1922 AD - 2 / February to March
"Anti Treaty Irregular I.R.A - An Garda Siochana / Civic Guards.
1922 AD February: Irish Catholic teachers from Omagh in Co. Tyrone in Central Southern Ulster,, which was one of the 6 Counties "artificially partitioned" from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province, by the British Imperial Government, had a "meeting" and "condemned" the control over the "education" by the "Official" Unionist Conservative Ascendancy Government there at "Stormont" and demanded that the "administration" of education there be under the Irish Provisional Government and that they also finance the Catholic schools there, and an "inquiry" conducted by the Lyn Committee found that 22,000 children in these 6 Counties "artificially partitioned"in Ulster Province that were now under the "control" of the Stormont Ascendancy Government were "unable" to attend school because there were "no" places provided for them there.
February:
Michael Collins who was now the
Chairman of the
Irish Provisional Government
expressed his "apologies" to
John Devoy the leader of the
Clann na Gael / The
Organization
in
America for the previous
misunderstanding with the
1st Dail Eireann / 1st Irish Assembly in
Ireland
over the "remarks and
actions" of
Eamonn de Valera
while he was previously in America.
February 2nd:
Sir
James Craig
the
"Official" Unionist
leader in the
British Imperial Government's,
6 Counties "artificially partitioned"
from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province
had
a meeting with
Michael Collins
the Chairman of the Irish
Provisional Government
in
London, under the auspices of
Winston Churchill were
Sir
James Craig assured
Michael Collins
that he
would "protect" the Catholic
Irish
in the 6
Counties now under his control in the Ulster
Province
and
Michael Collins
agreed to
"withdraw" the "boycott"
from
Belfast in Co.
Antrim in the north - east of Ulster and secure the
"release" of
any persons kidnapped by the "Anti - Treaty
Irregular - IRA."
February 6th: Michael Collins the Chairman of the Irish Provisional Government was still in London for discussions with David Lloyd - George the British Coalition Prime Minister over the setting up of the "Irish Free State."
February 7th:
The Ard Fheis
\ Convention of the "political"
Sinn Fein Party that was previously set down had to be
"postponed" again until
February 21st.
February 12th: Eamonn de Valera began to speak out "vehemently" at an "Anti - Treaty Rally" that was held in O Connell Street in Dublin, in sight of the General Post Office, where the 1916 Irish Easter Rising had originally begun to bring about an Irish Republic and his "vitriolic" comments were to be endorsed by the mother of Patrick Pearse who had led the 1916 Irish Easter Rising and had been "executed" for it by the British Imperial Government.
February 15th:
Michael Collins
the Chairman of the
Irish Provisional Government had to return to London
for more discussions with
David Lloyd - George
and his
British Coalition Cabinet,
over continuing
to set up the
Irish Free State.
February 18th:
Liam Forde
an I.R.A. Volunteer
Brigadier
from
Limerick
in Co. Limerick in the mid - north - west of the
Munster Province "repudiated" the
Irish
Volunteer G.H.Q.
orders and declared the
"Chief of
Staff" a traitor.
February 19th:
Eamonn de Valera
spoke out once again, "against" the "Treaty" at another
"Anti - Treaty Rally"
held this time in the
City of
Cork in
Co. Cork in
Southern Munster.
February 21st: Arthur Griffith as the President of the Dail Eireann / Irish Assembly appealed to all to "accept" the "Anglo - Irish Treaty," while Michael Collins called for a show of "unity," as the British Imperial Government was looking for "any" reason at all to take over once again in Ireland, as Winston Churchill had already informed him that if an Irish Republic was "muted," it would be followed by a state of "War" with the British Imperial Empire.
The
"political"
Sinn Fein Party "Convention"
that was previously planned
was once again "held over" until the next day.
February 22nd:
Michael Collins
and
Eamonn de Valera
were to carry out "discussions" prior to the beginning of the
"political"
Sinn Fein Party "Convention"
were Michael Collins made a further effort to try
and
"appease"
Eamonn de Valera, agreeing with him that the
"Treaty" was not to be
"discussed" and
that the "political" Sinn Fein
Party was
to "adjourn" for
3
months
and was to continue on just as it is and that the Dail
Eireann / Irish Assembly was also to continue on as it was, while no
"Pro - Treaty"
members were to
stand
"against" the "Anti - Treaty"
members, with the
General Elections
to be held within
3 months when the
Irish
Free State Constitution would be put before the
"Irish population at the same time
as the "Anglo
-
Irish Treaty." (By agreeing
to these provisions
Michael Collins
beleived that this would allow
things to "settle down" somewhat.)
February 26th:
Despite the fact that Michael Collins
had made an "accommodation" with him,
Eamonn de Valera
still continued to speak out
again at another "Anti - Treaty"
rally this
time
in
Ennis in
Co. Clare in
the north - west of the Munster Province,
were he was hoping to bring down
any idea of an "Irish Free State,"
and he then followed this up with another "Anti - Treaty"
rally at
Limerick
in Co. Limerick in the mid - north - west of the
Munster Province along the very same lines.
February 28th:
The
Dail Eireann
/ Irish Assembly had a meeting where
Eammon de Valera
and his
followers advised that, "They would
"recognize" the Dail Ministers, but
not the "Irish
Provisional Government,
March: Sir Henry Wilson, the previous Chief of the British Imperial Staff, who was now the M.P. for Northern Co. Down, had since been appointed "Special Military Adviser "to the "Official" Unionist Ascendancy Government at "Stormont" in the 6 Counties "artificially partitioned" from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province and he wanted to re-establish the British Imperial Government law and order also in the other 26 Counties that were to be known as the Irish Free State, when 3 British Imperial Government Military officers were "kidnapped" in Co. Cork in Southern Munster who were later "killed." He also verbally "attacked" the British Coalition Government. At Donaghdee in Co. Down in the south - east of Ulster he also stated that David Lloyd - George the British Coalition Prime Minister was "unfit" to govern the British Empire and wanted British Army officers to be put in charge of the the R.I.C. police and also verbally "attacked" the Irish Provisional Government under Michael Collins as totally "unfit" to govern. The Tories / Conservatives in England were at this time actively trying to "get rid" of David Lloyd - George the Coalition Prime Minister of Britain and his Coalition Government. In the meantime many of the Catholic Irish were being "killed" in the ongoing "ethnic and religious sectarian violence" now occurring in these 6 Counties previously "artificially partitioned" in the Ulster Province, and at Clones a skirmish occurred between the "Anti - Treaty IRA Irregulars" and the "Official" Unionist Special Police, where an "Irregular IRA" commander and 4 Special Police were "killed."
Michael Collins
the Chairman of the Irish Provisional Government
had a further meeting with
Sir
James Craig the "Official" Unionist leader in
"Stormont" and
they both declared
"Peace. "
March 13th:
Michael Collins as the
Chairman of the Irish Provisional Government
addressed a huge crowd in
Cork
City in Co. Cork in
Southern Munster in support of the
"Anglo - Irish Treaty"
and "shots were fired" over their heads, and in
Killarney
Michael Collins
and
Sean Mac Eoin
were "warned"
by the leader of the "Anti - Treaty Irregular -
IRA"
that they would "not" be allowed to hold a "meeting" there,
and
Michael Collins just pushed him aside, and continued on regardless,
and they also later on tried to stop him from doing the same at
Castlebar, but
he
still
continued in with his speech there even though "shots"
also rung out there.
Eammon de Valera
met with his "Anti - Treaty" supporters and they set up
Cumann na Poblachta
/ The
Association of the Republic at which he was
"elected" the President, and
Cathal Brugha, Mary Mac Swiney
and
Austin Stack were also
"elected" the Vice
- Presidents, but this Association was to only
last until
1924, and
Eamonn de Valera
was then to continue to travel throughout Ireland,
week after week,
putting forward the "Anti - Treaty"
side of the argument
for all those interested to hear
March 16th: Eammon de Valera finally went beyond the bounds of common sense, when he made a speech at Dungarvan in which he stated, "Only Civil War would bring about Independence."
March 17th:
Eammon de Valera
made another "Anti - Treaty" speech at
Thurles
in
Co. Tipperary in north - east
of the
Munster Province,
which did no one in
Ireland
any good, when he also stated that, "The
Anglo - Irish Treaty would be accepted over
the dead bodies of their own Countrymen, who would wade through Irish
blood, including
that of the
Irish Provisional Government"
as this
particular violent "Anti - Treaty" speech was to "incite"
those present and all of those who were eventually informed of it's content, while at
Carrick - on - Suir
he was to also further
state that the
"Irish
would fight Irish
for Irish
Independence."
March 18th: The "Anti - Treaty" officers in the I.R.B / Irish Volunteers held a meeting at the Mansion House in Dublin and Cathal Brugha and Harry Boland were there, and they decided to "elect" 16 Executives to control their "Anti - Treaty IRA Irregulars" in the Irish Republican Army and the "split" was now "official" within the I.R.B / Irish Volunteers and the "Anti - Treaty" members became "officially" the "Irregular Republican Army / IRA" as against the Irish National Army / I.N.A who were to remain "loyal" to the Dail Eireann / Irish Assembly and the Irish Provisional Government leading onto the "Anglo - Irish Treaty" and the Irish Free State.
March 19th:
Eamonn de Valera
spoke out again at another "Anti - Treaty" rally in
Killarney
in Co. Kerry in the south - west of the
Munster Province stating that,
"
Irishmen
would march over the dead bodies of their
own brothers and wade through
Irish blood if the Anglo - Irish Treaty was accepted."
March 20th: Richard Mulcahy the "Minister of Defence" for the Irish Provisional Government put forward a "joint" Council for association with the I.R.B / Irish Volunteers and the Irish Provisional Government, for the recruitment of the Irish Provisional Government "police" to be known as the An Garda Siochana / Civic Guards.
March 23rd: The "Anti - Treaty" forces held a meeting in "opposition" to the ban on the Irish Volunteer "Convention," as half of the Irish Volunteers / I.R.B. were Irish Republicans and they decided to hold their "own" meeting of the I.R.A. / Irish Republican Army.
March
26th:
The delegates from the newly formed "Anti - Treaty
Irregular - IRA" reaffirmed their aim, for the
return of the
"whole" of the
32 Counties of
Ireland, to become
the
Irish
Republic for the overall population
of Ireland be totally free of
the
British
Imperial Government's
continuing "oppression and influence" and to this end, they
"elected" an
Executive of
16 and
"broke away"
from the "official"
Irish
National Army and
"disowned" the Dail Eireann / Irish Assembly and
also the staid and insistent
Eammon de Valera himself and were now to call
themselves the
"Irish
Republican Army Council / IRA
Council."
Liam Lynch was appointed
their "Commander in Chief"
to
control Southern
Munster,
while others
"elected" were
Joseph Mac Kelvey,
Ernest O Malley, Joseph Griffin,
Liam Mellowes,
Seamus O
Donovan and
Sean Russell.
Rory O Connor
as the "Anti - Treaty Irregular -
IRA" Director of
Publicity, declared the
Irregular IRA
"independent" of any "political party," but gave the interview from the
building in which Cumann na Poblachta,
the new "political" party under
Eammon de Valera, operated
out of.
Eammon de Valera
also publically stated that his
new "political" party was independent of the "Irregular -
IRA," and that he acted "independently" of them, but he
was to
go on to "support" the
"Irregular - IRA", and never
repudiated
Rory O Connor
in the Dail Eireann /
Irish Assembly, and
in the future was to meet with their leaders,
Liam Mellowes and
Rory O Connor
on several
occasions.
Michael Collins as the Chairman of the Irish Provisional Government now arranged with Liam Lynch to try and give some support to the Irish Catholics who were now constantly under the "sectarian" sieges being carried out in the 6 Counties "artificially partitioned" from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province, as he personally could not be involved with the Ascendancy Unionists just waiting for him to make some sought of move to personally attempt to "defend" the populaton there, so they could bring back the British Imperial Government Army Forces into the other 26 Counties that would in time become known as the Irish Free State. Liam Lynch was to later on "resign" his position in the "Irregular - IRA" due to a conflict with the "methods" they were using, but he was to still fight for their cause in the "Civil War" that was to follow, and the "Irregular - IRA" members were to eventually come totally under the control of Rory O Connor their "Irregular - IRA" Director of Engineering and Publicity who commanded the Dublin area. Although the "Anti - Treaty Irregular - IRA" had publicly also "disowned" Eammon de Valera he still continued during this period to go around "verbally" attacking the introduction of the Irish Free State in the 4 Provinces in Ireland, while continuing to make "intimidating" speeches against the members of the Irish Provisional Government.
March 30th: Rory O Connor, who was at this time one of the leaders of the "Anti - Treaty Irregular - IRA" in Dublin, raided the Freemans Journal newspaper were he "smashed" the printing plant for producing articles that put forward the "Pro - Treaty" side.
Sir James Craig the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist leader signed an 11 Point Agreement together with Lord Londonderry and E.M. Archdale on behalf of the Government in the 6 Counties "artificially partitioned" from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province, that were still under the control of the British Imperial Government and the "Official" Unionists, while Michael Collins, Arthur Griffith, Eammon Duggan and Kevin O Higgins "signed" on behalf of the Irish Free State, and Winston Churchill together with Sir Worthington - Evans signed for the British Imperial Government to try and stop the ongoing "ethnic and religious" conflicts in these 6 Counties in the Ulster Province between the people who were still living there, and to bring in the "artificial partition" boundary, and also to release the "boycott" in Belfast, but it was to only last just over a "week."
The Orange Order Annual
Convention was held for equal rights, equal
liberties, and equal
opportunities, in the 6 Counties
"artificially partitioned"
from the 9 Counties in the Ulster
Province no matter what "religion or political
persuasion.
232 people were to be "killed" in these
6 Counties "artificially partitioned"
from the 9 Counties in the
Ulster Province, including 5
"Official" Unionist MP’s and another 1,000
people were also "wounded " there.
Cardinal O Donnell was to be the Bishop of Armagh at this time in Co. Armagh in the south - east of the Ulster Province.
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