1921 AD - 3 / April to May

April 1st: At this time Michael Collins in Dublin, was operating his Intelligence Office from Patricia Hoey's home, which was also raided by the British Imperial Coalition Government forces and she was arrested, but was still able to arrange to have a message successfully delivered to warn him not to turn up the next morning, where the British Government forces were waiting to ambush him. - The American Association for the Recognition of the Irish Republic, had now grown to 500,000 members in America, and many of the branches from the Friends of Irish Freedom had now also joined in with them.

     Sir Hamar Greenwood's weekly summary, on behalf of the British Imperial Coalition Government produced a Press Release from Dublin Castle (The Devil's 1/2 Acre), stating that, "Eamonn de Valera belonged to a race of treacherous murderers (Spanish) and has inducted Ireland into the murderous treachery of his race." Eammon de Valera sent a copy, of what was in reality a bigoted racial statement, to the Spanish Ambassador in London, and it was distributed throughout the Spanish speaking world, to the further detriment of the British Coalition Government. General Crozier, the British Imperial Military commander, now resigned from his untenable British Coalition Government position in Ireland. ( - Portobello and Wellington in Dublin were the site of the British Imperial Military Barracks there.) - The overbearing Lord French the British Coalition Government's appointed Lord Lieutenant in Ireland was also recalled by the British Government, and was replaced by Lord Fitz Alan / Edmond Talbot to see if he could somehow regain British Imperial control in Ireland.

April 21st: Lord Derby, arrived into Dublin, who was acting on behalf of David Lloyd - George the British Coalition Prime Minister, to try an arrange a meeting with the various factions in Ireland, which was in reality to turn out to be an attempt to try and create a split, between the ideals of the Catholic Church and the 1st Dail Eireann / 1st Irish Assembly. He first met with Cardinal Logue in Co. Armagh in the south - east of the Ulster Province, and then with Eamonn de Valera at James O Mara's home in Fitzwilliam Place in Dublin, but nothing was to come of it. He also tried to get Eammon de Valera and Arthur Griffith to meet with David Lloyd - George the British Coalition Prime Minister in London, but it also came to nothing. Seeing the way the wind was now blowing, Eamonn de Valera decided not to let Michael Collins go to America, mainly because of Lord Derby's visit, as due to his outstanding commitment to the cause of Ireland, he would surely be wanted if any real negotiations were begun.

April 29th: Eamonn Duggan, who was still being held prisoner in Mountjoy Jail in Dublin along with Arthur Griffith, reported to Michael Collins on the approach the 4 men, who were being held there, had previously also received on behalf of the British Imperial Coalition Government from Lord Derby.

May: 50 men from the Irish Republican Army's Dublin Brigade, were from now on formed in to a full time Active Service Unit / A.S.U., with similar activities to those carried out by the Squad on behalf of the Irish Volunteers Intelligence Department. Over 100 raids were to be carried out against the British Imperial Government Military forces, including those by the Co. Donegal I.R.A. Brigade, under Peadar O Donnell, with the one on the Charlemont Fort on the Blackwater River in Co. Armagh in the south - east of the Ulster Province, which they burnt. This was in one of the 6 Counties, to be artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, under the control of the British Imperial Government and the Ascendancy "Official" Unionists there.

May - July: The British Imperial Coalition Government, pushed on with their artificial partition of the 6 Counties from the 9 in the Ulster Province in Ireland, as their Irish 4th Home Rule Bill was given British Royal Assent, and they prepared to hold General Elections for their 2 new divided colonial Parliaments in Ireland, that they had now created, due to their previous British Imperial legislation and Ascendancy leanings.

May: The new Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Government to be in control in the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, which was to be eventually set up in a new parliament building in Stormont at Belfast in Co. Antrim in the north - east of the Ulster Province, was now to be made "official" under British Imperial Law and the "Official" Unionist Council were to become the new Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Party, and were to rule the Irish population there totally as they liked for another 50 years. They were to continue to carry on as a further extension to the formerly bigoted Ascendancy Parliament that had controlled Ireland for over the last 300 years. This particular British Imperial Government Act, was to culminate in the further deaths of many thousands of people within the Irish population, under the continuing British Imperial Military forces and their political control, and by the ongoing and continuing devolution of human rights, gerrymandering and indifference. The whole sorry mess was to continue on until the massive bloodbath, and gross intolerance, was to become so bad that it could no longer be tolerated by any decent thinking human being. The oppressed Irish families there in these particular artificially partitioned 6 Counties of Ulster, were to have to continue to live and die there, in what was in reality their own traditional part of Ireland, for the next 50 years under total Ascendancy control. The rest of the Country in the other 26 Counties in Ireland were to be finally Independently Free, of the previous, despicable ethnic, sectarian and economic domination of their basic human rights.  

May 2nd: As the General Elections were soon to be held, Sir Alfred Cope the British Imperial Coalition Government appointed Under - Secretary in Ireland, set up in the Dublin Castle, persuaded James Craig, the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist leader, to have a meeting with Eamonn de Valera the President of the 1st Dail Eireann / 1st Irish Assembly. He wanted them to generally discuss the initial setting up of the artificial partition of the 6 Counties from the actual 9 Counties from the Ulster Province, by the British Coalition Government.   

May 4th: Sean Mac Eoin, the commander of the I.R.A. Volunteer Longford Brigade in the north - east of Northern Leinster, had by now recovered from his wounds while in prison, and was waiting for the British Imperial Coalition Government to put him before their British Court Martial, and Emmet Dalton the Director of Training together with Joseph Leonard, Patrick Mac Rae, Thomas Keogh, Francis Bolster and William Stapleton decided to make an attempt to try and rescue him. They commandeered a British Imperial Military armoured car, to try and free him from the prison in Mountjoy, and although they were able to make their way in to the jail, they were soon forced to retreat, when they became engaged in a running gun battle. 

May 5th: James Craig, the leader of the "Official" Unionists, met with Eamonn de Valera the leader of the 1st Dail Eireann at Tom Greene's house on Howth Road in Dublin, to where he had been escorted by members of the I.R.A. Volunteers, although he was still very ill at ease, but they came to no conclusions, as he considered that the Immoral Union with England was binding on all the Irish people, while Eamonn de Valera tried to convince him that the methods used originally to bring it about were morally wrong. Eamonn de Valera, also felt that this was a matter, which could only be solved by discussions between the actual creator of this ongoing conflict, the British Imperial Government and the elected representatives of the majority of the people of Ireland, as the "Official" Unionists were in reality only a minority section in the whole of the total Irish population. The 1st Dail Eireann / 1st Irish Assembly, let it be known publicly, that they considered the General Lower House Elections for the British Government's proposed artificial partition of the other 26 Counties in their proposed "Southern Ireland," which were also to be held, were actually to be for the election of the 2nd Dail Eireann / 2nd Irish Assembly. (N.B: The British Government's artificially partitioned elections in Ireland did not allow for a Senate.)           

       Eamonn de Valera, the President of the 1st Dail Eireann when he was to eventually meet with Winston Churchill, was to personally give him a  4 hour run down on all the Irish grievances back to the first introduction of Poyning's Irish Ethnic and Sectarian Penal Laws, that had originally been imposed by the English Government against the Irish population that was always added to over the previous Centuries. 

May 10th:  Eamonn de Valera the President of the 1st Dail Eireann / 1st Irish Assembly, reported on his unfruitful meeting with the British Imperial Coalition Government's representative, Lord Derby, to try and further clarify the situation.

May 12th: The British Imperial Coalition Government's Cabinet, at this time held a meeting on the problems that they were having keeping control over the Irish population, where David Lloyd -  George their Prime Minister and 9 others were against any sought of Truce with the Irish, while 5 of them, showing some actual sensibility to what was really occurring in Ireland at this stage, supported one.

May 13th: For the first time the British Parliamentary Elections were to be based on Proportional Representation, which was brought in intentionally to actually defeat the growing strength of the political Sinn Fein Party in Ireland, who were now the major political party, but in reality they were not effected, but it did have the added positive result of assisting the Irish Nationalists in the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province.

     In the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 Counties, that actually made up the whole of Ulster Province there, to be known as "Northern Ireland," under the British Imperial Government legislation, there were to be 52 seats contested there, and by now Sir Edward Carson had given up the leadership of the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Party, and Sir James Craig had become their new leader and their Prime Minister. Naturally with the deck now once again stacked to suite the Ascendancy, 40 of the 52 seats went to the "Official" Unionist Party as expected, with the other 12 going to the Irish Republican and Irish Nationalist members, who refused to attend the British Government's artificially partitioned Parliament of "Northern Ireland" anyway. All of those elected there would only recognize the 1st Dail Eireann / 1st Irish Assembly as the legitimate Government of Ireland, and among them were 5 members of the political Sinn Fein Party, including Arthur Griffith their vice - President, who also won seats in both Co. Fermanagh and Co. Tyrone in 2 of the artificially partitioned Counties in Ulster, Michael Collins also won one there in Co. Armagh, were he was physically able to attend a rally, and give a speech, although the British Imperial Government's  "Murder Gang" were waiting for a chance to kill him. Eamonn de Valera also won one there in South Co. Down, as did Eoin Mac Neill and Sean Milroy, and all of these elected members there besides, also held seats in the other British Imperial Government nominated "Southern Ireland," made up of the remaining 26 Counties, also divided and artificially partitioned to suite from Ireland by them. The British Imperial Government's scheme of allowing Proportional Representation, while endeavouring to defeat the political Sinn Fein Party, had backfired, as the Irish Nationalists had also gained the majority in 25 out of the 76 Local Councils in the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province. This had Sir James Craig, the Ascendancy's "Official" Unionist leader there really worried, so he eventually had a Bill passed in the Belfast Assembly in Co. Antrim, so that all local office holders had to pledge their obedience to the British Imperial Government's "Northern Ireland" Constitution, as laid down in the British Imperial Government's 1920 Act.  

      Meanwhile, the first act of the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Government, when they had gained control of the 6 artificially partitioned Counties from the 9 in the Ulster Province, was to do away with Proportional Representation for the Local Government elections, while incredulously on the other hand, it was to be maintained by them for their Stormont Parliament elections, to suite, until 1929, and the British Imperial Government, as usual, were to do nothing about it. (Meanwhile, the artificial partition of Ireland was to be a dead issue in the other 26 Counties, of what was to become known in the future as the Irish Free State,) Meanwhile, the political Sinn Fein Party, was to go ahead and use the actual elections to bring in their 2nd Dail Eireann / 2nd Irish Assembly, and also refuse to recognise the British Imperial Government's Ascendancy "Official" Unionist, "Northern Parliament," for as far as they were concerned the Irish people were actually holding their elections for the whole of Ireland, which encompassed the whole 32 Counties. From the 26 Counties, there were 128 members elected, with 124 of these being the political Sinn Fein Party representatives who were all unopposed, and included among these were Eamonn de Valera, John Liddy, Patrick Brennan and Brian Higgins, who all won seats in Co. Clare. Michael Collins also won a seat in South Co. Cork, besides the one he had won in Co. Armagh, and they all swore allegiance only to represent Ireland as a whole entity, and set up the 2nd Dail Eireann / 2nd Irish Assembly in Dublin. The elected Irish M.P.s / Members of Parliament were never to meet for the British Imperial Government's proposed artificial partition of Ireland in their "Southern Parliament" at Dublin, as only the 4 "Official" Unionist members from the Trinity College, which was a Unionist stronghold, were to show up.        

May 18th: As a precaution now against the future devious plans of the British Imperial Government, Eamonn de Valera the leader of the 2nd Dail Eireann was moved to Glenvar at Blackrock, as there were by now raids being carried out by the British Imperial Government Military forces on all of the previous premises where he had stayed.

May 19th: David Lloyd - George the British Coalition Prime Minister, on this day told Bonar - Law, the Conservative leader, that despite the election result, there was still to be no change in the British Imperial Government's oppressive policies in Ireland, and that they should show no sign of weakening of their position against the Irish forces.

May 20th: On this day the British Imperial Government's R.I.C. / Black & Tans also murdered Father Seamus O Callaghan, another Catholic priest, in cold blood, who was a Gaelic language enthusiast. It seemed it was now time for the Irish Republican Army forces to show the real strength of their numbers, even if only for the sake of publicity, as many of the attacks they had carried out previously were not recorded publicly overseas, They realised that they now needed to engage in a large scale operation, to counteract the British Imperial Government's propaganda, that these attacks were only being carried out by Irish Rebels.            

May 25th: To this end on this day, the Irish Republicans / Irish Republican Army / I.R.A. decided to besiege the Customs House, which was under the control of the British Coalition Government's Dublin Castle, during which time Eamonn de Valera was to be stopped and searched twice, and not realising who he was they also let him go. The Customs House, which was situated on the River Liffey in Dublin, was where the British Imperial Government kept the basic records for all the Taxation carried out on Ireland, which included Local Government and the Revenue Records. In an attempt to destroy these records, 120 members of the I.R.A. / Irish Republican Army during the attack were to burn all of the contents held in the building. The men involved were mostly from the I.R.A. 2nd Battalion from the north - east of Dublin, together with members from the Squad and the Active Service Unit / A.S.U., and this was to be the biggest effort of it's type carried out by them up to this date. By coincidence another attack was also being carried out at this time, on the British Imperial Government's Black & Tan Auxiliaries, who were patrolling the streets outside the building, while the raid was being carried out inside, and this drew attention to the real activities of the I.R.A. in the Customs House, and this was to be the cause of 6 of the I.R.A. Volunteers being killed, with 12 others wounded, and the other 70 being eventually forced to surrender. Although the purpose of the attack was successful, due to the eventual propaganda it produced, too many of the I.R.A. Volunteers were lost to the cause of Irish Independence. The I.R.A. Squad would eventually have to combine with the Active Service Unit / A.S.U. to become the I.R.A. Guard, and would then later on form the Irish Dublin Guards, who would become the first unit of the Irish Free State Army, when it was to come into existence in 1922. - Meanwhile the I.R.A. General Headquarters Staff / G.H.Q. were still able to meet on a weekly basis at either Barry's Hotel or at the homes of Mrs. O Rahilly and Mrs. Humphreys.

May 26th: The 2nd Dail Eireann Finance Ministry offices, under the control of Michael Collins, were raided by the British Imperial forces at Mary Street in Dublin, where they missed him again, but took away his young assistant, Bob Conlon, who they were too frightened to harm for fear of what Michael Collins might do about it, but within a few days they also raided his other Finance Ministry office in the same street. The British Imperial forces also raided other I.R.A. buildings, and although he feared that an informer was at work, he was able to continue to carry out his financial duties at St. Andrews Street without any further interruptions. The I.R.A. Volunteers were now formed into larger units, where they became known as Divisions made up of all the Irish Volunteer Brigades, who all joined together and created their own Divisional Staff on a territorial basis.

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