Category Archives: History

Ireland’s Wars: 1972 Campaigns And Ceasefires

Bloody Sunday was not the sole reason why recruitment and support for organisations like the Official Irish Republican Army or the Provisional Irish Republican Army in this period began to truly skyrocket, but it has been acknowledged by many senior … Continue reading

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Ireland’s Wars: Bloody Sunday (1972)

The Troubles essentially began in Derry, when the seething sectarian and political tensions of the period erupted into the Battle of the Bogside. Two-and-a-half years after that seminal event, Northern Ireland had become engulfed in a level of violence that … Continue reading

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Ireland’s Wars: 1971 And PIRA’s First Campaign

The deteriorating situation in Northern Ireland as 1970 ended and 1971 began was summed up nicely by two well-publicised quotes from Reginald Maulding, then Home Secretary. In a news conference Maulding used the unfortunate phrase “an acceptable level of violence” … Continue reading

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Ireland’s Wars: The St Matthews Shoot-Out And The Falls Curfew

The Troubles can be said to have begun in August 1969, when the simmering tension within Northern Ireland exploded. It was not the first time that this had happened, but it was the most persistent and the most deadly bout … Continue reading

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Ireland’s Wars: The Arms Trial

In the aftermath of the 1969 violence, few would have thought that anything more politically explosive than Jack Lynch’s easily misinterpreted words would have come out of it from the south. Despite the constitutional position and Fianna Fail’s adherence to … Continue reading

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Ireland’s Wars: The Split (1969)

The Irish Republican Army emerged from the violence of August 1969 with its reputation among nationalist circles very much bruised, if not in outright tatters. Its inability to decisively intervene to protect Catholic communities in Belfast angered many, both within … Continue reading

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Ireland’s Wars: Jack Lynch And “Exercise Armageddon”

The events that sparked the beginning of the Troubles did not exist in a vacuum. While large parts of Derry, then Belfast, then other parts of the North burned in a haze of sectarian violence, the unfolding of things was … Continue reading

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Ireland’s Wars: August 1969 Outside Of Derry

The Battle of the Bogside was just the beginning. Soon after the initial clashes of the Catholic residents with the RUC and the Orange Order, things would quickly spill over into the rest of Northern Ireland. This was most especially … Continue reading

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Ireland’s Wars: The Battle Of The Bogside

In August of 1969 it can be said that the long-running conflict known as the Troubles truly began. That month events in Northern Ireland finally moved well beyond what the Belfast government and its security forces were in a position … Continue reading

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Ireland’s Wars: The Ulster Volunteer Force

For the last while, when it comes to the military history of Northern Ireland, we have been very focused on the IRA, its spin-offs and the cause of militant republicanism. It’s perhaps only natural, given that in the time period … Continue reading

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