100 years ago on 14 April 1922 the anti-Treaty IRA occupied the Four Courts in the centre of Dublin. The pro-Treaty Free State Army, then being built up, had already occupied evacuated British Army.
The period after the narrow Dáil vote in favour of the Treaty in January 1922 saw division between the pro and anti-Treaty sides widening but also many efforts to maintain unity and to prevent arme.
Terror in Cork: the burning of a city
It was an act of revenge that destroyed a city and terrorised its inhabitants. Gerry White tells the story of the Burning of Cork
• 10 Dec 2020
On the morning of 11 December 1920, a climate of fear and uncertainty hung over the city of Cork. Though Christmas was a mere two weeks away, the people of the city had little to be cheerful about. That morning, Cork was a city at war.
The previous eleven months had seen Cork No. 1 Brigade of the IRA intensify its campaign of guerrilla warfare against the forces of the Crown. In response, the British authorities had sent Black and Tans reinforcements to the RIC, imposed curfew, introduced Martial Law and deployed K Company of the Auxiliary Division of the RIC to Victoria Barracks. A series of nocturnal arson attacks on the City Hall, Sinn Féin offices, business premises and the homes of republican sympathisers had also taken place.