Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) of 1922–1969, an anti-Treaty sub-group of the original Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), fought against the British-backed Irish Free State in the Irish Civil War, and its successors up to 1969, when the IRA split again into the Provisional IRA and Official IRA. The original Irish Republican Army fought a guerrilla war against British rule in Ireland in the Irish War of Independence between 1919 and 1921. Following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty on 6 December 1921, the IRA in the 26 counties that were to become the Irish Free State split between supporters and opponents of the Treaty. The anti-Treatyites, sometimes referred to by Free State forces as "Irregulars",A continued to use the name "Irish Republican Army" (IRA) or in Irish Óglaigh na hÉireann, as did the organisation in Northern Ireland which originally supported the pro-Treaty side (if not the Treaty).[1][2] Óglaigh na hÉireann was also adopted as the name of the pro-Treaty National Army, and remains the official legal title of the Irish Defence Forces.[3]
Irish Republican Army
(Óglaigh na hÉireann)
March 1922 – December 1969
United Kingdom
Irish Free State (until 1937) Republic of Ireland
Irish Civil War (1922–1923)
IRA Sabotage Campaign (1939–1940)
IRA Northern Campaign (1940–1942)
IRA Border Campaign (1956–1962)
The Troubles (until 1969)
1960s: Marxist tendency and the 1969 split[edit]
In the 1960s the IRA once more came under the influence of left-wing thinkers, especially those such as C. Desmond Greaves and Roy Johnston active in the Connolly Association.[44] In parallel, the position of Chief of Staff became dominated by three left-wing members: Sean Cronin, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh and Cathal Goulding.
Following the failure of the border campaign, the IRA and its allies undertook a serious review of themselves. By 1962 there were two factions in the Republican movement; the "Curragh" faction consisting of older IRA men who had served prison sentences together in the Curragh who favoured traditionalism and now controlled Sinn Féin such as Paddy McLogan, and a faction of younger, left-wing IRA members such as Ruairí Ó Brádaigh and Cathal Goulding who now controlled the IRA Army Council following post-Border campaign elections. The Curragh faction wanted to publicly declare that Sinn Féin had no part in calling off the Border campaign. They were told in stark terms they were to do no such thing, as, besides the fact this would undermine the IRA's decision to end the campaign, Sinn Féin would never have had any influence in the decision regardless, as only the IRA Army Council had the authority to begin or end campaigns. Furthermore, it was made clear by the IRA that, as far as they were concerned, Sinn Féin answered to the IRA, and not the other way around. This hardline stance by the IRA alienated the Curragh faction and many of them, including McLogan and Tony Magan, resigned from Sinn Féin in protest. In their wake, John Joe McGirl proposed Ruairí Ó Brádaigh as the new leader of Sinn Féin and this was accepted. In September 1962 Cathal Goulding succeed Ó Brádaigh as IRA Chief of Staff, leaving the new guard now in control of both Sinn Féin and the IRA.[45]
The move to a class-based political outlook and the consequent rejection of any stance that could be seen as sectarian—including the use of IRA arms to defend one side, that side being the beleaguered Catholic communities of Belfast in the Northern Ireland riots of August 1969—was to be one of the factors in the 1969 split that led to the Provisional IRA wing of the republican movement, with the latter subscribing to a traditional Catholic/nationalist analysis of the situation while the Officials subscribed to the Marxist view that internal strife among the working classes served only the interest of capital.[46] The Irish Department of Justice had noticed the tensions in March 1969 and advised the Dublin government to use them to fragment the IRA.[47]
The Provisional IRA embarked on a thirty-year armed campaign against the British presence in Northern Ireland that claimed 1,707 lives.[48] In 1997 it announced a ceasefire which effectively marked the end of its campaign. In 2005 it formally announced the end of its campaign and destroyed much of its weaponry under international supervision. Today, Sinn Féin, once the political wing of the IRA, is the largest party in both Dáil Éireann and the Northern Ireland Assembly. Its leader, Mary Lou McDonald, is the Leader of the Opposition in Dublin.
The Official IRA mounted their own armed campaign in the Troubles up to 1972, when they called a ceasefire. However, some members engaged in some armed activities until 1979[49] when a decision was made to re-orient the group towards fundraising.[47]