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The Irish War of Independence

All Ireland Strike

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May 1922, the top of O’Connell Street, and speakers are seen standing on a wagonette speaking defiantly to the passing crowd. In April 1922, in protest to the IRA rejecting the vote of the Dáil, the unions of Ireland, which had declared general strikes against the British in 1918 and 1920, the speakers called a […]

Irish Revolution 1922

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This lengthy newsreel highlights some key moments in the Irish Civil War from troops revolting in Limerick, to the destruction of Sackville street in Dublin. The Irish Civil War (June 28th 1922 –May 24th 1923) was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an […]

Evacuation of Ireland

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This newsreel shows the first 60,000 British Troops to leave Ireland and go back to England in May 1922. As soldiers march past, crowds of people line up to cheer and wave. The troops are taken away in a military transporter, most with a smile on their face as they wave and shake hands with […]

The Curragh Camp

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After the Anglo-Irish War, on Tuesday May 16th 1922, the British Army handed over the Curragh Camp to the Irish Free State Army. The party of Irish troops was commanded by Lieutenant General O’Connell. The Curragh Camp was the former Headquarters of the British Army in Ireland. In this newsreel, General O’Connell can be seen […]

Wexford Treaty Meeting

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On April 8th 1922, Michael Collins visited Wexford Town where he made a speech at St. Peter’s Square to a large crowd. In this newsreel, we see some disruption caused by the anti-Treaty IRA. Train tracks were tampered with and in some cases lines were destroyed. This was done to stop people travelling to see […]

Michael Collins

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‘Our Cameraman was there’. Michael Collins endorses the Anglo-Irish Treaty to an audience gathered at the Grand Parade in Cork City, where he receives an enthusiastic reception. It’s not too long before the crowd is seen surging backwards as several men begin to fire their guns in the crowd. This is the same footage that’s […]

Fighting Speech

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This now famous piece of footage, shows Michael Collins addressing the Anglo-Irish Treaty to a huge crowd gathered outside College Green, March 1922. Michael Collins described the Treaty as ‘the freedom to achieve freedom’. In practice, the Treaty offered most of the symbols and powers of independence. These included a functioning, if disputed, parliamentary democracy […]

Invasion of Limerick

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In this newsreel from March 1922, invading forces occupy houses, hotels and boathouse and march through the streets of Limerick armed. Official I.R.A. forces patrol in an armoured car and a man is flying the Free State flag from his vehicle.

The Great Cork Treaty

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This newsreel records Michael Collins addressing an audience gathered at the Grand Parade in Cork City. He praises the Anglo-Irish Treaty and receives an enthusiastic reception. It’s not too long before the crowd is seen surging backwards as several men begin to fire their guns in the crowd. Michael Collins described the Treaty as ‘the […]

For the Treaty

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Filmed in February 1922, this footage shows Seán Milroy addressing a large crowd of people in front of the Town Hall in Cootehill, Cavan. Milroy was an Irish Revolutionary and politician who actively took part in the 1916 Rising, served in the second Dáil during the War of Independence, and in the Senate of the […]

The Irreconcilable Mr. De Valera

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This footage, shot during March 1922, shows Éamon de Valera giving an animatedly irate speech to a large gathering of people on Sackville Street (O’Connell Street) in Dublin. In this speech he said that if the Treaty was accepted, it might be necessary to ‘wade through Irish blood’ to achieve Irish freedom. Many of de […]