Barriers Broken: Partition, the Free State, and Empire, 1922–25

Abstract

The final chapter examines the afterlife of the Irish military establishment following partition and southern Independence. The shattering of the ancien regime scattered Irish officers not only across partitioned Ireland, but also to Britain and the overseas empire. The prominent role taken by Irish officers in the government of Northern Ireland is discussed, as are the prospects facing ex-officers in the Irish Free State. The question of how prominent former British Army officers were in the Free State Army is reviewed in light of new evidence, and relations between the British and Free State armies are explored. The continuing importance of the overseas empire as a destination for Irish officers—as well as for professions which evolved in Ireland in response to the requirements of empire, like medicine and engineering—is discussed. Finally, officers’ experience of dislocation and loss is discussed. Some officers drew an intriguing parallel between their position in the 1920s, as the remnants of a hidden ‘Anglo-Protestant’ Ireland, and the Wild Geese, Catholic military emigres of an earlier age. The plight of these Irish officers is contextualised within a wider discussion of changing memories of the Irish military tradition.