Irish Republican Police
Irish Republican Police Poilíní Poblachtacha na hÉireann | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | IRP |
Agency overview | |
Formed | 1920 |
Dissolved | 1922 |
Superseding agency | Police force |
Jurisdictional structure | |
National agency | Irish Republic |
Operations jurisdiction | Irish Republic |
Map of Ireland, 1911 | |
Size | 84,421 km2 (32,595 sq mi) |
Population | 4.3 million |
General nature |
The Irish Republican Police (IRP) was the police force of the 1919–1922 Irish Republic and was administered by the Department for Home Affairs of that government.
Foundation
The IRP was founded between April and June 1920 under the authority of
In 1920, the IRP had a presence in 21 of Ireland's 32 counties. In June 1920, the Irish Bulletin claimed that the IRP had arrested 84 criminals in 24 counties within 13 days.[2]
Functioning
The IRP faced considerable difficulties in enforcing its authority. It was viewed as an illegal and
The operation of the IRP was also made difficult by some confusion regarding the separation of civil and military structures during the Irish War of Independence. For individual volunteers, their military role as members of the Irish Republican Army and their police function in the IRP were not always clearly differentiated nor was this difference always obvious to the general public.[5] The IRP had no permanent jails or prisons in which to confine suspects and offenders. Despite this obvious limitation in a system of criminal justice, improvised solutions were found to detain prisoners. Some of those convicted by the Republican Courts were expelled from the area and even from the country.[6] In one incident, three offenders who had been banished by a Republican Land Court to an island off the coast of County Clare for three weeks refused to be rescued by the RIC declaring that as citizens of the Irish Republic, the RIC had no jurisdiction over them.[7] Abandoned buildings in isolated areas were also used for detention, as in the case of a former barracks in the Nire Valley deep in the Comeragh Mountains.[8] A suggestion by the Chief of Police that "incorrigible criminals" should be flogged was turned down by his superiors as "a barbarous form of punishment".[9]
Policing emigration
On 4 June 1920, Cathal Brugha as Minister for Defence, issued a
Organisation
IRP recruits generally came from the ranks of the Irish Republican Army. In the city of Cork, where the IRP had a considerable presence, the IRA elected officers for duty with the IRP. The following extract taken from a contemporary memo, gives a precise overview of the numbers involved nationwide as reported by the officer in charge.
"The Police were formally organised according to the military areas, and the Brigade was the basis of organisation. The details of strength were:-
One Brigade Police Officer for the area.
One Officer for each Battalion Area.
One Company Officer and four men for each Company Area.
The approximate strength of the force under this scheme was 72 Brigade Officers, about 340 Battalion Officers, 1,910 Company Officers and 7,640 rank and file. This force was, of course, rather big but owing to the fact that the men were untrained and were working under great difficulty and under extraordinary circumstances, it was found necessary to retain them. The scheme came into operation last June (ed. 1921)."[14]
The members of the IRP wore no uniform, however some wore
Civil war and replacement of IRP
On 25 August 1922, following the outbreak of
"prior to and during the Irregular occupation of Cork, the work of policing the city was carried on by the Irish Republican Police. These men were paid by the Merchants, who voluntarily paid up to £200 for the purpose. They were admitted on all sides to have been fairly efficient in preventing ordinary crime, but when the Irregulars fled the city at the approach of the National Forces, Cork was without a police force of any sort. Robbery, burglary and looting became rife."
As a replacement, he confirmed authorisation for the establishment of a force of one hundred locally recruited men, to be paid at a rate of £3 6s 0d per week by the Government. The force was called the Cork City Civil Patrol. Recruiting had commenced on 11 August and they were drawn from 'neutral' IRA men, and Irishmen who had previously been part of the British Army and Royal Navy. They were to be augmented by 50 Civic Guards from Dublin, and those found suitable would be gradually absorbed onto the new national police force. The Cork police were unarmed and in lieu of a uniform wore "a white brassard with the letters CCP inscribed on it in black." In case there was any doubt that they were, at least temporarily, under the authority of the Army rather than the Department of Defence much less Home Affairs, each new member took the following pledge:
I hereby undertake and agree to obey the lawful orders of Captain Joseph MacCarthy, or any other officer nominated by General Dalton for the time being in charge of the Patrol. I acknowledge that any employment is purely temporary and agree that one weeks notice on either side may terminate same,
Dated this ______ day of August 1922[15]
Bibliography and notes
- Sheills, Derek,"The Politics of Policing: Ireland 1919–1923", in Policing Western Europe eds. Clive Emsley, Barbara Weinberger ISBN 978-0-313-28219-5
- Kotsonouris, Mary (a), Retreat from Revolution: The Dáil Courts, 1920–24: Irish Academic Press, Dublin: 1994 ISBN 978-0-7165-2511-0
- Ministry for Home Affairs: The Constructive Work of Dáil Éireann (sic) No. 1 – The National Police and Courts of Justice: Talbot Press: Dublin: 1921 (Attributed to Erskine Childers) Politics and Irish life, 1913–1921
- Mitchell, Arthur: Revolutionary Government in Ireland- Dáil Éireann 1919–1922, Gill & MacMillan, Dublin, 1995
- Desmond, Michael: IRP West Waterford B'de.: Witness Statement W.S. 1338 : Bureau of Military History Ext. Link [1] (Copies of the Witness Statements are accessible to the public at the National Archives of Ireland though not, as yet, online.)
- Cork Archives Institute PR4 Terence MacSwiney 1920 Files. [2][permanent dead link]
- The Dáil Éireann Courts Commission, National Archives of Ireland
- Donnolly, Simon, Chief of Republican Police: Witness Statement W.S. 481: Bureau of Military History: Accessed at National Archives of Ireland [3]
- NAI JUS H97/3 Chief of Police (S. Donnelly) to Min. Home Affairs 24/02/22 Report on Republican Police Force
- Early Dept. Finance files : National Archives of Ireland : FIN 1/513-dated; 25 August 1922-titled; Report on Cork -(To) Acting Minister of Home Affairs- signed: Domhnall Ó Súillabháin.
References
- ^ Donnolly 35
- ^ also The Constructive Work of Dáil Éireann 19
- ISBN 9780300123821.
- ^ Kotsonouris (a)57–60
- ^ Kotsonouris (a) p26
- ^ The Constructive Work of Dáil Éireann 7
- ^ Kotsonouris (a) p20
- ^ Desmond p11
- ^ Donnelly 36
- ^ Cork Archives Institute PR4/3/(File3) No. 18 5 June 1920 and PR4/4/File4) No. 29 22 June 1920
- ^ Cork Archives Institute PR4/4/(File4) No. 82 24 July 1920 and No. 83 July 1920
- ^ Mitchell p241
- ^ Donnelly 37
- ^ JUS H97/3 Donnelly to Stack 24/02/'22
- ^ FIN 1/513 (see bibliography)