Irish Republican Army (1922-1969)

:This article deals with the Irish republican organisation opposed to the Anglo-Irish Treaty, styling itself Irish Republican Army, as it existed from the time of the Treaty in 1921 to the split between the Official Irish Republican Army and the Provisional Irish Republican Army in 1969. See List of IRAs for a full list of organisations using the name.

The IRA during World War II

During the Second World War, the IRA leadership hoped for support from Germany to strike against Britain during the war, and Seán Russell travelled to Germany in 1940 to canvass for arms. He became ill and died on board a German U-boat which was bringing him back to Ireland in August that year.

Related Topics:
Second World War - Germany - 1940

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Gunther Schuetz, a member of the Abwehr parachuted into Ireland and was almost immediately arrested. On February 28 1942 he escaped. The IRA intended to send him back to Germany with a request for weapons, ammunition, explosives, radio equipment and money. The IRA Army Executive met on April 20 and sanctioned the requests. They resolved ?to give military information to powers at war with England?. An IRA courier was arrested on the Dublin-Belfast train with documentation of the decisions taken, and details of the German contact. This led to the arrest of Schuetz, on April 30, only hours before he was due to set sail. The boat was seized and the crew arrested.{{ref|Schuetz}}

Related Topics:
Abwehr - February 28 - 1942 - April 20 - April 30

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In 1942, the IRA launched an armed campaign in Northern Ireland. It has also been claimed that during the war period IRA members may have attempted to aid the German aerial bombing of targets in Northern Ireland {{fact}}.

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The IRA was severely damaged by the measures taken against it by the governments on both sides of the border during the Second World War. IRA members were interned both north and south of the border, and a number of IRA men, including chief of staff between 1942 and 1944 Charlie Kerins, were executed for criminal offences by the Irish government during the war. Kerins had been tried and found guilty of the murder of a Garda (police man).

Related Topics:
Charlie Kerins - Garda

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