Timeline of... irish civil war

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In the newly established Irish Free State, government forces fight the IRA in a bitter conflict that kills more Irish people than the preceding War of Independence

*A National Army sniper looks out over the Four Courts to observe Anti-Treaty IRA activity*

14 April 1922

01 OCCUPATION OF THE FOUR COURTS

Two-hundred Anti-Treaty IRA militants occupy the Four Courts – Ireland’s most prominent judicial building – in Dublin. Michael Collins delays retaking the Four Courts to prevent civil war.

*The Republican signatories to the treaty include IRA Director of Intelligence Michael Collins (centre) and founder of Sinn Féin, Arthur Griffith (far left)*

6 December 1921

ANGLO-IRISH TREATY

The British Government and representatives from the Irish Republic sign a treaty that ends the Irish War of Independence. The island is divided between Northern Ireland (which remains in the UK) and a new Irish Free State – aself-governing Dominion within the British Empire.

16 January – 5 December 1922

PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT

A provisional government is established for the Free State but the Irish Republican Army (IRA) is split between those who accept the Anglo-Irish Treaty and those who do not. A key issue for the Anti-Treaty IRA is the oath of allegiance to King George V.

*Éamon de Valera, the sole surviving Republican commandant from the 1916 Easter Rising, addresses a crowd in Dublin against the Anglo-Irish Treaty*

16 June 1922

IRISH GENERAL ELECTION

Collins’ Pro-Treaty wing of Sinn Féin wins the general election to Dáil Éireann (Irish Parliament). Pro-Treaty parties form a majority in the Dàil but the Anti-Treaty faction of Sinn Féin, led by Éamon de Valera, rejects the result.

*Collins was accused of ordering the killing of Wilson (an Irishman and Ulster Unionist MP) in retaliation for escalating violence in the North*

22 June 1922

ASSASSINATION OF WILSON

British Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson is assassinated by the IRA in London. Winston Churchill warns Collins that British troops will be used to retake the Four Courts if punitive action is not taken against the IRA.

*National Army soldiers pictured shelling the Four Courts*

28 June – 5 July 1922

02 BATTLE OF DUBLIN

The Civil War begins when Free State forces led by Collins attack and recapture the Four Courts. A week of street fighting ensues against the Anti-Treaty IRA in the Irish capital.

*A group of National Army officers and soldiers (including Chief-of-Staff Eoin O’Duffy, fourth from left) share a lighter moment during the Civil War*

28 June – August 1922

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This article is from...

History of War Magazine

3 August 2023

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