Old Enemies? July 1921–June 1922

Abstract

This chapter explores the year between the Truce and ceasefire between the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the British forces in July 1921 and the outbreak of civil war in June 1922. First, it will examine non-lethal breaches of the terms of the Truce by the IRA and the reaction of Crown forces, highlighting a conflict between the political necessities of the Truce and the behaviour of local IRA units and civilians on the ground. Secondly, it will interrogate the nature of suspicion and the labelling of civilians at this time through a study of extant intelligence reports compiled by the IRA in early 1922. It will be seen that production of these files, and the IRA’s intelligence war more generally, was a product of the communities in which it was conducted and personal traits or labels that would have been well known in an everyday context were produced as evidence of suspicion. This idea will be expanded upon in the final section of the chapter as it takes a broader approach to civilian defiance and IRA punishment by dealing with the experiences of and perceptions towards specific minority groups, including Protestants, loyalists, and disbanded policemen.