Tag Archives: british army

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: 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 Second World War In 1944

1944 opened with the Allies in a very strong position on every front, but still with a number of difficult obstacles between them and a final victory over the Axis. In the East, Russian advances were being bought with an … Continue reading

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Ireland’s Wars: Final Thoughts On The Irish Revolutionary Period

In the course of the last 150+ entries (studies of Irish history tend to be top heavy with study of this period, and now I understand why), we have covered what is dubbed the “Irish revolutionary period”, that section of … Continue reading

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Ireland’s Wars: Britain And The United States In The Irish Civil War

It is generally recognised nowadays that Great Britain got more of what they wanted from the Anglo-Irish Treaty than the Irish representatives did. In it was an essential recognition of partition, the inclusion of the Irish Free State inside the … Continue reading

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Ireland’s Wars: Pettigo And Belleek

The area in question was what was known as the “Belleek and Pettigo Triangle” or the rather more martial “Belleek and Pettigo Salient” if you prefer: a roughly 24km in length section of the Donegal/Fermanagh border near Lough Erne that … Continue reading

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Ireland’s Wars: The Bandon Valley Killings

On a few occasions over the course of my “coverage” of the Irish War of Independence I have touched on the topic of sectarian killings as part of that conflict. For the most part, when discussing this subject I have … Continue reading

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Ireland’s Wars: The Castleisland Ambush

We are now on the verge of the War of Independence’s conclusion. The events we discuss today took place literally hours before the truce, that I will discuss next week, came into effect. It is evidence of the ferocity of … Continue reading

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Ireland’s Wars: Shraharla And Lackelly

A little bit earlier, I talked about an instance in the War of Independence when men from separate brigade areas came together to form a better fighting force than they could ever have hoped to have formed separately. The lesson … Continue reading

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