Irish Civil War

The Irish Civil War took place in the Irish Free State in 1922-23 between supporters and opponents of the treaty with Great Britain that had established the Free State. The treaty gave virtual independence to 26 counties of Ireland (excluding the six counties of Northern Ireland), but maintained that the new state remained within the British Empire and that members of the Dail Eireann should make an oath of allegiance to the British monarch - at the time, George V - as head of the Empire. The question of the oath, rather than that of Partition, led to a split in Sinn Fein and the IRA and triggered the conflict that followed.

The Dail ratified the Treaty on 7 January, 1922. Upon this decsion, Eamonn de Valera resigned as President and withdrew from the Dail with that part of Sinn Fein which was opposed to it. A substantial proportion of IRA members also opposed the Treaty and began to organise for resistance. Throughout early 1922, a number of armed incidents took place as the IRA fragmented, and in May a truce was agreed to arrest the slide to war. A general election on 18 June 1922 saw a clear majority of votes in favour of the pro-Treaty Sinn Fein over their anti-Treaty opponents (239,193 to 133,864). The new government, led by Arthur Griffith, began to organise the pro-Treaty IRA into the National Army (or Free State Army), and formed a new police force, the Garda Siochana (Civil Guard) to replace the disbanded Royal Irish Constabulary.

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