Irish Civil War facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Irish Civil War
National Army soldiers armed with Lewis machine guns aboard an impromptu gunboat in the Civil War.
Date 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923 (10 months, 3 weeks and 5 days) Location Irish Free State

The Irish Civil War 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United Kingdom but within the British Empire.

The civil war was waged between two opposing groups, Irish republicans and Irish nationalists, over the Anglo-Irish Treaty. The forces of the Provisional Government (which became the Free State in December 1922) supported the Treaty, while the Republican opposition saw it as a betrayal of the Irish Republic (which had been proclaimed during the Easter Rising). Many of those who fought on both sides in the conflict had been members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) during the War of Independence.

The Civil War was won by the Free State forces, who benefitted from substantial quantities of weapons provided by the British Government. The conflict may have claimed more lives than the War of Independence that preceded it, and left Irish society divided and embittered for generations. Today, two of the main political parties in the Republic of Ireland, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, are direct descendants of the opposing sides of the war. About 927 people died during the civil war.

Images for kids

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  Third Tipperary Brigade Flying Column No. 2 under Seán Hogan during the War of Independence. Most of the IRA units in Munster were against the treaty.

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  National Army soldiers during the Civil War

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  The Four Courts along the River Liffey quayside. The building was occupied by anti-treaty forces during the Civil War, whom the National Army subsequently bombarded into surrender. The Irish national archives in the buildings were destroyed in the subsequent fire. The building was badly damaged but was fully restored after the war.

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  Dan Breen's appeal to free state troops

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  National Army soldiers escorting an IRA prisoner of war

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  A National Army Peerless Armoured Car in Passage West, August 1922

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  Memorial to the Republican soldiers executed by Free State forces at Ballyseedy, County Kerry, designed by Yann Goulet

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  Red Cross ambulance passing the G.P.O. on Sackville Street

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  W. T. Cosgrave