Introduction
Overview
This site is an
attempt to chronicle the events that took place in Ireland in the years 1919 to
1923. These are the years of the War of
Independence, the Truce period and the Civil War. A considerable amount of
information has been brought together from a large number of (mostly secondary)
sources. The objective is to try to
provide a comprehensive overview of what transpired during this period (with
detailed reference to the sources for those who wish to follow up on particular
events). It is intended to add additional information over time – in
particular, more links to online sources.
Purpose of this
Chronology
One of the main
motivations behind the site was that, too often, in discussions of what
happened during these years, particular events were viewed (and commented on)
in isolation from the preceding events and the context in which they occurred.
Frequently, this lack of context has led to quite distorted views of what
actually happened. It is hoped that this
chronology will enable those interested in this period of history to view what
happened during these years in the ‘round’ and thus come to balanced assessments. (Such assessments may be highly critical of
particular actors but will hopefully be devoid of simplistic partisanship.)
Another related
motivation was to try to provide an insight into what people (and, in
particular, the main actors) were responding to in ‘real time’. As mentioned, a lot of what has been written
about this period tends to focus on particular topics or areas and this works
to obscure the context in which people were operating at the time. For example, a lot of what happened (both
politically and militarily) is the southern part of Ireland during this period
tends to be written about without the context of what was happening at the same
time in the north-east of Ireland (in particular, in Belfast and its
environs). Similarly, a lot of what has
been written tends to focus on events in Ireland and does not take into account
the international environment. In
particular, with notable exceptions, a lot of what has been written about this
period tends to ignore what was happening within British politics during this
time and, especially, what was happening within the Liberal/Conservative
Coalition which was the British Government in power for much of the 1919-1923
period. Without this context, events in
Ireland cannot be understood.
Events vs Commentary
For the most part, the intention in this chronology is
to focus on events as relayed in the sources (what happened, where it happened, when
it happened, who was there, what transpired, etc). When there are conflicts between different
sources, these will be noted and, where it is possible, an attempt will be made
to resolve conflicts.
However, where it
is thought to be appropriate to the understanding of an event or series of
events, commentary made by historians of the period will be included. (In addition, in a few instances, I have
included commentary of my own.) Every
effort has been made to ensure that commentary is clearly labelled as
commentary.
Dates
Frequently
different sources give different dates for when specific events occurred. With
one exception, the dates given in different sources will be noted. The one
exception is when sources give consecutive dates. On many occasions different sources give
consecutive dates for a specific event.
(For example, one source may give April 20th 1921 and another
give April 21st 1921. This
frequently occurs for the date of attacks on RIC barracks which often started
late at night and therefore continued in the following day.) There are too many of these consecutive date
conflicts to enumerate all of them – it would add up to 50% to the size of the
chronology!!! Therefore, only when different
sources give dates of greater than one day will these different dates be noted
in the chronology.
Latest Updates
The latest updates
to the chronology (September 2023) have continued to include information from a
number of local histories (mainly from the Maynooth/DCU series of county
histories of the 1912-1923 period published by Four
Courts Press which continues to produce its impressive series of county
histories).
However, the major
updates have come from inclusion of information from O’Halpin and Ó Corráin’s comprehensive The
Dead of the Irish Revolution (published in 2020). This book attempts to
name each individual who died due to the political unrest in Ireland from April
1916 until the end of 1921. It has 2,850
entries and is a monumental piece of historical research. It includes information such as each
individual’s name, age, gender, where they died, when they died, their military
affiliation (if any), etc, etc.
Naturally, in a work of such magnitude, there are some omissions and
mistakes. However, from the research
carried out for this chronology, these are relatively few. This work will transform the historical
research of the 1916 to 1921 period in Ireland for years to come.
Another great resource for information on
those killed during the this period is the on-going online project by
Bielenberg and Donnelly called the Cork
Fatality Register, 1919-1923. This Register “seeks to identify all of the
conflict-related fatalities in County Cork during the War of Independence, the
Truce period and the Civil War”. (According to O’Halpin and Ó Corráin, County
Cork accounted for 24% of all the conflict-related deaths in Ireland in the
1917 to 1921 period.) The Register brings together information on the Cork
fatalities from a large array of sources and, given its online nature, can
include a lot of detail from these sources. The work of linking the information
in the Cork Fatality Register to this chronology is ongoing.
Extended Essays
During the creation
of this chronology, clarifying what happened in quite of number of events has
proven to be difficult, in the sense of different sources giving different
accounts of what occurred.
It would be
impossible to attempt to resolve the conflicts in all the different accounts
but I have chosen a small number of these events for ‘deep dives’ in the form
of extended essays. With regard to these
events, I have interrogated all the sources available and attempted to
reconcile the various accounts. I have also attempted to clarify, as far as is
possible, what is likely to have happened during these events. These extended essays cover the following
events:
·
The Killing of the Loughnane Brothers in south Galway
in November 1920 – See More Detail to Nov-26-20/3
·
The Killing of RIC Constables Jones and Mugan in
Ballinamore, Co. Leitrim in April 1921 - See More Detail to Apr-15-21/2
·
The Ballyturin
House ambush outside Gort, Co. Galway in May 1921 - See More Detail to May-15-21/6
During research for
these extended essays, I was greatly assisted by my colleague Dr Kay MacKeogh.
Dr MacKeogh has
also contributed an extended essay on The Shooting of RIC Sgt McArdle in
Strokestown, Co. Roscommon in January 1921 – see More
Detail to Jan-05-21/5.
There
is also an extended essay on The Kilmichael Ambush in Co. Cork in November 1920
– See Nov-28-20/1. However, I wrote this extended essay in 2005
and it is now out-of-date due to more recent research on this ambush, in
particular, the detailed research in Morrison’s recent book entitled Kilmichael
- The Life and Afterlife of an Ambush (published in 2022). This essay is included as it is referenced in
the works of other authors.
Finally
I would greatly
welcome any comments you have on this chronology. In particular, I would like to hear about any events which are not in
the chronology but you think should be included. I would also appreciate any additional
information or alternative versions you may have of the events described in the
chronology. If you have any comments, please e-mail them to me with references
to your sources. Finally, I would also appreciate if you would inform me of any
links that are not working.
This site is maintained by Seamus Fox and my e-mail address is seamus.fox@irishhistory1919-1923chronology.ie