féin and took charge of the Irish Volunteers also
• Michael Collins

  •

  Michael Collins was born in 

  Cork in 1890.

  •

  He was one of the rebels who 

  fought in the GPO during the 

  Easter Rising.

  •

  After the Rising, he was 

  imprisoned in Wales in Frongoch

  Prison with other Irish rebels.

  •

  While there, he trained the 

  rebels in guerrilla warfare –

  fighting involving hit and run.

  •

  Collins was released from prison 

  in December 1916.
• Éamonde Valera

  •

  De Valera was appointed leader of 

  Sinn Féinand the Irish Volunteers.

  •

  When negotiations with Britain and 

  Ireland failed, de Valera continued 

  to resist British rule and was put 

  back into prison in May 1918. He was 

  sent to Lincoln Prison in England. 

  •

  Michael Collins helped him to escape 

  in February 1919.

  •

  A few months later, he travelled to 

  America with the aim of raising 

  money to buy more weapons for the 

  IRA (Irish Republican Army) and to 

  assist with their political wishes.
• The First Dáil

  •

  In December 1918, an election 

  was held in Ireland.

  •

  Sinn Féinwon the majority of 

  seats –73 out of 107.

  •

  The Home Rule Party won six 

  and the Unionists won 26.

  •

  The elected members of Sinn Féin

  refused to go to the Westminster 

  Parliament in London.

  •

  They established their own 

  parliament in Dublin –Dáil

  Éireann.
• War of Independence

  •

  The first Dáilmeeting was the 

  beginning of the War of 

  Independence in Ireland.

  •

  The IRA began to fight the 

  British in Ireland using guerrilla 

  warfare.

  •

  Groups ambushed the British 

  Army and police.

  •

  These groups were known as 

  ‘Flying Columns’ as they moved 

  quickly from place to place and 

  disappeared very quickly after 

  attack.

  •

  Famous leaders of the Flying 

  Columns were Tom Barry (Cork) 

  and Dan Breen (Tipperary).
• Black and Tans

  •

  Britain sent groups of 

  reinforcements to defend their 

  men in Ireland.

  •

  The most well-known of these 

  groups was the ‘Black and Tans’.

  •

  They were named as such as 

  they wore black coats and tan 

  trousers.
• Bloody Sunday

  •

  Sunday 21

  st

  November, 

  1920 became known as 

  Bloody Sunday.

  •

  Michael Collins led a group 

  that killed 14 British agents 

  known as the Cairo Gang.

  •

  In retaliation, the British 

  fired on people at a match 

  in CrokePark.

  •

  14 people were killed and 

  60 injured.

  •

  One of the dead was 

  Michael Hogan, a player 

  from Tipperary.

  •

  The Hogan Stand in Croke

  Park is named after him..
• Partition of Ireland


  The division of Ireland into two separate political entities
• The Partition of Ireland

  1. The British government had decided that enough fighting had taken place and a solution needed to be found

  2. The Government of Ireland Act was established in December 1920

  3. Ireland would have two parliaments –one in Dublin and another in Belfast

  4. The parliament in Belfast would govern the whole of Ulster but the Unionists felt that only six counties should be included –Antrim, Down, Armagh, Fermanagh, Derry and Tyrone

  5. The partition was to separate the Unionists and Nationalists
• The partition caused great upset from both sides
• Counties governed by Britain known as Northern Ireland

  • Antrim
  • Down
  • Armagh
  • Fermanagh
  • Derry
  • Tyrone
• The Beginning of the End 

  •

  A General Election was held in 

  May 1921 in Ireland.

  •

  The Unionists won 40 out of 52 

  seats for the Belfast parliament.

  •

  Sinn Féinwon 128 of the 132 

  seats for the Dublin parliament.

  •

  King George V invited Éamonde 

  Valera to London to talk.

  •

  The IRA were running short on 

  weapons.

  •

  Both agreed that the fighting 

  should stop.

  •

  On July 11

  th

  1921, the IRA and 

  British forces came to a truce and 

  agreed that the war was over.
• The Anglo-Irish Treaty

  •

  In October 1921, a conference was 

  organisedin Downing Street, London 

  between De Valera and the Prime 

  Minster of Britain, Lloyd George.

  •

  De Valera himself did not take part in 

  the negotiations but never gave a 

  concrete reason for this.

  •

  Some people speculated it was because 

  he felt a 32-county republic would 

  never be obtained.

  •

  Two months of negotiations took place 

  between Ireland and Britain.

  •

  Lloyd George eventually threatened war 

  if the Irish delegates did not comply 

  and sign the treaty under his terms.
• The Anglo-Irish Treaty


  An agreement between the British government and Irish representatives that established the Irish Free State in 1922
• Terms of the treaty

  1. The 26 counties of Ireland were to be known as the Free State

  2. The Free State Parliament would be established in Dublin

  3. The Free State would have its own army and police force

  4. The Free State would still remain part of the British Empire

  5. TDs (elected representatives) would have to swear an oath of allegiance to the King or Queen of England

  6. The six counties of Ulster which were partitioned would by governed by a parliament in Belfast, and would be known collectively as Northern Ireland

  7. The ports of Cobh and Berehavenin Cork, and Lough Swillyin Ulster would remain under British control
• Irish public


  Welcomed the idea of the treaty
• Treaty brought before the Dáil in Dublin


  December 16th, 1921
• Treaty discussion


  Discussed for a further three weeks
• De Valera


  Current President of the Dáil, opposed the treaty arguing that Irish independence would be compromised
• Collins


  Argued that the treaty gave Ireland the chance to seek further freedom
• Vote took place


  January 7th
• Vote resulted in a 64 / 57 divide with those in favour of the treaty in majority
• De Valera, along with those opposed to the treaty, walked out
• Arthur Griffith became President of the Dáil
• Collins was appointed the Minister of Finance
• A Divide in Opinion

  •

  On January 15

  th

  1922, British 

  officials began to withdraw 

  from Ireland.

  •

  They left Dublin Castle, where 

  they held office, and power was 

  handed over to Collins.

  •

  Ireland had its own government 

  in Dublin for the first time in 

  more than 100 years.