Irish Army Mutiny

The Army Mutiny (Irish: Ceannairc an Airm) was an Irish Army crisis in March 1924 provoked by a proposed reduction in army numbers in the immediate post-Civil War period. A second grievance concerned the handling of the Northern Boundary problem. As the prelude to a coup d'état, the decisions made by influential politicians and soldiers at the time have continuing significance for the Government of Ireland.

In the early weeks of the Civil War, the National Army comprised 7,000 men mainly pro-Treaty IRA units, especially the Dublin Guard, whose members had personal ties to Michael Collins. They faced around 15,000 anti-Treaty IRA men and Collins needed to recruit experienced soldiers from wherever he could. The army's size mushroomed to 55,000 men, many war-hardened Irishmen – 20,000 National Volunteers had joined the British Army on the urgings of Nationalist leader John Redmond.

Likewise, Irishmen who had served in the British forces accounted for over half the 3,500 officers.W.R.E. Murphy, second-in-command (January–May 1923), had been a lieutenant colonel in the British Army, as had Emmet Dalton. Two more of the senior generals, John T. Prout and J.J. "Ginger" O'Connell, had served in the United States Army. Collins promoted fellow-members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood but was slow to put Squad members in high positions.

In December 1922, following Collins's death, Liam Tobin formed the Irish Republican Army Organisation (IRAO) taking in Dublin Guard and other Irish Army officers who shared his view that "higher command...was not sufficiently patriotic". President W. T. Cosgrave, head of the government attempted to appease the IRAO. He met with them several times before the September 1923 Election and persuaded the opposing IRB faction of Generals under Richard Mulcahy to keep quiet.

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