Irish Revolution

Most of the tensions between Ireland and the United Kingdom came from several centuries of England trying to gain control over Ireland. In 1169 the Normans invaded Ireland, lead by the exiled Irish king MacMorrough trying to regain his power with the help of Henry II and the blessing of the Pope. After his success, Henry wanted to make sure he didn't have a rival Norman ruler in Ireland and decided to visit Ireland to establish his power. In 1171 Henry would become the first English king to visit Ireland. He proclaimed his son John to the Lord of Ireland, and when John eventually became king, Ireland fell directly under the English crown.

England continued been invading Ireland for centuries before a union was ever considered. In the 13th and 14th century English landowners in Ireland were common, and so, therefore was Irish rebellion. English landowners were loyal to England, and cared nothing about the people of Ireland.

By the 16th century the English had been in Ireland for several generations. Most of them had spent their entire lives in Ireland, surrounded by Irish, and their loyalties had shifted. They now considered themselves to be more Irish than English. The king of England, Henry VIII took it upon himself to reestablish his hold over Ireland.

First he sent English Protestants to Ireland to make their homes. They sailed to Ireland to claim the Irish land for England, and then rent it back to its former Irish owners. This was the beginning of what would be known as the Protestant Ascendancy. English Protestants (also called Anglicans) were made the ruling class by force and by newly established laws, while the Irish Catholics and other non-Anglicans were suppressed into the peasantry.

In 1688 the Glorious Revolution took place in a power struggle between King James II of England (a catholic), and William the Orange. Although the revolution is called bloodless, battles were fought in Ireland. Both near Dublin and Derry, armies battled for over 100 days. Eventually King William's forces would arrive and wipe out their stand. Unfortunately for Ireland this also removed a catholic from the English (and therefore Irish) throne.

The early 18th Century brought a series of "Penal Laws" designed to remove the Catholic population from Ireland by removing their civil rights, right to practice law, hold office, buy land, or even own property valued at over 5 pounds. Since Irish Catholics had no right to vote, they had little say on whom their leaders would be. In addition, any laws that were created in Ireland had to be approved by England before they would become official.

Another problem was that the English now controlled the Irish schools. Since all schools used only the English language, the native Gaelic language was slowly driven out. These effects are still felt today, as fewer and fewer people can actually speak Irish.

Although England chose to deal with the Catholics harshly, not all of the Protestants living in Ireland agreed with them. This was happening at the same time as the American and French Revolutions. The ideals of freedom were becoming global, and England was weakened from the American Revolution. Some saw this as an opportunity for Ireland to gain its Independence.

Henry Gratton was one of the most influential people in Ireland at the time. He was a member of the Irish House of Commons, and is best known for trying to gain legislative freedom for Ireland. At this point in history the Irish Parliament had been given a little more freedom, but it was still populated with corrupt officers planted by the English. Although he was loyal to the English king, he wished to emancipate the Irish Catholics, and give more real power to the Irish parliament.

Gratton's personal opinions were of a less extreme nature, but he soon gained support of more revolutionary people who wanted to rise up against England when Gratton's emancipation proposition was shot down. Gratton continued to warn England of the discontent in Ireland, he was ignored and went into retirement in 1797.

The Society of United Irishmen was a group formed around the same idea as Henry Gratton. They were inspired to bring equality to Ireland and sought parliamentary reform. It was composed of both Catholics and Presbyterians. They rallied around the ideals of Thomas Paine's Rights of Men and wanted basic civil rights for all Irish.

In 1791 an Irishman named Theobald Tone wrote a paper called Argument on Behalf of the Catholics of Ireland telling people that the religious divisions in Ireland were England's way of maintaining power. He called for an end to the divide, and a unity among the people.

The Society of United Irishmen had three resolutions. The first stated that England's hold was far too powerful and that if the Irish wanted their liberties they would need to stand united. The second stated that only by a complete and radical parliamentary reform could the parliament be free of English bias. The third resolution stated that only a reform that includes all religions (not just Catholics) is truly just and right for Ireland.

The Society of United Irishmen (SUI) led an uprising in 1798, however all did not go as planned. At the time England was at war with France, and the SUI kept waiting for French reinforcements. Following the arrest of many of their leaders, they kicked off the fight before the reinforcements arrived. Although they had very little success, their uprising caused England to tighten its grip resulting in the abolishment of their parliament, and the country being brought into the Union.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was officially formed on January 1, 1801. The separate Parliaments of Great Brittan and Ireland were removed in favor of a single parliament called the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The parliament would be held in England where the Irish were left underrepresented. Some Irish thought this was okay at the time, because they expected they would receive Catholic Emancipation as part of the deal. Thinking that the union might actually provide more freedoms for the Catholics in Ireland than the former oppressive parliament, many people supported the union at the time. They were inevitably let down when King George III decided against Catholic Emancipation.

Daniel O'Connell was an Irish barrister. While he wanted to improve Ireland's condition, he was opposed to doing it though violent measures. In the 1810s Daniel O'Connell established the Catholic Board, which did nothing but campaign for the rights of Catholics. He also setup the Catholic Association in 1823 to support all things that would better Irish Catholics. His group charged the small fee of one penny per month, and all the money was used to support the election of pro-emancipation members to Parliament. In 1828 he ran for Parliament due to an election loophole but was unable to actually assume the position in the government. Some say it was because he could not take the Oath of Loyalty but it was rather because he was Catholic and they were still not allowed to serve in Parliament. Fearing another Irish Rebellion if he did not allow O'Connell his position, the King finally agreed to Catholic emancipation in 1829.

O'Connell also tried to organize a repeal of the union made with Great Britain and form an independent Ireland with Queen Victoria serving as both Queen of England and Queen of Ireland. He organized what were known as "monster meetings" getting hundreds of thousands of Irish to rally together to call for home rule. Britain began to get scared of his numbers and threatened to use force against the people if the meetings continued. Ultimately despising violence, the meetings tapered off and O'Connell spent three months in jail for speaking against the crown.

The Great Irish Famine, which is also called The Great Hunger, hit Ireland hard in 1845. Over the next six years Ireland would lose nearly a quarter of its population. A number of factors contributed to the problem. The first and foremost was a failure of the potato crop. A water mold infected the potatoes causing what is commonly called potato blight. At the time when this happened, land had been divided down so much that many Catholics had plots of land so small that the only thing they could grow on their land to yield enough food to feed their families was potatoes. When the crop failed they had nothing to eat.

Even while suffering from famine Ireland was exporting food to England. In previous famines government had imposed an export ban, keeping all of the food grown in Ireland within the Irish borders to help feed the population. Such a ban was not placed on the country during this crisis so although little food was grown some of it was still being shipped out to England.

Because the census was not yet organized and church records are often incomplete it is impossible to say exactly how many died in the famine. While they estimate that nearly a million died of starvation, Ireland also many, many more people due to emigration to the United States, Australia, Canada, and Great Britain.

Another political group was formed around this time called the Young Irelanders. This group was composed of both Protestant and Catholic Irish men who supported an independent Ireland. The group produced a paper called "The Nation" were they continually wrote articles telling the Irish people that an Irish parliament could better aid them though the famine than an English one that didn't have to see their suffering on a daily basis. In response England passed the Coercion Bills that allowed only loyalists the right to own arms in certain areas of Ireland. They also passed The Treason/Felony Act that made the sort of articles written in The Nation illegal.

In July of 1848 several members of the Young Irelanders led a revolt traveling from County Wexford to County Kilkenny to County Tipperary. While in a village called The Commons, one of the leaders, O'Brien, was suppose to be arrested. Local people had erected barricades to prevent his arrest. When the police came to arrest him they saw what was ahead of them and turned away in fear. They took refuge in the house of Mrs. McCormack, a widow with six children. They pointed guns out the windows and held the children hostage.

Eventually O'Brian along with the children's mother talked to some guards though the window. He told them that "We are all Irishmen-give up your guns and you are free to go" and shook hands though the window with some of the men. Elsewhere another man fired on O'Brian while he negotiated.

Angry at the unprovoked attack, the rebels fired back. The firing continued for hours. Eventually a local clergyman, Rev. Philip Fitzgerald, would mediate for peace. In the long run their actions did more harm than anything else. This uprising was the end of the Young Irelanders and the end of the hopes of repealing the Union anytime soon.

In addition to independence, people wanted better living conditions in Ireland. One organization formed for just this reason was the Irish National Land League. Their aim was to help out the poor Irish peasants who farmed the land and paid excessive rent to the wealthy English landowners. They wished to help curb the high rents that were being paid, and provide a means for the farmers to gain ownership of the land they worked. Several members went to America to help raise money for the movement with extraordinary results.

One method used involved the Land League deciding on what they felt was a fair rent for a property and telling the tenants to pay that price. If the landlord did not accept that price, they encouraged the tenet to pay the Land League directly so that that landlord would receive nothing. Eventually, they hoped the landlord would come around to their offer. Although this sometimes worked, other times it resulted in violence both against the tenets and the landowners.

Help for this cause came in a series of acts known as the Irish Land Acts. The first of these acts passed in 1870 allowed tenants to borrow a large percent of the land cost from the government to be repaid over 35 years if the landowner was willing to sell. It also gave tenants more security, and compensated them for improving the land they rented, as well as compensation for destruction made to their improvements if they were evicted. It was also supposed to assure that rent remained reasonable. In reality the land act had little effect on the Irish people, as very few of them actually took advantage of the ability to buy their land.

The second land act was passed in 1881 and did a much better job of controlling the rents. They did this at a cost to the Irish economy in general. With the rent reduced every time the crop was not good, the peasant farmers had little motivation to actually buy their land. While their rent went down so did their production, and they were content with the situation.

The Land Purchase Acts were passed in 1885 and 1903 and were again based on the idea of making the land they worked own able for the Irish citizens. This reinforced that the Irish tenants could actually purchase their land (not just theoretically purchase it.) The Acts made money available at a lower interest and a longer term than previously offered, meaning that this time it was a truly affordable option for the peasants. The later act helped eliminate many of the remaining landlords by offering government grants to make up the difference between what the tenants were able to borrow and the price the landlords were demanding for the land. Eventually the purchase of these lands would become mandatory, transferring most of the Irish land to the Irish.

The Irish Republican Brotherhood (or Bráithreachas na Poblachta in Irish) was a secret organization whose ultimate goal was an independent Ireland. Members were required to take a secret oath that stated that this was their goal. They would be the main organizing group of the famous Easter Uprising in 1916 but were not alone in their efforts. The group had gained support from groups over seas and was able to form political alliance with countries who for their own reasons also opposed England.

The hard times in Ireland created a new generation of Irish, many who had been forced out by the famine and did not even live in Ireland. These people had genuine reason to hate the English. It was men such as these that founded the Fenian Brotherhood in 1858. The Fenian Brotherhood was created as the American branch of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. Because of some anti-immigration views in the United States, the Fenian Brotherhood thought it best to separate itself from the Irish Republican Brotherhood, although they continued to support an armed rebellion in Ireland. Funds raised by the FB were sent to the IRB in Ireland. After a failed invasion of an English owned portion of Canada, the Fenians were replaced by the Clan na Gael (Clann na nGale in Irish, meaning family of Gaels.)

Although many home rule acts had been proposed in the past, all had been successfully shot down by the English parliament. A new Home Rule bill was introduced to Parliament in April 1912. This bill would give an Irish parliament full control of purely Irish issues. The parliament in Westminster would still take care of military, foreign issues, crown issues, etc. Ireland would also still have members in Westminster. Things were finally looking upward for home rule when World War I broke out in 1914. Both supporters and opposition to Home Rule agreed it would be best to postpone discussion until after the war.

The Easter Rising was an Irish rebellion that took place in 1916, the week of Easter. It had its most influential roots in the "New Nationalism" wave that emerged in Ireland in the 1890's. What this led to was the revitalization and considerable rebirth of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). Soon after the beginning of World War I in August 1914, IRB's Supreme Court met and decided taking action before the end of the war was imperative. A small minority of the IRB formed a military council in 1915 that was eventually comprised of seven men, Padraig Pearse, James Connolly, Thomas Clarke, Thomas MacDonagh, Sean MacDermott, Joseph Plunkett and Eamonn Ceannt. They met and planned a rebellion.

With the help of Clan na Gael the IRB looked to the British's' enemies for assistance as other Irish revolutionary nationalists had before. A meeting held on September 9th 1914 discussed the circumstances of the war and decided Germany was where they should appeal to for support of an insurrection. Clan na Gael would provide communication between the IRB and Germany. John Devoy (leader of Clan na Gael) had already held a meeting in New York on August 24th to discuss the important need for arms and personal with the German Ambassador. Sir Roger Casement (born in Dublin and the son of a British Army Officer) had served the British consular service for 20 years and was in the US when war broke out. Irish nationalist politics were of increasing interest to Casement and the possibility of an Irish-German alliance seemed like a good opportunity to grasp. Casement submitted plans to German officials in the US itemizing how exploiting the existing unrest in Ireland could disturb Britain's power. Casement was soon on his way to Germany to begin negotiations. Negotiations met with success on November 20th 1914 when Germany announced their support of Irish independence.

In 1915 the plan for an insurrection of Dublin was under motion. Fueled by ammunitions and troops from Germany the original plan was to seize strategic buildings across Dublin. If successful this would leave the rebels holding a tight area of the city capable of resisting the inevitable counter-attack by the British army. By January 1916 a date had been set. April 21st 1916 (Good Friday) was to be the day they would manifest their plan. This date soon changed to be April 23rd, Easter Sunday and would later be called the "Easter Rising".

The IRB alone were too small of a force to be a threat and carry out the plan that the Military Council was masterminding. However all members of the council (with the exception of its founder Thomas Clarke) were involved in both the Irish Republican Brotherhood and the Irish Volunteer Force (IVF) since 1913 when it was conceived. Since that time these men had taken more and more control over the volunteers and promoted fellow IRB members to higher ranks at every opportunity. IRB was now in a position of heavy influence over the IVF and the group was now in favor of using physical force where previously they were not. Eoin MacNeill however was the founder and Chief of Staff of the IVF and still opposed any rebellion that he felt had little chance of success. Only in the circumstance where Brittan imposed a draft on Ireland did he feel they would need to take this drastic step. Instead MacNeill wanted to offer Irish military volunteers to the British as a bargaining tool.

Germany fulfilled Casements requests on April 9th 1916 when they sent a shipment providing Ireland with 25,000 captured Russian rifles and one million rounds. Disappointed at the lack of provisions they supplied Casement felt the insurrection was doomed to failure. He arranged for a German submarine to transport him to meet with the supply ship and "supervise" its landing. Since Casement thought that these supplies were completely inadequate, the real reason for traveling back to Ireland was to convince his peers that the uprising should not to take place at this time. He arrived in Ireland on April 12th and was arrested for treason only 12 days later.

In an effort to fool possible informers, and potentially the Volunteers' own leadership, Pearse announced orders for "parades and maneuvers" early in April, to be carried out by the Volunteers on Easter Sunday and the following two days. Since Pearse was the Director of the IVF this was well within his normal practice and authority. The reason for this disinformation was because it was known that the true republicans (particularly IRB members within the IVF) would know exactly what this meant, while other men such as MacNeill and the British authorities stationed in Dublin Castle would take the order literally.

The IRB's best efforts did not throw MacNeill off their plan and when he learned of their true intentions he let them know that he would "do everything possible short of phoning Dublin Castle" to stop the revolution. Briefly MacNeill was persuaded fighting might be a viable option when he was told of the German's impending support of arms and troops.

The following day when news hit Dublin that the German ship has been captured; MacNeill reverted to his previous position opposing the strike. MacNeill set about gathering his fellow like-minded leaders and issuing orders to all IVF members canceling actions for Sunday. Ultimately he only succeeded in postponing the rising for a day although he did manage to greatly reduce the number of men that arrived to fight for their country.

The Easter rising was kicked off with the signing of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic which Pearse read out later that day , which is sometimes also referred to as the Easter Proclamation. This document proclaimed Ireland's independence from the United Kingdom, and named itself the Provisional Government for the Irish Republic. When the actual attacks occurred on Easter Monday they did not have enough men to take all the areas they needed to follow their plan. This resulted in the Irish troops missing out on taking some key areas, and in turn having their forces separated. This allowed them to be defeated by the English one side at a time instead of simultaneously. In addition the local volunteers were too under trained, and under equipped to hold the river Shannon like it was hoped.

Chaos ensued during the uprising and much of Dublin fell prey to looters. In addition the British navy was sent to bombard parts of the city from their ships, leaving large sections of Dublin under fire and burning. Brittan sent reinforcements to Dublin that outnumbered the IRB and their men many times over. Although they were able to maintain the fight for some time, the IRB eventually had to surrender on April 29th.

After the uprising, leaders and followers were gathered up and executed for taking part in the movement. Even those that didn't specifically fight in the movement but aided its efforts were executed. Initially many Irish agreed with the English on this, since many Irish troops were serving with Britain in World War I and the rebels had allied with the enemy. However as the number of executions continued to rise, and the destruction caused to much of Dublin by the English navy came to full light, sympathy for the rebels grew in Ireland. The executed leaders were used as a rallying point to get more volunteers for the Irish army and to continue training them.

The IRB was not the only group with the goal of an independent Ireland. In 1914 Cumann na mBan was formed as a women's group willing to use force by arms to secure and advance the cause of Irish Liberty. It aimed to teach its members both military and first aid skills so that they could aid the men in battle in any way necessary.

In the Easter Rising the Cumann na mBan was integrated with Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizens Army to become the Army of the Irish Republic. During the battle they fought as soldiers, snipers, and nurses. Several of these women also died in the rising.

After the rising the group continued its participation in Irish affairs. They helped organize prisoner relief and rally support around the captured IRA leaders, opposed the draft, and helped poster the towns in support of the Sinn Féin. In the 1918 election one of their leaders, Countess Markiewicz, won and became the Minister for Labor of the Irish Republic despite being jailed at the time. When you keep in mind that the United States would not officially add an amendment for women's suffrage until 1920, their political contribution in this era seems even more impressive.

The Sinn Féin, an Irish political group whose name means "We Ourselves", although not responsible for the Easter risings was blamed by the British government. To the British, any opinion that was against the status quo was labeled as Sinn Féin. The British executions of so many Irish people thought to be leaders and contributors to the Easter Rising drove more people to support the Sinn Féin, and they ran with their new found support. Then Britain announced that they would be drafting Irish soldiers to support their war effort. This shifted even more Irish to support the Sinn Féin who the Irish believed had Ireland's best interests at heart.

In the 1918 elections the Sinn Féin party won 73 out of the 106 seats available in the parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Brittan and Ireland. Many of these seats went uncontested because of the massive support for and sometimes fear of the Sinn Féin.

Although by 1919 World War I had ended, Ireland still did not have home rule. On January 21, 1919 thirty of the Sinn Féin representatives proclaimed themselves the Parliament of Ireland at Dublin's Mansion House. They elected a ministry and a prime minister, who was later upgraded to President of the Republic. After 1922 elections they would control 10 of the 12 city councils of Ireland.

One of the most influential men of the time was Michael Collins. He had participated in the Easter Rising at the General Post Office location in Dublin. He was upset with the bad strategy in the attacks and the extra loss of life it caused, and knew he could have come up with a better plan for success. He was arrested and thrown into an encampment with many of the other participants. It was while imprisoned that he gained more influence and by the time of general release was already one of the leading Sinn Féin members. He worked under Éamon de Valera (who would go on to become the third president of Ireland) as a leading member in both the Sinn Féin and the Irish Volunteers army. He was also one of the elected officials who declared themselves the Parliament of Ireland.

In the summer of 1919 Michael Collins was elected president of the IRB. Later that year he was also made the Director of Intelligence for the Irish Republican Army. He was responsible for setting up a group of sharp shooter assassins to aid in the guerilla war tactics. As if he didn't have enough on his plate, he was next appointed as Minister of Finance for Ireland. Although many high ranking officials were scarcely seen because of fear of the British Army, Collins made himself known and was able to secure a substantial National Loan to help fund the newly forming Irish Republic. He was a great motivation to the Irish people both though his military skills, his natural leadership, and his willingness to act in his people's best interests.

Britain seemed reluctant to send over its actual army to put down the newly forming Irish government, and instead sent over ex-soldiers that had been released after World War I. They were known as Blacks and Tans, and had a reputation for being drunk and unruly. Although they were technically considered part of the Royal Irish Constabulary, they were clearly an army under control of the British parliament. Even though technically he was only the minister of finance and not defense, Michael Collins seemed to be calling the shots for the Irish army.

Collins team of assassins know as The Twelve Apostils, killed 18 British intelligence agents on November 21, 1920. The British responded by sending trucks into a football game killing 14 unarmed people and wounding dozens more. They also executed three men who were arrested. This day would later be called Bloody Sunday.

War would continue for another eight months before there was a truce. Although the British forces outnumbered the Irish army, the Irish utilized Michael Collins's tactic of guerilla warfare, sending in "flying columns" of men and then quickly retreating that the British could not counter. Collin's strategy minimized the Irish losses and kept the British guessing.

The War for Irish Independence ended on July 11, 1921 with a truce between the English and the Irish. Many Irish leaders, including Michael Collins thought this was for the best because they felt that their guerilla tactics would not be able to hold out indefinitely. Although they were technically in a truce, this did not stop all of the fighting, nor did it slow the training of new soldiers.

The Anglo-Irish treaty was created but it wasn't until December 1921 that the treaty was ratified, making it official law. This gave the northern counties the right to opt out of the Irish Free State, which they did, thus creating the separate entity of Northern Ireland that still fell under British rule. An Irish Boundary Commission was setup to draw the official borders between the newly founded Irish Free State and Northern Ireland. The border was drawn based on the local political majorities.

While some of the areas in the north might actually have voted themselves into the Irish Free State or had a very small protestant majority, the borders were left unchanged as a trade off. Ireland would leave the land in Northern Ireland, and Britain would in turn not ask for money it was owed. While many political leaders were happy with this arrangement, many of the rebels who had fought for Ireland were unhappy, and did not want to accept the treaty.

A system of government was setup in Ireland. For the first year, two governments actually existed in Ireland, the newly created provisional Government (to which Michael Collins had been appointed head) and the already established government.

Northern Irelands first year was a turbulent one. Fighting raged between Pro-Treaty and Anti-Treaty followers. One would attack the other and then there would inevitably been a counter attack. The death toll in the North actually increased after the treaty was signed. This fighting was just a taste of what was to come in the Civil War.

At the time a ceasefire was declared on 11th July 1921 the IRA was severely lacking in manpower and the British government were rapidly loosing support from their people. Both sides fighting in the War of Independence welcomed a peace treaty. The IRA felt that they would have the full support and control of Ireland with the exception of three counties in the north, Antrim, Down and Armagh. The IRA however, felt that these counties were each independent and strong enough to support themselves, it was also unlikely that after WWI Britain would care much for three Irish counties.

The signing of the Anglo-Irish treaty was met with surprising relief from the Irish people who were tiring of conflict. When the Irish representatives met to sign a treaty they found themselves agreeing to a very less favorable deal then that which the British received. Even though Tyrone, Londonderry and Fermanagh were largely nationalist counties in Ireland, Britain was to keep the territories in the treaty. This move was something even British representatives knew would not sit well with the Irish people given that the treaty confirmed Ireland was still to remain as part of the British Empire only now to be referred to as a "Free State".

On 8th December 1921 the Dáil (Irish Parliament) voted in favor of the treaty four votes to three. On December 16th a debate in the Dáil broke out. It was not long before the debate became bitter with some Teachtaí Dála (Irish Members of Parliament) resorted to verbal attacks on those with contrary opinions. Christmas that year saw many Teachtaí Dála's changing their minds due to pressure from their constituents. On the 7th of January 1922 the treaty was approved with votes 64 to 57. With the votes cast the Teachtaí Dála who still opposed the treaty walked out refusing to recognize the Irish Free State.

This division in the Dáil sent a shock wave through the country and soon afterwards the IRA split and became the Irish Free State Nation Army (those in favor of the treaty, such as Michael Collins) and the "irregulars" led by Tom Barry, Rory O'Connor and Liam Lynch.

British forces began to withdraw from Ireland in early 1922. With Irregular forces raiding banks, weapon stores and in some cases being handed British barracks, violence was widespread. The Irregular forces, led by Rory O'Connor also occupied Dublin's four Courts. By June there was a General Election and once again the population spoke voting in favor of the treaty. With this Michael Collins (a supporter of the treaty whose vote was counted on December 8th) demanded the surrender of the Irregulars from the Courts. Upon their refusal Collins used artillery to open fire commencing the start of the Irish Civil War. Collins became the Commander in Chief of the Free State Army.

Battles took place in Dublin up and down Dublin's now famous O'Connell Street. Just two days after the Irregulars surrender of the Courts under artillery fire they responded with an act of revenge on the Public Record Office. It was burned to the ground. The National Army then proceeded to take control of the country with the exception of the "Munster Republic" where the Irregulars had their most support.

Leader of the Free State Arthur Griffith died in August from a brain hemorrhage. Just two weeks later national hero Michael Collins was killed in an ambush. Now looking for new leadership the Free State turned to William T. Cosgrave and Kevin O'Higgins. These men decided to use much tougher methods of control, which in turn led the Irregulars to implore the guerilla tactics that they had used previously in the War of Independence. Under the new tougher methods the Dáil passed a law allowing the National Army to hold military courts. In addition people found in possession of firearms were liable to be shot. After Irregulars shot dead Sean Hales (a pro-treaty Teachtaí Dála) as a "reprisal and a warning" the Free State government ordered the execution of O'Connor and three other Irregulars.

The bloody ambushes, attacks and counter-attacks continued until 1923. Liam Lynch (the Irregulars Chief of Staff) was eventully killed by the National Army in April. Frank Aiken took his place a month later and in order to bring the Civil War to an end he ordered Irregulars to lay down their arms. A ceasefire was declared on 24th May 1923.

Although the bloody Civil war was short lived (only ten months) approximately 4,000 people lost their lives, twice as many as had died in the War of Independence. The political differences divided families in some cases and ultimately tore the country in two. After the war the Republic of Ireland gave birth to two large political parties. Fianna Fáil, the anti-treaty party and Cumann na nGaedheal, the pro-treaty party.

Michael Collins was only 31 years old when he died on August 22, 1922. Anti-Treaty IRA ambushed him and his party on a road. Although his advisors urged him to escape in an armored vehicle, he stayed to fight and was killed. His death was mourned thought Ireland and across the globe. He was one of the most influential people responsible for Ireland gaining Independence. He was both a skilled soldier and a skilled leader who inspired the Irish both in his time, and still today. His actual shooter is still unknown resulting in several conspiracy theories.

The Cumann Na mBan still exists today. In the north they were intergraded into the mainstream army, but in the south they continued to exist as a separate entity.

Sinn Féin is also still in existence today, as a viable modern political party in Ireland, and would still ultimately like to see a untied Ireland. On Good Friday 2006 the St. Andrews Agreement was made with Britain to create a timetable for power to be given to the Northern Irish. Everyone agrees this is a huge breakthrough, and that progress is being made.

To me the thing that stands out the most in my mind when reading over the complicated and bloody politics of the Irish Revolution, is that these events happened so recently. Irish independence and civil war happened in the same century I was born, making them somehow more relatable than the long past American Revolution that happened centuries earlier. This revolution took place in a time when we had the technology of photography and film to actually capture the people and events. It was less than a century ago when Ireland was completely under British rule.

Today Ireland still exists as two separate entities. The Irish Free State went on to become the Republic of Ireland, while Northern Ireland continues to belong to the United Kingdom. The Republic of Ireland continues to be a Catholic dominated region, while Northern Ireland has a more protestant influence. Although Ireland spent many centuries under British rule, both before and during their union with Great Britain, they continuously fought for their independence. Although things like famine and world war delayed their inevitable separation from Great Britain, the persistence of several generations coupled with enthusiastic leadership finally earned the Irish their own country.