| Irish Civil War | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Irish revolutionary period | |||||||||
.jpg) National Army soldiers armed with Lewis machine guns aboard a troop transport during the Civil War | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
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Military support:  United Kingdom |
 Anti-Treaty IRA(anti-Treaty forces) | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Military commanders: Political leaders: | Military commanders: Political leaders: | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
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| Strength | |||||||||
| c. 15,000 | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 637 Irish National Army killed[1] | 426+ killed[2] | ||||||||
| Civilians: 336 killed[1] | |||||||||
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 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]
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- ^ a b Bielenberg, Andy (6 March 2024). "The Irish Civil War Fatalities Project: death and killing in the Civil War". rte.ie. RTÉ. Archived from the original on 29 April 2024. 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.