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WW1 Irish soldiers and Easter Rising 1916
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05-08-2014 12:23pm#1
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There was a mixed response.
But to understand the reaction to 1916 you need to understand the full spectrum of events between 1914 when World War I began and 1923 when the Civil War in Ireland ended.
First of all the first men to respond to the Rising were the men of the Irish garrison in Ireland who were rushed to Dublin City Centre to fight the rebels. There were Trinity students who were undergoing military training who defended the college from the rebels and traded fire with rebels across the rooftops. Artillery was brought up to Dublin from barracks down the country to shell the rebel positions. When some of the Irish rebels were captured in their strange green uniforms there are stories of the Irishmen in British uniform asking them if they were Germans. A number of the British soldiers who committed atrocities against innocent civilians were Anglo-Irish born in Ireland.
One British officer was on a date in St. Stephen's Green with his girl when he was held up at gun point by some of the girls under the command of Countess Markievic. They took him to the summer house in the park and gave him tea and buns while they debated shooting him. The resourceful officer took a shine to some of the girls and ended up kissing a few of them before the Countess flew into a fury at the hussies!
The men who joined up for a variety of reasons.
The majority of the enlisted men were workmen who joined up to feed their families, middle class educated men joined for Home Rule and the upper class for King and Country. So the enlisted men would have been bewildered at the news of the 1916 rebellion not knowing or caring really what the war was about and probably wondering why the hell there was fighting Dublin. The educated middle class men and upper classes would have felt stabbed in the back for certain.
A few advanced nationalists in the ranks would have certainly mutinied but faced with court martial and being shot would have backed down if they knew what was good for them.
As soon as many men with republican sentiments got home on leave they deserted.
At home the majority of Irish republican militants were middle class farmers' sons who had farms coming to them and were shy about joining up and ultimately did not join up and depended on men like Tom Barry who fought in Iraq and returned home only to be enraged to see Black and Tans shooting his friends to show them how to use rifles and grenades and fight in an organized fashion.
The majority of war veterans when they came home voted for Sinn Féin in 1918 like their fellow Irishmen and like their fellow Irishmen kept their heads down during the Irish War of Independence while a militant IRA minority took on the British. Some veterans would have assisted the Tans because they were targeted as suspected spies by the IRA or actually joined the Tans again for money.
A few upper class veterans who fought for Home Rule or King and Country in the war ended up supporting the IRA.
In 1920 a number of Irishmen serving with the Connaught Rangers in India mutinied after they were angered by British atrocities in Ireland and one man J.J. Daly was executed.
However recruitment into the British Army even in Co. Cork one of the most violent counties in Ireland remained high with thousands of men joining up. Meanwhile in the ranks of the IRA who were actually active in fighting there were only a few thousand. Thousands later claimed IRA pensions who sat back and did nothing.
When the Free State Army was set up and the Irish regiments of the British Army in Ireland were disbanded thousands of men simply changed uniform from brown khaki to green khaki. In fact many of the Irish uniforms were simply dyed green. They used the same kit and rifles and barracks their regiments had been based in and merged with untrained ex-IRA men who took the Pro-Treaty side. The Civil War was their chance to get revenge against the IRA - the majority of the IRA went against the Treaty - who had been tormenting them during the War of Independence.
When the Civil War was over in Ireland the majority of British Army veterans and IRA veterans on both sides of the Treaty emigrated on the same steamers for America and Britain.
I hope that long winded explanations helps?
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Yes they did. The Free State Army was tens of thousands strong by 1923. The overwhelming majority of those men were World War I veterans and men who got new employment by the Free State after their old units were disbanded.
I don't want to start another "When is an army an army" style debate but when is a mercenary a mercenary? 0 -
I don't want to start another "When is an army an army" style debate but when is a mercenary a mercenary?
Well an army is just a job at the end of the day. For the majority of people who fight in all wars the army is a home, a job and adventure and a means to prove their manhood. When an army is not fighting and not taking part in wars some individuals want to go where the action is and become mercenaries because they are professional soldiers.0 -
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It doesn't help when institutions of the State itself give out wild figures either. I seen a clip recently on Youtube or the RTE player archive (searching for it at the moment but can't find it) of an RTE Docu from the 90's in which Brian Dobson describes that after the Battle of Crossbarry, 50-odd British soldiers lay dead! Now that's a load of bullsh*t right there and a figure that was pulled right out of their Aras.
Kabakuyu, I've found that Docu. Its right at the beginning and he actually says 39 British dead as opposed to 50-odd like I said (which in itself shows how things can get exaggerated!) but that's still wildly inaccurate in my opinion. Maybe RTE back then were still in the business of romanticising Ireland's history and her fearless warriors in place of actual facts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl66ixAXm_A0 -
Kabakuyu, I've found that Docu. Its right at the beginning and he actually says 39 British dead as opposed to 50-odd like I said (which in itself shows how things can get exaggerated!) but that's still wildly inaccurate in my opinion. Maybe RTE back then were still in the business of romanticising Ireland's history and her fearless warriors in place of actual facts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl66ixAXm_A
Cheers for that .Don't know much about Crossbarry, there seems to be confusion still to day, look at these 2 different sites, both sides were prone to exaggerate casualties but you would hope the truth would be easier to ascertain today.
http://homepage.eircom.net/~corkcounty/Timeline/Crossbarry.htm
The above mentions 39 BA killed, according to BA official reports, but no linked source for said documents.
http://www.cairogang.com/soldiers-killed/crossbarry-ambush/crossbarry.html
The above confirms 10 dead and names them, it also quotes from a contemporary newspaper report in "The Freemans Journal"
I wonder what the truth is? I am more inclined to go with the second article.0 -
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