The National Army, sometimes unofficially referred to as the Free State army or the Regulars, was the army of the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independ ...

from January 1922 until October 1924. Its role in this period was defined by its service in the

Irish Civil War The Irish Civil War ( ga, Cogadh Cathartha na hÉireann; 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 ...

, in defence of the institutions established by the

Anglo-Irish Treaty The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty ( ga , An Conradh Angla-Éireannach), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the ...

. Michael Collins was the army's first commander-in-chief until his death in August 1922. The army made its first public appearance on 31 January 1922, when command of

Beggars Bush Barracks Beggars Bush Barracks was a British Army barracks located at Beggars Bush in Dublin, Ireland. History The barracks were designed as a training depot for the British Army and were completed in 1827, built on lands received from George Herbert, 11 ...

was handed over from the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

. Its first troops were those volunteers of the

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief t ...

(IRA) who supported the

and the " Provisional Government of Ireland" formed thereunder. Conflict arose between the National Army and the anti-Treaty components of the IRA, which did not support the government of the Irish Free State. On 28 June 1922 the National Army commenced an artillery bombardment of anti-Treaty IRA forces who were occupying the

Four Courts The Four Courts ( ga, Na Ceithre Cúirteanna) is Ireland's most prominent courts building, located on Inns Quay in Dublin. The Four Courts is the principal seat of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the High Court and the Dublin Circuit ...

in Dublin, thus beginning the

. The National Army was greatly expanded in size to fight the civil war against the anti-Treaty IRA, in a mostly counter-insurgency campaign that was brought to a successful conclusion in May 1923. From 1 October 1924, the Army was reorganised into a smaller, better regulated force; the term "National Army" was superseded by the legal establishment of the

Defence Forces The phrase Defence Force(s) (or Defense Force(s) in US English - see spelling differences) is in the title of the armed forces of certain countries and territories. Defence forces *Ambazonia Defence Forces *Artsakh Defence Army *Australian Defence ...

as the

's military force.

History

Irish National Army Officer Hetherington, Irish Civil War (6321949854)

The National Army was constituted from the revolutionary

(IRA), which emerged from the successful

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or 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 United Kingdom of Gre ...

fought as a guerrilla campaign against the

and

Royal Irish Constabulary The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ga, Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the country was part of the United Kingdom. A separate ...

. On 31 January 1922 the first unit of the new National Army, a former IRA unit of the

Dublin Guard The Dublin Guard was a unit of the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence and then of the Irish National Army in the ensuing Civil War. Foundation In May 1921 the Active Service Unit of the Irish Republican Army's Dublin Briga ...

, took possession of

, the first British barracks to be handed to the new state. Michael Collins envisaged the new army being built around the pre-existing IRA, but over half of this organisation rejected the compromises made in the

, and favoured upholding the revolutionary

Irish Republic The Irish Republic ( ga, Poblacht na hÉireann or ) was an unrecognised revolutionary state that declared its independence from the United Kingdom in January 1919. The Republic claimed jurisdiction over the whole island of Ireland, but by ...

that had existed from 1919 until 1921. In February 1922, the new Provisional Government began to recruit volunteers into the National Army. A force of 4,000 troops was envisaged, but with the impending

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polic ...

, on 5 July 1922 the Provisional Government authorised raising an establishment of 35,000 men. Many of the new army's recruits were veterans of the British Army in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, where they had served in disbanded Irish regiments of the

; by May 1923 this had grown to 58,000 troops. The National Army lacked the expertise necessary to train a force of that size, so approximately 20 per cent of its officers and 50 per cent of its soldiers were Irish ex-servicemen of the British Army and men like Martin Doyle, Emmet Dalton,

W. R. E. Murphy William Richard English-Murphy, DSO MC known as W.R.E. Murphy (1890–1975) was an Irish soldier and policeman. He served as an officer with the British Army in the First World War and later in the National Army. In the Civil War he was secon ...

, and Henry Kelly brought considerable combat experience.

The Civil War

In March 1922, there was a major stand-off between up to 700 National Army and anti-treaty IRA in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

over who would occupy the military barracks being vacated by departing British troops. The situation was temporarily resolved in April when the two sides agreed to occupy two barracks each. In April 1922 Brigadier-General

George Adamson George Alexander Graham Adamson MBE (3 February 1906 – 20 August 1989), also known as the ''Baba ya Simba'' ("Father of Lions" in Swahili), was a Kenyan wildlife conservationist and author. He and his wife, Joy, were depicted in the film '' ...

– one of the founders of the National Army – was shot dead by the IRA in

Athlone Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midlands Region with a population of ...

. In early May 1922 there was an even more serious clash in Kilkenny, when the IRA occupied the centre of the town and 200 National Army troops were sent from

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

to disperse them. 18 people were killed in the fighting in Kilkenny. In a bid to avoid an all-out civil war, both sides agreed to a truce on 3 May 1922. On 14 April 1922, 200 Anti-Treaty IRA soldiers led by Rory O'Connor occupied the

and several other buildings in central Dublin, resulting in a tense stand-off. On 27 June 1922, the Four Courts IRA garrison kidnapped JJ "Ginger" O'Connell, a general in the National Army. After giving the Four Courts garrison a final ultimatum to leave the building, the Provisional Government decided to end the stand-off by shelling the Four Courts garrison into surrender: at 4.29am on 28 June 1922,

18-pounder The Ordnance QF 18-pounder,British military traditionally denoted smaller ordnance by the weight of its standard projectile, in this case approximately or simply 18-pounder gun, was the standard British Empire field gun of the First World War ...

guns opened fire on the Four Courts. The

Provisional Government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or f ...

appointed Michael Collins as Commander-in-Chief of the National Army. This was the point of no return and is regarded as the beginning of the

. The IRA contingent in the Four Courts, who had only small arms, surrendered after two days of shelling and the buildings were stormed by National Army troops. Fighting continued in Dublin until 5 July 1922, as IRA units from the Dublin Brigade led by

Oscar Traynor Oscar Traynor (21 March 1886 – 14 December 1963) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and republican who served as Minister for Justice from 1957 to 1961, Minister for Defence from 1939 to 1948 and 1951 to 1954, Minister for Posts and Telegr ...

occupied

O'Connell Street O'Connell Street () is a street in the centre of Dublin, Ireland, running north from the River Liffey. It connects the O'Connell Bridge to the south with Parnell Street to the north and is roughly split into two sections bisected by Henry ...

, provoking a week's more street fighting. This fighting cost both sides, with 65 killed and 280 wounded in all. The British supplied artillery, aircraft, armoured cars, machine guns, small arms and ammunition to the National Army. Michael Collins,

Richard Mulcahy Richard James Mulcahy (10 May 1886 – 16 December 1971) was an Irish Fine Gael politician and army general who served as Minister for Education from 1948 to 1951 and 1954 to 1957, Minister for the Gaeltacht from June 1956 to October 1956, ...

and

Eoin O'Duffy Eoin O'Duffy (born Owen Duffy; 28 January 1890 – 30 November 1944) was an Irish military commander, police commissioner and politician. O'Duffy was the leader of the Monaghan Brigade of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and a prominent figure ...

planned a nationwide offensive, sending

columns A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression membe ...

overland to take Limerick and

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

and seaborne forces to Counties Cork, Kerry and

Mayo Mayo often refers to: * Mayonnaise, often shortened to "mayo" * Mayo Clinic, a medical center in Rochester, Minnesota, United States Mayo may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Mayo Peak, Marie Byrd Land Australia * Division of Mayo, an A ...

. The only true conventional battle during the offensive was the Battle of Killmallock. Collins was killed in an ambush by IRA forces at Béal na Bláth in County Cork on 22 August 1922; General Richard Mulcahy then took command. Some of the National Army's most effective troops were the

, who were to the forefront of the Free state offensive in the summer of 1922. The Guard was formed in June 1921 by an amalgamation of the IRA Squad and Dublin IRA Active Service Unit – both pro-Treaty in sympathy due to their links with Michael Collins. Its officers, 'formed the cadre of the Dublin Guard'. After the onset of civil war, the Guard was rapidly expanded by the recruitment of many more men, including Irish veterans of the British Army. The Guard acted, particularly in County Kerry, which they occupied after a successful assault on Tralee in August 1922, with fearsome brutality, beginning the summary execution of captured IRA soldiers. The most notorious example of this occurred at Ballyseedy where nine IRA prisoners were tied to a landmine; the detonation killed eight and only left one,

Stephen Fuller Stephen Fuller (1 January 1900 – 23 February 1984) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Kerry North constituency from 1937 to 1943. Early life Fuller was born in Kilflynn, County Kerry, in 1900. He ...

, who was blown clear by the blast to escape.

Frank Aiken Francis Thomas Aiken (13 February 1898 – 18 May 1983) was an Irish revolutionary and politician. He was chief of staff of the Anti-Treaty IRA at the end of the Irish Civil War. Aiken later served as Tánaiste from 1965 to 1969 and Minister fo ...

, IRA Chief of Staff ordered IRA volunteers to dump arms on 24 May 1923, ending the fighting.

Establishment of Defence Forces

With the end of the Civil War, the National Army had grown too big for a peacetime role and was too expensive for the new Irish state to maintain. In addition, many of the civil war recruits were badly trained and undisciplined, making them unsuitable material for a full-time professional army. In the autumn of 1923, the government started to reduce the size of the National Army. This entailed a reduction of 30,000 personnel (including 2,200 officers) by March 1924. On 3 August 1923, the Irish Free State passed the Defence Forces (Temporary Provisions) Act, raising "''an armed force to be called

Óglaigh na hÉireann (), abbreviated , is an Irish-language idiom that can be translated variously as ''soldiers of Ireland'', ''warriors of Ireland'', '' volunteers of Ireland''O'Leary, Brendan. ''Terror, insurgency, and the state: ending protracted conflicts''. ...

(hereinafter referred to as the Forces) consisting of such number of officers, non-commissioned officers, and men as may from time to time be provided by the Oireachtas''." "''The Forces shall be established as from a date to be fixed by Proclamation of the Executive Council in the

Iris Oifigiúil ''Iris Oifigiúil'' (; "''Official Journal''") is the official gazette of the Government of Ireland. It replaced '' The Dublin Gazette'', the gazette of the Dublin Castle administration, on 31 January 1922. '' The Belfast Gazette'' was establis ...

''" The establishment of the Forces was on 1 October 1924. This date marks the ending of the initial phase of the National Army and the legal establishment of the

as the

's military force. However, it was not a new force: the legislation was explicit that the Defence Forces would have the same legality, organisation, personnel, orders and regulations as the 1922–24 force. The Special Infantry Corps was established during the final stages of the Civil War, to reverse illegal land seizures and break the

strikes Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

of agricultural labourers in Munster and south Leinster, as well as reversing factory seizures by striking workers. In 1924, a small group of officers, led mainly by former members of The Squad, attempted to resist the efforts to demobilise. This situation evolved into what became called the " Army Mutiny", which, after an ultimatum, was resolved relatively peaceably with recognition of the authority of the Irish Free State's

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government ...

Organisation

The National Army's initial organisation was based on the IRA's system of divisions and

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. ...

s. In January 1923 a new organisation was established. The Irish Free State's area was divided into nine commands. The nine commands were: * Dublin Command * Athlone Command * Donegal Command * Claremorris Command * Limerick Command * Kerry Command * Waterford Command * Cork Command * Curragh Command The Army Corps were: * Armoured Car Corps * Artillery Corps * Army Corps of Engineers * Works Corps * Railway Protection, Repair and Maintenance Corps * Salvage Corps * Army Signal Corps * Army Medical Corps * Transport Corps * Corps of Military Police * Air Service

Uniforms

The National Army officer's uniform was made of dark green serge and worn with a

Sam Browne belt The Sam Browne is a leather belt with a supporting strap that passes over the right shoulder, worn by military and police officers. It is named after Sir Samuel J. Browne (1824–1901), the British Indian Army general who invented it. Origins Ge ...

.G White & B O'Shea, Irish Volunteer Soldier 1913–23, Osprey 2003 The ordinary volunteer's uniform was a similar pattern, worn with British 1908 pattern webbing. A

greatcoat A greatcoat, also known as a watchcoat, is a large overcoat that is typically made of wool designed for warmth and protection against the weather. Its collar and cuffs can be turned out to protect the face and hands from cold and rain, and the ...

was issued for bad weather. All ranks wore brown boots and leggings. The

cap badge A cap badge, also known as head badge or hat badge, is a badge worn on uniform headgear and distinguishes the wearer's nationality and/or organisation. The wearing of cap badges is a convention commonly found among military and police forces, as w ...

and buttons of the

Irish Volunteers The Irish Volunteers ( ga, Óglaigh na hÉireann), sometimes called the Irish Volunteer Force or Irish Volunteer Army, was a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists and republicans. It was ostensibly formed in respon ...

and the pre-Independence IRA were worn, in recognition of the National Army's origins.

Rank markings

Rank markings were coloured cloth cuff bands and coloured diamond shaped cloth cap badge backing. General Officers' markings were cloth bands on shoulder strap, collar gorget and cap diamonds. Rank markings were re-arranged on 31 January 1923:

Armoured fighting vehicles, aircraft, and weapons

Armoured fighting vehicles

* 13 x

Rolls-Royce Armoured Car The Rolls-Royce Armoured Car was a British Armored car (military), armoured car developed in 1914 and used during the World War I, First World War, Irish Civil War, the inter-war period in Imperial Air Control in Transjordan, Palestine and Mesopot ...

* 7 x Peerless armoured car * 64 x Lancia Armoured Car

Aircraft

* 1 x Martinsyde Type A Mk2 * 6 x

Avro 504 The Avro 504 was a First World War biplane aircraft made by the Avro aircraft company and under licence by others. Production during the war totalled 8,970 and continued for almost 20 years, making it the most-produced aircraft of any kind tha ...

K * 1 x

S.E.5a The Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 is a British biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War. It was developed at the Royal Aircraft Factory by a team consisting of Henry Folland, John Kenworthy and Major Frank Goodden. It was one of the fast ...

* 8 x Bristol F.2B * 4 x Martinsyde F4 * 8 x de Havilland DH.9

Weapons

Lee–Enfield The Lee–Enfield or Enfield is a bolt-action, magazine-fed repeating rifle that served as the main firearm of the military forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century, and was the British Army's s ...

rifle * Lewis machine gun *

Thompson submachine gun The Thompson submachine gun (also known as the "Tommy Gun", "Chicago Typewriter", "Chicago Piano", “Trench Sweeper” or "Trench Broom") is a blowback-operated, air-cooled, magazine-fed selective-fire submachine gun, invented by United S ...

Vickers machine gun The Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a water-cooled .303 British (7.7 mm) machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army. The gun was operated by a three-man crew but typically required more men to move and ...

Hotchkiss machine gun The Hotchkiss machine gun was any of a line of products developed and sold by Hotchkiss et Cie, (full name Société Anonyme des Anciens Etablissements Hotchkiss et Cie), established by United States gunsmith Benjamin B. Hotchkiss. Hotchkiss move ...

* 9 x 18 pounder guns (4 Mk Is and 5 Mk IIs) *

Webley Revolver The Webley Revolver (also known as the Webley Top-Break Revolver or Webley Self-Extracting Revolver) was, in various designations, a standard issue service pistol for the armed forces of the United Kingdom, and countries of the British Empire a ...

References

{{IRA Irish Army Irish Civil War Military units and formations established in 1922 Military units and formations disestablished in 1924 1922 establishments in Ireland 1924 disestablishments in Ireland