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 from 1926 to 1936: flirtations with socialism

From 1926 to 1936, the remainder of the IRA was led by Moss (Maurice) Twomey. The organisation was increasingly influenced by left-wing ideas, although the leadership's varying support for these seems to have owed more to pragmatism than to conviction.

Related Topics:
1926 - 1936 - Moss (Maurice) Twomey

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The IRA intervened in a number of strikes during this period, and IRA members campaigned against the payment of land annuities (in respect of the buying-out of landlords by the former British administration), with Peadar O'Donnell establishing the Anti-Tribute League in 1928. Many Communist Party of Ireland members were also members of the IRA at this time. Political initiatives such as Saor Éire in 1931 and the Republican Congress in 1933-1934 were promoted by left-wing IRA members such as George Gilmore, Peadar O'Donnell and Frank Ryan. IRA members also helped establish the "Friends of Soviet Russia", from which they later expelled Communist Party members when relations between the two organisations deteriorated.

Related Topics:
Peadar O'Donnell - Anti-Tribute League - Communist Party of Ireland - Saor Éire - 1931 - Republican Congress - 1933 - 1934 - George Gilmore - Frank Ryan

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This burst of what has sometimes been termed "social republicanism" expired in the mid-1930s. In 1931 Saor Éire had quickly collapsed due to the combination of fierce reaction from the Catholic Church, deeply hostile to anything that appeared communist, and repressive legislation immediately introduced by the government. The Republican Congress, in turn, was ultimately a failure, partly because Twomey and other conservative elements in the IRA leadership opposed it and forced its supporters to leave the organisation. From the debacle of the Republican Congress until it took a leftward turn again in the 1960s, the IRA would be inspired primarily by a conservative, strictly nationalist political outlook.

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