Criminal Investigation Department (Ireland)
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The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in the
Irish Free State The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...
was an armed, plain-clothed
counter-insurgency Counterinsurgency (COIN, or NATO spelling counter-insurgency) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces". The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the ac ...
police unit that operated during the
Irish Civil War 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 Emp ...
. It was organised separately from the unarmed Civic Guard police force. The unit was formed shortly after the truce with the British (11 July 1921) and disbanded in October 1923.


Formation

The CID was created by
Michael Collins Michael Collins or Mike Collins most commonly refers to: * Michael Collins (Irish leader) (1890–1922), Irish revolutionary leader, soldier, and politician * Michael Collins (astronaut) (1930–2021), American astronaut, member of Apollo 11 and Ge ...
and many of its personnel were former
Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...
fighters whom he had commanded during the
Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence (), also known as the Anglo-Irish War, was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and Unite ...
. In particular, a number came from the Squad, a Dublin-based IRA assassination unit under Collins' command. The unit had close links with the Army Intelligence and with a smaller "Protective Corps" which was based in the same building, Oriel House on
Westland Row Westland Row () is a street on the Southside, Dublin, Southside of Dublin, Ireland. Location The street runs along the east end of Trinity College Dublin. History Westland Row first appeared on maps in 1776. It was originally known ...
, Dublin. Initially, they were put under the command of Liam Tobin. On 31 July 1922, it was taken out of the control of military intelligence and put under the brief of TD Joseph McGrath. Its commanding officer was Captain Pat Moynihan. Moynihan was given a temporary transfer from his post as Head of Military Intelligence and with the rank of Captain took over Oriel House for this new force. On 22 August 1922 (the same day as Collins' death in an ambush), the Criminal Investigation Department was officially formed to "be distinct from existing police forces with separate headquarters under the direct control of the Minister for Home Affairs." It was formed from members of the National Army and the
Irish Republican Police The Irish Republican Police (IRP; ) was the police force of the 1919–1922 Irish Republic and was administered by the Department for Home Affairs of that government. Foundation The IRP was founded between April and June 1920 under the authori ...
and was based at Oriel House. It consisted of over 100 heavily armed men and three women detectives who were "cloaked" as typists and "engaged in special duties connected with the detection of women engaged in hostilities against the Government." The unit later reached a peak strength of 350 in February 1923. Moynihan selected Peter Ennis as "Chief Superintendent". Ennis had been the commanding officer of the
Irish Republican Police The Irish Republican Police (IRP; ) was the police force of the 1919–1922 Irish Republic and was administered by the Department for Home Affairs of that government. Foundation The IRP was founded between April and June 1920 under the authori ...
in Dublin during the 1919–1921 war, and was a brother of General Tom Ennis of the Free State's National Army. Ennis brought with him about fifteen of his old Republican Police to Oriel House and they formed the nucleus of the new "CID". Initially, it was to have been a military structure, but the "privates" of 1922 ended up as "detective officers" by its disbandment in 1923. Broy, Nelligan and MacNamara, of the DMP "G" Branch, were there in the beginning, but all got high ranks in the National Army Intelligence Department and went instead to Wellington Barracks where their HQ was located


During the Civil War

During the conflict of 1922–1923, the CID was responsible for the arrest of over 500 Anti-Treaty IRA fighters as well as the seizure of much weaponry and documentation. It had files on over 2,500 republican suspects. It was also accused of using brutal interrogation techniques and of the assassination of republican suspects and prisoners. Among a large number of incidents in which the CID was implicated was the killing of five republicans in two separate incidents on 26 and 29 August 1922 and the dumping of the bodies in Drumcondra and
Clondalkin Clondalkin () is a suburban village in County Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, approximately west of Dublin city centre. It is within the administrative jurisdiction of South Dublin County Council, South Dublin. Clondalkin is also the na ...
suburbs. By 9 September, British Intelligence had reported that CID was believed to have, "killed a number of prominent republicans" in Dublin. There were many other such killings of Anti-Treaty activists by plain-clothed men in the Dublin area during the war, such as Bobby Bondfield in March 1923 and Noel Lemass in July of that year. Senior republican
Thomas Derrig Thomas Derrig (; 26 November 1897 – 19 November 1956) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Minister for Lands from 1939 to 1943 and 1951 to 1954, Minister for Education from 1932 to 1939 and 1940 to 1948 and Minister for Posts ...
also had an eye shot out while in CID custody. It is possible, however, that some of these killings were carried out by other agencies such as elements of the National Army, or by soldiers and CID men, but popularly attributed to " Oriel House". In his book "Salute to the men of '22", Brian O'Higgins documented at least twenty-five murders of Republicans in the Dublin area alone. In the conflict as a whole, as many as 153 republican prisoners were summarily executed in the field. (See also:
executions during the Irish Civil War The executions during the Irish Civil War took place during the Guerrilla Phase of the Irish Civil War, guerrilla phase of the Irish Civil War (June 1922 – May 1923). This phase of the war was bitter, and both sides, the government forces of t ...
.) A study of the period concluded, "Oriel House succeeded in its task of suppressing small-scale republican activities in the Dublin area, not by the sophistication and efficiency of its intelligence work ... but by the more direct method of striking terror into its opponents."Eunan O'Halpin, ''Defending Ireland: The Irish State and its Enemies''
The State and Civil War, p. 11
A total of four CID personnel were killed in the war. A number of attempts were also made to blow up Oriel House itself.


Disbandment

On 29 October 1923, the Oriel House CID was disbanded and 30 of its members were transferred to the
Dublin Metropolitan Police The Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP) was the police force of Dublin in History of Ireland (1801–1923), British-controlled Ireland from 1836 to 1922 and then the Irish Free State until 1925, when it was absorbed into the new state's Garda Sío ...
as detectives. They later formed the basis of the Garda
Special Branch Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security and Intelligence (information gathering), intelligence in Policing in the United Kingdom, British, Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, ...
. The CID as a whole was considered unsuitable for the police force in peacetime. In April 1925 the DMP was amalgamated with the
Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace") is the national police and security service of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards". The service is headed by the Garda Commissio ...
.


See also

* Garda Special Detective Unit (SDU)


References


External links


Issues affecting Irish policing, 1922–1932
{{Police forces in Ireland Defunct law enforcement agencies of Ireland Irish Civil War Non-military counterinsurgency organizations