Following on from the Peoples Democracy march of 1st January 1969 from Belfast to Derry and the subsequent rioting in the Bogside and other towns in Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association and...
20th Century Period of Ireland
Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association Action & Reaction
Following the formation of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) in 1967, the reaction of the Unionist Government was quick and predictably negative. Terence O’ Neill, the aristocratic prime minister of...
Founding of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Movement
The “zeitgeist” of the 1960s can best be described as the demand for freedom, equality, and justice. In Czechoslovakia, the streets of Paris, the Southern States of the USA, South Africa, Algeria, and many other places...
John Hume: The Visionary Leader Who Championed Non-Violence in Politics
John Hume (1937-2020) was an Irish politician, civil rights leader, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who played a key role in the Northern Ireland peace process. He was born in the city of Derry and was educated at St....
Formation of An Garda Síochána in 1922
Prior to the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921, Ireland was policed by the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) and Dublin Metropolitan Police. Needless to say, due to their loyalty to the old British regime and their association with the Auxiliaries and...
The Irish Civil War (1922-1923)
With the ratification of the Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921 by Dáil Éireann, albeit by a very small majority, the seeds of the civil war were sown. The Treaty accepted the de facto partition of Ireland into a 26 county Free State with Dominion status and a 6 county...
General Eoin O'Duffy (1892-1944)
Eoin O'Duffy was born in Ulster, near Castleblaney in County Monaghan. Trained initially as an engineer he later became an auctioneer. He became interested in Irish politics and joined Sinn Féin, later becoming a member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). During the...
The Anglo-Irish Treaty (1921)
The Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed on 6 December 1921 in London between the British government and an Irish delegation. The agreement marked the end of the Irish War of independence that had started in 1919. Before the Anglo-Irish Treaty In 1920, during the War of...
Éamon de Valera - Irish President
Éamon de Valera is the man who, more than anyone else, determined Ireland’s fate and character for most of the 20th century. He was an enigmatic character, some would say cold and aloof but undoubtedly charismatic, who rose from very humble beginnings to become...
The Partition of Ireland
The British had hoped that the Government of Ireland Act of 1920 would lead to the end of the war on the island of Ireland. As it stood the act was not acceptable to either the Republican or the Unionists of Ireland. The republican and nationalist majority in Ireland...
Government of Ireland Act 1920
By the late 1920's Ireland was in a state of disarray from the Irish war of independence. The British forces of the Royal Irish Constabulary along with the Black and Tans and the retaliated against the IRA and Sinn Féin. In Ulster, the IRA were not only fighting the...
Bloody Sunday of 1920
Bloody Sunday occurred in Dublin on 21 November 1920 and would mark a turning point for the War of Independence leaving 31 people dead in a single day. This would become an important event in the military struggle between the IRA and the British armed forces in...
The forming of the Black & Tans
The Royal Irish Constabulary Special Reserve was formed in 1920 and was the official name for the Black & Tans. Former British soldiers were mostly recruited to join the Black & Tans to provide reinforcements to the Royal Irish Constabulary. When Sinn Féin...
Kevin Barry (1902 - 1920) - A Teenage Volunteer
In October 1917 a young boy of fifteen years put himself forward to fight for the freedom of Ireland with the Irish Republican Army (IRA). His name was Kevin Barry and it would be a name that would echo through the years that followed his story. As like many other...
The Battle of the Somme
On 1 July 1916, the Battle of the Somme began with the expectation of bringing the First World War to an end. It became a huge military engagement with over three million men engaged in battle throughout the summer, autumn and winter of 1916. The beginning of the...
Sinking of RMS Leinster In The Irish Sea
On 10 October 1918, the RMS Leinster set sail from Carlisle Pier, Kingstown (now called Dún Laoghaire) in County Dublin bound for Holyhead in Wales. The ship was torpedoed by the German UB-123 submarine making it the biggest loss of life in the Irish sea. The...