The Real Irish Republican Army

The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) was formed in 1969. The Official IRA declared a cease-fire in the summer of 1972, and subsequently the term IRA began being used for the organization that developed from the 'Provisional' IRA. Organized into small, tightly knit cells under the leadership of the Army Council the IRA has remained largely unchanged. It is difficult to know the exact number of IRA members because of the political and economic persecution that comes with publicly endorsing the IRA. It is estimated that there are several hundred members, plus several thousand sympathizers, but the IRA's strength may have been affected by operatives leaving the organization to join hard-line splinter groups.

The IRA split into two groups; The official IRA who wanted to achieve a United Ireland, and the Provisional IRA who thought of the British Army as an army of occupation and believed violence was the answer and would achieve their goal. The Provisional IRA shot Gunner Curtis. He was the first British soldier to be killed in the Northern Ireland.

The book, “The Irish Way” by James R. Barrett is a masterpiece written to describe the life of Irish immigrants who went to start new lives in America after conditions at home became un-accommodative. Widespread insecurity, callous English colonizers and the ghost of great famine still lingering on and on in their lives, made this ethnic group be convinced that home was longer a home anymore. They descended in United States of America in large numbers. James R. Barrett in his book notes that these people were the first group of immigrants to settle in America. According to him, there were a number of several ethnic groups that have arrived in America. It was, however, the mass exodus of Irish people during and after the great

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.

Unlike presidents, state governors tend to fade in the memories of citizens. Overtime, despite many accomplishments and two terms, John Ireland has joined the long-lost list of forgotten governors. The mention of his name fails to incite anything but blank expressions from Texas citizens. In light of his influence on one of Texas ' most famed buildings, it might seem as though his name might ring a couple of bells, but no such luck. Clearly, John Ireland has been forgotten for too long. What did this man do for Texas and why should he be remembered? Time to find out.

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

The Vietnam War was a prolong struggle of communist faction forcing unification of north and South Vietnam. To prevent the spread of communism the United States allied with the South Vietnamese to fight back against the communist faction. The Vietnam War span over 18 years it was apparent that there was no way in winning the war. The U.S leaders lost the support of the American people in fighting a war we can’t win. The U.S leaders thought up and created an elite peace keeping force called the Green Berets. The Green Berets gained a lot of attention to the media through books, music, and movies. A compilation of short stories of the Vietnam War by Tim O’Brien is one of those books. In Tim O’Brien book

The Fenians sought to outflank the British Coast Guards stationed in Canada with guerilla warfare. Their plan was to cause a bloody rebellion until news that the treatment of the Irish has improved or until the patience of England is quite worn out. The lyrics “..we’re going to fight for Ireland…. And we’ll go and capture, for we’ve got nothing else to do” exemplifies the Fenians rentlesslesnes and the pride they took in trying to liberate Ireland.

Violence, terror, suffering and death. The conflict that has been burning in Northern Ireland seems to be an unstoppable battle and it has flooded over the land of Northern Ireland. The struggle for power and the persistence of greed have fueled the raging fires of the opposing groups. The conflict in Northern Ireland has been discussed continually over the past few decades. Ever since the beginning of the “Troubles,” organizations have been scavenging to find a plan that will cease the violence. Throughout my research for this project, the questions of what are the main sources of conflict in Northern Ireland and why have they continued today guided me to many fascinating pieces of evidence that

The war between the republicans and the unionists in Dublin, Ireland gets pretty serious when you read the story (based on an autobiography), "The Sniper" written by Liam O'Flaherty. The republicans want Ireland to stay as a part of the United Kingdom while the unionists want Ireland to be its own country. Because of this war, many people die because of snipers in the army. In my opinion, the sniper can be considered and is a hero. It is because of the reasons he is fighting for, he kills an old lady and his brother,

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 Beliefs of the Republicans/Nationalists and the Loyalists/Unionists There are a number of differences between Nationalists and Unionists and their beliefs. The Nationalists are predominantly Catholic and they do not want Ireland to be part of Britain. They see the British as an occupying army and most believe that the British have no right to be in Ireland, they think it's unfair that the British came into Ireland in the 1600s and have stayed there. They feel angry about how the British have persecuted the Catholics in the past, and they believe that they still don't get treated as well as the Unionists. They campaign for equal rights in different areas, especially housing and jobs.

The Irish Republican Army Ideology The Irish Republican Army ideology is still living in Northern Ireland, nearly a century after the organization’s establishment. Although the IRA has since disbanded, the spirit is kept alive by a number of splinter factions, including the Provisional, Continuity, and Real IRAs. Not many terrorist organizations can maintain a campaign this extensive in time. The long history of the IRA campaign of terror leads to many political, social, religious, educational and economic effects.

Though many historians in Ireland come from either a unionist or republican background the Anglo-American narrative is the most prevalent today with most historians seldom confining their sympathies with either the republican or unionist cause. This Anglo-American narrative is a social history that tends to focus on the impact of living in a divided society, on defusing political and sectarian differences and dismantling prejudices. Important contributors to this narrative include Marianne Elliott and Roy Foster. However, both the Republican and Unionist narratives still have some prominence. The Republican historiography is a narrative that asserts that Ireland is and has always been one nation. As such the actions of the IRA have been part of a legitimate conflict to remove the British from Ireland. This legitimacy question is a key debate in regards to terrorism. If the IRA’s actions are legitimate they cannot be considered terrorists. Furthermore, some proponents of the republican narrative such as Sinn Fein would argue that the British state are in-fact the terrorists: they would argue Britain perpetrated violence without a legitimate mandate in Northern Ireland. The unionist narrative is perhaps the antithesis of the republican one; this narrative proposes that the IRA are terrorists and that their violence is not

As part of the agreement the Irish Republic had to remove articles 2 and 3 from its constitution. These laid claim to the six counties of Northern Ireland and did not recognise the border. An overwhelming majority of 93% of voters in the republic accepted the agreement. Hard line republicans resented the removal of these articles and their opposition was demonstrated on the 15th August 1998 when the Real IRA detonated a bomb in Omagh in which 29 people as well as two unborn children were killed.