Christmas Raid
The Christmas Raid was an attack on 23 December 1939 by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) against the Irish Army and the Phoenix Park Magazine Fort—Ireland's largest munitions dump. The attack resulted in the capture of the munitions dump by the IRA and the seizure of a huge quantity of weapons. Although the operation was initially successful, two of the raiders were captured shortly after the raid and, in the following days, most of the stolen military equipment was recovered and several IRA volunteers were arrested.
The fort
The Dublin Magazine Fort was built in 1735. The fort is in the west of the city, north of the River Liffey within Phoenix Park. The building is located in the south-eastern part of the park, close by a wooded ridge, and has a commanding view of the surrounding area. It was occupied by the British Army during the period of British rule, and after independence was utilised by the Irish Army to store their stocks of arms and ammunition.[1]
Reasons for raid
The IRA was still involved with the
A raid on the Fort was not a new idea—it had been floated initially in 1937, but
Many IRA members had been
The garrison
The Magazine Fort did not have its own guard troops. These were supplied from infantry units stationed in the Command area. That particular night, the 7th (Dublin) Infantry Battalion, a reserve battalion stationed at Portobello Barracks (now
On the evening of the Raid, the officer responsible for the defence of the fort, the same man who had filled the post for twenty-four years, had the following at his disposal for guard duty:[4]
- One Non-Commissioned Officer(NCO)
- Six men armed with rifles and one Lewis gun
- One Military Policeman (MP)
- A fire picket, consisting of one NCO and four men, also equipped with rifles.
The guard party were warned for duty on the evening of 22 December and given precise instructions as to their duties for the next morning.
The raid
Around 2000 hrs that night, according to the statements of the guards, the officer commanding left his post to go into the city. To do this the
The two hostages were then forced to act as human shields for the two intruders to the guardroom where the remaining soldiers were caught by surprise and surrendered without a fight. Whilst this was happening a second IRA team overcame and disarmed the fire picket troops. At this point, all the troops attached to the fort and the gatekeeper were held prisoner until around 2220 hrs that evening and made no attempt to resist their captors. During this time, the captives heard 'many' heavy lorries coming and going from the depot. At 2220 hrs the IRA locked the prisoners in the 'C' Magazine area, which the raiders had completely emptied of weaponry.[4] They were warned not to give away details to the authorities that could identify them.
By this time, an alarm had been raised at Islandbridge Barracks after a lorry failed to stop when driving through the gate.[5] It was 2250 by the time a party of soldiers was dispatched from Portobello Barracks to investigate what was happening at the fort. They managed to capture two of the raiders, who were seen hiding near the fort's entrance. In the meantime, the duty officer at Portobello had raised the general alarm.[4] Around midnight, a new guard was ordered posted at the Magazine Fort and orders were issued for the arrest of the old guard.
A total of 1,084,000 rounds of ammunition had been taken and removed in thirteen lorries with no casualties or hindrance.[4]
Recapture of the ammunition
Over the next three to four days a massive nationwide hunt was launched to find the stolen items. On 1 January 1940 it was reported that almost three-quarters of the ammunition had been recovered, a total of 850,000 rounds.[6]: 68
- two and a half tons were seized in Dundalk, County Louth,
- eight tons in Swords, County Dublin,
- sixty-six cases of Thompsons and ammunition in South Armagh (2 and a half tons captured by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC)),
- one hundred crates containing 120,000 rounds in Straffan, County Kildare.
In addition, some IRA volunteers were caught storing the ammunition, and were arrested.
Aftermath of raid
The raid had turned into another disaster for the IRA to contend with. The volume of material stolen, and the massive hunt to recover it that followed, turned up all the stolen ammunition and weapons plus more, along with the IRA volunteers attempting to store it.[2]: 174 The positive effect on morale that the raid had made evaporated. The Oireachtas was recalled on 3 January 1940 and in two days the government rushed through amendments to both the Emergency Powers Act (EPA; to extend its internment powers to Irish civilians[7][8]) and the Offences Against the State Act (OSA; to re-establish non-emergency internment within the parameters of the Burke v. Lennon judgment[9][8]). Many IRA members were re-interned for the rest of war; additionally, the OSA's Special Criminal Court and the EPA's military tribunal were used for non-jury trials of IRA members.[3][8]
See also
- The Emergency
- Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)
- Sabotage Campaign (IRA)
- Northern Campaign (IRA)
Footnotes
- Irish Times.
- ^ ISBN 9781412838887– via Google Books.
- ^ ISBN 9781904890751.
- ^ a b c d e Oireachtas, Houses of the (30 April 1940). "Committee on Finance. - Raid on Magazine Fort—Motion for Select Committee. – Dáil Éireann (10th Dáil) – Tuesday, 30 Apr 1940 – Houses of the Oireachtas". www.oireachtas.ie.
- ^ a b "RAID ON ARMY FORT: Sensational Coup in Dublin" (PDF). Irish Independent. 26 December 1939.
- ^ ISBN 1-131-82692-2– via Google Books.
- ^
- "Emergency Powers (Amendment) Bill, 1940—Second Stage". Dáil Éireann (10th Dáil) debates. Houses of the Oireachtas. 3 January 1940. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
- "Emergency Powers (Amendment) Act 1940, § 2". electronic Irish Statute Book (eISB). Dublin: Office of the Attorney General. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
- ^ ISBN 9780415350969.
- ^
- "Offences Against the State (Amendment) Bill, 1940—Second Stage". Dáil Éireann (10th Dáil) debates. Houses of the Oireachtas. 4 January 1940. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
- "Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act, 1940, Part II". electronic Irish Statute Book (eISB). Dublin: Office of the Attorney General. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
Further information/sources
- Mark M. Hull, Irish Secrets. German Espionage in Wartime Ireland 1939–1945, Dublin:Irish Academic Press, 2003, ISBN 0-7165-2756-1
- IRA volunteer Liam Brady's recollection of the Christmas Raid and the part he played in it, is archived here.