Burning of the Custom House

The Custom House in flames

Date	25 May 1921
Location	Custom House, central Dublin
Result	IRA destroy Custom House but many are captured

Belligerents

Irish Republican Army

Royal Irish Constabulary
(Auxiliary Division),

British Army

Commanders and leaders

Tom Ennis

Strength

c.120

c.120 Auxiliaries at first;
members of Wiltshire Regiment arrived later

Casualties and losses

5 dead, 3 wounded,
70–80 captured

4 wounded

3 civilians killed, 7 wounded

The Custom House, Dublin was occupied and then burnt in an operation by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) on 25 May 1921, during the Irish War of Independence. The Custom House was the headquarters of the Local Government Board for Ireland, an agency of the British administration in Ireland, against which the IRA was fighting in the name of the self-proclaimed Irish Republic. The operation, involving over 100 IRA volunteers, was a propaganda coup for the republicans but a military disaster for the IRA in the Irish capital. Five of its volunteers were killed (along with three civilians) and over 80 captured.

The Irish War of Independence was a guerrilla campaign by the IRA in support of the Irish Republic declared in 1919 and entered its bloodiest phase in the first six months of 1921. In Dublin a total of 309 people were killed in the conflict and several hundred more wounded.

Dublin was garrisoned by over 10,000 British troops and 1,600 police including 400 men of the RIC Auxiliary Division. Most IRA actions in the city consisted either of assassinations of selected police, military or administration figures by the Squad, or ambushes on British forces by one of the four Active Service Units of the IRA's Dublin Brigade (together comprising about 100 men). These were usually rapid and fleeting attacks using grenades and handguns, followed by a quick getaway. There were strict orders given to IRA units to avoid prolonged engagements with the better-armed British forces.

However this policy was reversed after an Irish cabinet meeting in May 1921 where the President of the Republic, Éamon de Valera, called for a spectacular public show of force by the IRA with which to reinforce the idea that it was an army representing an Irish government. For this reason it was decided to attack and burn the Custom House, which, although an important government building, was not defended by the British military. Michael Collins was against the attack but was overruled.

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Wikipedia