Historical Happenings for July 2021
During the first six months of 1921, Ireland’s War of Independence intensified and the death toll rose to more than 1,000 RIC, IRA and civilians; that was about 70% of the total casualties for the entire 3-year War. Further, an added 4,500 IRA men or suspected sympathizers were interned taking a toll on Republican forces. The Brits still refused to call it a War for two reasons: they feared the reaction of their citizens to declaring another war after just emerging from the Great War and secondly, calling it a war would have recognized the belligerents as a viable entity. Instead it was called a criminal rebellion even though the Dáil had declared war on England in March 1921. Despite the fact that Brits didn’t call it a war, they sure acted as if it was one!
By 7 June 1921, 24 men were executed by the British military. The first was IRA volunteer, Kevin Barry and on 1 February, the first execution under military martial law of an IRA man had taken place as Cornelius Murphy was shot in Cork City. On 28 February, six more were executed in Cork after conviction by a military tribunal. The Brits even sent former Army officers over as Black and Tans and Auxiliaries to beef up the RIC and serve as a paramilitary force to ‘Carry the Fight to the IRA.’ When Tom Barry’s Flying Column wiped out 16 of a 17-man Auxiliary patrol at Kilmichael, even Prime Minister Lloyd George conceded that it was a ‘military operation.’ Then came Barry’s 19 March defeat of a 1,200-man British attempt to encircle him at the Crossbarry Ambush (See March Historical Happenings) and two days later, the Kerry IRA attacked a train at the Headford Junction near Killarney, killing or wounding 20 British soldiers. The IRA had other victories, for example at Millstreet in Cork, at Scramogue, Roscommon and at Tourmakeady and Carrowkennedy in Mayo in May and June.
However, the IRA raids and ambushes were not all victories as dozens were killed or captured. The Leitrim flying column was almost wiped out at Selton Hill as the Army’s Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire Infantry Regiment attacked the IRA camp capturing all and seizing plenty of arms and ammunition. By the end of June it was becoming abundantly clear to the Irish leaders that most IRA units were terribly short of men, arms and ammunition in addition to those interned. General Richard Mulcahy recalled that they had ‘as yet not been able to drive the enemy out of anything but a fair sized police barracks.’ Many republican leaders, including Collins, were convinced that if the war went on much longer, there was a chance that the IRA campaign would be brought to a standstill. Still, the Republicans had fought a largely successful guerrilla war forcing the Brits to believe, call it war or not, that the IRA could not be defeated militarily. Their failure to put down the guerrillas was best illustrated by the events of “Black Whitsun” in May 1921. The general election for the Parliament of Southern Ireland was held on 13 May. Sinn Féin won 124 of the new parliament’s 128 seats unopposed and its elected members refused to take their seats in Britain’s Southern Parliament when they already had one of their own; and the Second Dáil Eireann was seated! Britain’s Irish Parliament was dissolved and all executive and legislative authority over Southern Ireland was transferred to a Lord Lieutenant. During the next two days, 15 RIC were killed demonstrating the failure of the British Government to find a settlement without negotiating with Sinn Féin. Hostilities continued until July 9,1921. After the death of 405 RIC officers, 150 military personnel and an estimated 750 IRA members and civilians, the conflict had reached a stalemate. Both sides agreed to a truce and 100 years ago, Dáil President deValera agreed to meet with British Prime Minister Lloyd George to discuss preliminary Treaty negotiations. Talks that looked promising petered out when Lloyd George insisted the IRA first surrender their arms which they refused to do. Talks resumed after the Prime Minister came under pressure from Herbert Asquith and the Liberal opposition. They believed that the IRA’s guerrilla campaign would continue indefinitely with spiraling costs to Britain in men and money. The Brits were also facing severe criticism at home and abroad for the actions of their forces in Ireland. On 6 June 1921, the British made their first conciliation by calling off the policy of house burnings as reprisals. This only proved that attacks on civilian targets was indeed a government sanctioned policy. On the other side, Michael Collins knew they could not continue indefinitely. They were hard pressed by the arrival of more regular British military and their own lack of arms, but they were not about to let the Brits know that. It became a closely guarded secret, even from their own men.
King George V made his disapproval of the behavior of the Black and Tans and Auxies well known and at the opening of the new Parliament of Northern Ireland; he called for reconciliation and the Brits proposed talks with the leader of Sinn Féin. Austen Chamberlain, head of the Unionist Party, said “the King’s Speech ought to be followed up as a last attempt at peace before we go the full lengths of martial law“.
On 24 June, Brit PM Lloyd George wrote to Éamon deValera as “the chosen leader of the great majority in Southern Ireland” suggesting a conference; Sinn Féin agreed. Following the invitation, a truce was agreed to end the fighting and lay the ground for detailed negotiations. The Truce came into effect 100 years ago on 11 July 1921. It was agreed that British troops would remain confined to their barracks, but most IRA officers interpreted the Truce as a temporary respite and continued recruiting and training volunteers. President deValera traveled to London on July 12th and met with Lloyd George at 10 Downing Street on 14, 15, 18 and 21 July 1921. When deValera arrived at Downing Street, cheers were raised, tri-color Irish Féin flags were displayed and a crowd sang Irish airs. As the meeting went on, a large crowd of Irish sympathizers knelt in the rain at the end of Downing Street, recited the rosary and sang A Nation Once Again.