National Army soldiers armed with Lewis machine guns aboard a troop transport in the Civil War
Date
28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923 (10 months, 3 weeks and 5 days)
Location
Irish Free State
Result
Pro-Treaty forces victory
Territorial changes
Consolidation of the Irish Free State
Belligerents
Irish Free State (pro-Treaty forces)
Military support: United Kingdom
Anti-Treaty IRA (anti-Treaty forces)
Commanders and leaders
Military commanders:
Michael Collins †
Richard Mulcahy
Eoin O'Duffy
Political leaders:
Arthur Griffith #
W. T. Cosgrave
Kevin O'Higgins
Military commanders:
Liam Lynch †
Frank Aiken
Ernie O'Malley
Political leaders:
Éamon de Valera
Units involved
National Army
CID (including the Citizens' Defence Force)
Civic Guards
Anti-Treaty IRA (officially termed the Irregulars)[a]
Partly involved:
Cumann na mBan
Fianna Éireann
Irish Citizen Army
Irish Republican Police
Strength
National Army: c. 55,000 soldiers and 3,500 officers by end of the war
Air Service: 10 planes
CID: 350
c. 15,000
Casualties and losses
637 Irish National Army killed[1]
426+ killed[2]
Civilians: 336 killed[1]
v
t
e
Irish Civil War
Dublin
Free State offensive
Kilmallock
Newport
Guerrilla Phase
Executions
Timeline
v
t
e
Irish revolutionary period (1912–1923)
Events
Home Rule Crisis (1912–14)
Curragh mutiny (1914)
Howth gun-running (1914)
Larne gun-running (1914)
Easter Rising (1916)
Conscription Crisis (1918)
War of Independence (1919–22)
The Troubles in Northern Ireland (1920–22)
Creation of Northern Ireland (1921)
Partition of Ireland (1920–22)
Anglo-Irish Treaty (1921)
Irish Civil War (1922–23)
1923 Irish hunger strikes
Irish Army Mutiny (1924)
Organisations
Irish Republican Brotherhood
Irish Parliamentary Party
Sinn Féin
Irish Volunteers
Irish Republican Army
Irish Citizen Army
Black and Tans
Ulster Unionist Party
Ulster Volunteer Force
Royal Irish Constabulary
Ulster Special Constabulary
The Irish Civil War (Irish: Cogadh Cathartha na hÉireann; 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923)[3] was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United Kingdom but within the British Empire.
The civil war was waged between the Provisional Government of Ireland and the anti-Treaty Irish Republican Army (1922–1969) (IRA) over the Anglo-Irish Treaty. The Provisional Government (which became the Free State in December 1922) supported the terms of the treaty, while the anti-Treaty opposition saw it as a betrayal of the Irish Republic that had been proclaimed during the Easter Rising of 1916. Many of the combatants had fought together against the British in the Irish Republican Army (1919–1922) during the War of Independence, and had divided after that conflict ended and the treaty negotiations began.
The Civil War was won by the pro-treaty National Army, who first secured Dublin by early July, then went on the offensive against the anti-Treaty strongholds of the south and west, especially the 'Munster Republic', successfully capturing all urban centres by late August. The guerrilla phase of the Irish Civil War lasted another 10 months, before the IRA leadership issued a "dump arms" order to all units, effectively ending the conflict. The National Army benefited from substantial quantities of weapons provided by the British government, particularly artillery and armoured cars.
The conflict left Irish society divided and embittered for generations. Today, the three largest political parties in the Republic of Ireland, Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, and Sinn Féin are direct descendants of the opposing sides of the war; Fine Gael from the supporters of the pro-Treaty side, Fianna Fáil the party formed from the bulk of the anti-Treaty side by Éamon de Valera, and Sinn Féin, descended from the rump anti-Treaty and irredentist republican party left behind by De Valera's supporters.[4]
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
^ abBielenberg, Andy. "The Irish Civil War Fatalities Project: death and killing in the Civil War". rte.ie. RTÉ. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
^The Last Post. National Graves Association. 1985. pp. 130–154. OCLC 64552311.
^"The Troubles". Claregalway Historical Society Sharing our historical & cultural heritage. Archived from the original on 31 December 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
^Kissane, Bill (2005). The Politics of the Irish Civil War. OUP Oxford. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-19-927355-3. Archived from the original on 30 December 2019. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
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