IRA and the Anglo-Irish Treaty

The Irish Republican Army was a guerrilla army that fought the Irish War of Independence against Britain from 1919–1921. It saw itself as the legitimate army of the Irish Republic declared in 1919. The Anglo-Irish Treaty, which ended this conflict, was a compromise which abolished the Irish Republic, but created the self-governing Irish Free State, within the British Empire. The IRA was deeply split over whether to accept the Treaty. Some accepted, whereas some rejected not only the Treaty but also the civilian authorities who had accepted it. This attitude eventually led to the outbreak of the Irish Civil War in late June 1922 between pro- and anti-Treaty factions.

The Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed on 6 December 1921 and narrowly ratified by Dáil Éireann (the Irish Parliament) on 7 January 1922. (See Anglo-Irish Treaty Dáil vote).

Although the Treaty was negotiated by Michael Collins, the de facto leader of the IRA, and had been approved by the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the IRA's senior ranking officers were deeply divided over the decision of the Dáil to ratify the Treaty. Of the General Headquarters (GHQ) staff, nine members were in favour of the Treaty while four opposed it.

On 10 January, at least three anti-Treaty members of the IRA GHQ (one account claims four); six divisional commanders and the officers commanding of the two Dublin brigades meet to formulate their anti-Treaty strategy. They argued that the IRA's allegiance was to the Dáil of the Irish Republic and the decision of the Dáil to accept the Treaty meant that the IRA no longer owed that body its allegiance. They called for the IRA to withdraw from the authority of the Dáil and to entrust the IRA Executive with control over the army. The following day, this group issued Mulcahy with a letter requesting that an Army Convention be held on 5 February to discuss these proposals. The letter is signed by GHQ staff Rory O’Connor, Liam Mellows, Seán Russell, and Seamus O’Donovan, as well as Oscar Traynor, Liam Lynch and other IRA commandants.

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