War of Independence in Athlone/Westmeath, 1920-1921

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Two articles on the War of Independence in Co. Westmeath, from mid-1920 to early 1921, with the focus on the activities of the Athlone IRA Brigade.

A Clenched Fist Open: The Flying Column of the Athlone Brigade, 1920-1

The Athlone Brigade formed its own flying column in October 1920, partly upon orders to do so by GHQ and also to find a use for the increasing number of its members 'on the run.'

The new unit was led by a former British soldier, Jim Tormey, who was described as having a “fine physique and of a commanding disposition". It also included a number of men who were serving as IRA officers in other units and prepared to serve part-time in the column.

Despite some initial success, the column was plagued by poor discipline and bad luck.

Sieges and Shootings: The Westmeath War against the RIC, 1920

Mid-1920 saw the decline and collapse of the RIC as a civil police force as pressure and a sense of being on the wrong side caused many of its members to resign.

Accelerating was the attitude of the county boards, now dominated by Sinn Fein members since the June 1920 elections, who passed resolutions such as one condemning the RIC as a “blue-coated army of occupation" who were now to be banned from using the local hospital.

The Volunteers/IRA stepped in to fill the policing breach, taking on many of the now neglected duties such as guarding the peace in country fairs and enforcing pub closing times - not always an easy task in the case of the latter, such as when the Volunteer 'on duty' was beaten and crippled by the pub's irate patrons.

Not content with taking a passive stance, the IRA razed a number of abandoned RIC barracks. There was only one attempt on an occupied station, in Streamstown, with a succession of (overly?) elaborate schemes to take it.

The IRA also targeted a senior RIC officer, Sergeant Thomas Craddock, one of their more persistent foes. Craddock was blamed for assaulting suspects and even crippling one, although in the latter case it seems he was innocent.

Ascendant

Another article on the Co. Westmeath, specifically Mullingar, during the War of Independence and afterwards in the Truce period.

Among the Philistines: Dissent and Reaction in the Mullingar IRA Brigade, 1921

An unusual case where a number of Volunteers in the Mullingar IRA were cashiered by their own brigade officers for showing *too* enthusiasm when they attempted to form their own flying column without first asking for permission. The offenders were suspended from the Brigade while on parade-ground, and their two ringleaders arrested and detained.

The two prisoners later received a court-martial, partially due to pressure from the IRA GHQ who were told about the case and were impatient to see it resolved. During the trial, the two defendants vented their feelings of frustration at the sluggish pace of the War in their area.

While not a major or particularly important case, it does provide an insight into the inner-workings of the IRA at the time, with its bureaucracy and concern for hierarchy, as well as a look at an area that generally does not receive much attention from historians of this era.

The story has been construed from paperwork found in the Richard Mulcahy collection in UCD Archives (Mulcahy obviously kept an eye on the case even though he was not directly involved), in addition to a Statement from the Bureau of Military Archives.

A photograph of old Mullingar: