The Irish Republican Army (IRB)

After the first world war the leaders of europe came together to discuss the boundaries of europe. British rule decided to separate ireland into two sides. North Ireland was created when the british government of Ireland Act in 1920 divided Ireland into two areas; the Irish Free State and the Northern Ireland Roman Catholics, who made up around one-third of the population of Northern Ireland, were largely opposed to the separation. The British took over , but only after many revolts and riots against them from the people of ireland. In 1969 the IRA (Irish Republican Army) was formed. They were a Catholic Irish nationalist group that used guerrilla tactics like bombings and assassinations to oppose British rule and oppression in Ireland. Their main goal was to fight the british that took over their home. The IRA would Fight using guerilla and terrorist tactics including bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, punishment beatings, extortion, smuggling, and robberies. But over time the IRA became more of a dangerous militia then patriots defending their home.

The Real Irish Republican Army (RIRA) is a splinter group of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) that uses sabotage, subversion, and guerilla warfare to express its opposition to the terms of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. This agreement basically recognized that the majority of the people within Northern Ireland wished to remain a part of the United Kingdom. It also recognized that a large section of the people of Northern Ireland, and the majority of the people of the continent of Ireland wanted a united Ireland. For the most part, the Good Friday Agreement brought an end to the struggle between unionists and nationalists during the “Troubles” (an unconventional war spanning from 1968-1998 in Northern Ireland between British security forces, republican and loyalist paramilitaries, and civil rights groups). To understand how the RIRA came to be, you have to know a little about the history of the IRA. Specifically, on how the members regarded violence as a means to a unified Ireland without British involvement. “In December 1969, the IRA divided into “Official” and “Provisional” wings. Both factions were committed to a united Irish republic, but the Officials eschewed violence after 1972, whereas the Provisionals, or “Provos,” carried out various attacks and assassinations, attempting to compel the British Army to withdraw from Northern Ireland. In the wake of the Bloody Sunday shootings by the British military in January 1972, the Provos’ ranks

While it is true that the British colonies in North America did stem from England, it is incredulous to think that a mere island nation, no matter how powerful or far reaching their empire, could ever hope to govern a continent a vast ocean apart. Between the French and Indian War and the subsequent taxation that it resulted in, the period of Benign Neglect was beginning to take a darker and more restrictive route, which would only go to instill in the minds of the American colonists that they were only a “means to an end” for Britain. Thomas Paine would only help to stoke the flames of the coming movement for American independence through his work “Common Sense” where he brought the hypocrisies and sins of the British government to light along with arguing why the colonies would be better off on their own. Within the contents of “Common Sense”, Paine would go toe-to-toe with the arguments of colonists who opposed independence in areas such as whether or not England had the colonies’ best interest at heart, the true nature of balance between the British monarchy and Parliament, and whether or not the colonists could actually govern themselves.

The Irish were promised the Home Rule Act, but it was taken away at the start of the Ester Uprising. “This modest promise was swept away the Easter Uprising of 1916, when a small band of rebels paralyzed the city and the Irish Republic was proclaimed from the steps of the GPO” (Hegarty). Padhraic Pearse led about 2000 people into the Easter Revolution, only a small fraction of the people that had lived in Dublin at the time. Most of the Irish were involved in World War I. “They had little support – many Irish volunteers had joined the war effort and the rebels were perceived to be traitors to the great cause” (Hegarty). It would take more violence and rebellion against the British to bring attention to their cause both locally and abroad.

Mark Twain described a group of conspirators known as the “Majestic Clan”. The clan carried out John Murrell’s plans, meeting in the woods of Mississippi. “ In its great hollow, that John A. Murrell and his Clansmen met in grand council, and formed their dark plots, and concocted their hellish plans.”(Walker 97). He was convicted of slave stealing and sentenced to serve ten years in prison. The importance of this quote demonstrates the concept of stealing which is connected to my research paper about the Shergar conspiracy. Murrell not only held his own organization, but was a thief just like the IRA stealing Shergar. There is a distinct connection here between the Majestic Clan and the IRA both being secrecy organizations, but specifically

Also known as the IRA, this movement sprouted in the 20th century aimed to fight Irish republicanism, which focuses on the concept that Ireland should be an independent republic. Despite their cause, they are approaching the situation in all of the wrong ways. These extremists take action with intense violence, even after the split. Many people believe they have received a great deal of their

However, The British government itself was going through a hard time in trying to keep the people of England healthy. It wasn’t until 1916 when a call for reform was widely spread and would create the Irish Republican Army (IRA) that would begin to fight the British army in order to gain independence. The IRA use guerrilla warfare by organizing small attacks that would be widely spread out. Although, the British would see these attacks as terrorist attacks which continued for five years. With no end in sight the British offered on December 6, 1921 the Anglo-Irish treaty which would divide Ireland into two.

Throughout history mass movements have contributed to changing the face of the world. Some most notable are that of the Bolsheviks and the Nazis. These movements and others like them have emerged as a result of the mistreatment of people, to preserve a group of people or propagate an idea or view. No matter the reason behind the start of the group, they all have one goal; the end result of every mass movement is to bring change. The mass movement that will be discussed is the Irish Republican Army, otherwise known as the IRA. The catalyst that caused its formation, a specific identification and analysis of the membership and the societal, religious, cultural, political, and national effect it had

The Continuity Irish Republican Army operates in Northern Ireland where it is currently under the control of United Kingdom. The CIRA are a splinter group from the larger Provincial Irish Republican Army (PIRA). The CIRA has been recognized as a splinter faction off of the real Irish Republican Army ever since the middle of the 1980’s (Mueller, 2015). The group has not been conducting attacks in recent years because they do not have many members. The CIRA is thought to have committed the attack that took place in 1987, where eleven people were killed in the Northern Ireland town called Enniskillen (Fletcher, 2008, para. 7).

Why the Irish Catholics and Protestants fought in Northern Ireland for centuries – the conflict started when Ireland was split into two parts, Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom) and the Republic of Ireland (an independent country). In the 16th century, Henry VII turned England in a protestant country, but most of the Irish remained Roman Catholic. James I sent thousands of protestant colonists to take over the Catholic people’s land. The Catholics rebelled but they were defeated by the middle of the 17th century. They were left without land nor power. The conflict between the Protestants and the Catholics have been going on for over 400 years. 50% of Northern Ireland consisted of Protestants, while 40% consisted of Catholics and both groups lived separately.

Unlike in the War of Independence the IRA did not have the backing of many Irish-Americans. Probably the major problem with finding backing amongst their former allies was the fact that they all almost universally welcomed the signing of the Treat. Even Irish strongholds like the city of Boston were pro-treaty, with one James Phelan telegramming the Lord Mayor of Dublin that he loved the treaty saying he expressed the “feeling(s) of all true friends of Ireland and England the world over” . Even the Catholic church in America refused to help the IRA. Former allies in Scotland were also of little help as most were loyal to Joseph Vize, who was a member of President Collins inner circle. With their assets in the United States frozen by Congress, the IRA had little chance of securing enough money to buy firearms. In addition to this the lack of support of the Irish in the United States meant that they would be unable to receive any substantial sum of money nor be able to secure weapons shipments. Additionally, unlike in the previous war they were unable to obtain arms and explosives from sympathizers in Scotland in large part thanks to Collin’s influence over this area. The IRA repeated a mistake they made during the earliest inkling of revolution, as in the Easter Rebellion they were reliant on outside forces acting on their

The Act of Union in 1800 was a significant factor to the nature of Irish nationalism in 1800. Prior to the Act, the society of the united Irishmen, a republican society who wanted parliamentary reform and Catholic Emancipation, fought, under the leadership of Robert Emmet, with physical force for their complete independence. Because of their military strand they differed from their predecessors the ‘Protestant Patriots’, this is because the society was heavily influenced by revolutionary events in France and New America in the late 18th century. The rebellion, although unsuccessful, with its leader imprisoned, had major consequential effects; which was the passing of the Act of Union in 1800. The Act set the tone for the rest of Irish

The alleged origin of the Irish Republican Army could be traced back to the Easter Rising of 1916 (Alonso, 2001; Arena & Arrigo, 2004; Filardo-Llamas, 2013; Hart, 1997; Page & Smith, 2000). Radical nationalists, who were part of a group called the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), took the opportunity to take up arms against the British during the war in Europe (Filardo-Llamas, 2013). The Irish Republican Brotherhood was the precursor of the modern IRA. They were a secret society who was

The first known use of the term "Irish Republican Army" occurred in the Fenian raids on Canada in the 1860s. The original Irish Republican Army formed by 1917 from those Irish Volunteers who refused to enlist in the British Army during World War I, members of the Irish Citizen Army and others. During the Irish War of Independence it was the army of the Irish Republic, declared by Dáil Éireann in 1919. Some Irish people dispute the claims of more recently created organizations that insist that they are the only legitimate descendants of the original IRA, often referred to as the "Old IRA".

Following nearly 600 years of varying English rule the Irish people in the late 1800s experienced a voracious onset of nationalist sentiment, influenced by European enlightenment thinkers. The Irish under an initially moderate national leadership pushed for the policy of “home rule,” which would grant the Irish autonomy, self-rule and economic freedom in return for maintaining their position within the United Kingdom. The home rule issue would dominate Irish politics for nearly 50 years until 1919, when extremist nationals would attain control of local governments and officially declare the Irish Republic (Campbell 624-630.) The Irish revolution is commonly attributed to pre nationalistic revolutionary ideas of intolerance, economic propensity towards independence and foreign oppressment creating unity, this is a misplaced assumption though as the war and preceding conflict was fought and won almost