Na Fianna Éireann: Anglo Irish Treaty


Figure 1.--This detail of a Na Fianna Eireann group was taken in Cork during 1922 just before the Civil War over the Treaty with Britain. Because it's wartime they are wearing what uniform they had. Tey are wearing the button badges. Con Markevcicz's uniform – the green jacket and saffron kilt was probably always only ideal – worn at parades in more peaceful times. Notably some of the boys are brandishing guns. We do not know which way these boys would have turned in the Civil War.

The Irish Free State (IFS) was a compromise by which the Irish secured the withdrawl of the British. The IRA played a major role is bringing the British to offer the Anglo Irish Treaty which offered a withdrawl of British troops and establishment of the Irish Free State. The IRA was, however, bady split. The public at large strongly supported the Treaty, but the IRA was a more radical element of the population. A minority, but substantial element of the IRA oposed the treaty because it left Ireland still under the British Crown and partitioned the norths. Elements of the IRA resisted the Treaty by force of arms and a brief, but brutal civil war developed. We have no details on other groups like Na Fianna Éireann. While a youth group, many of the members were armed. The boys joining Na Fianna Éireann were likely to be highly politicized. Given their ages, we assume that some were also IRA members, although we are unsure about the precise relationship between the group and the IRA. Almost surely some of these boys would have joined the anti-Treaty wing of the IRA trying to precent the implementation of the Treaty. Notably there are a lot of similarities between this struggle and the opposition of Palestinian resistance groups to the Peace Process. An important difference is that the Irish nationalists in this struggle did not loose control to the gunmen. The anti-Treaty element of the IRA did manage to kill Michael Collins who had played a key role in armed resistance to the British. The IRA finally decided to cease the armed resistance to the IFS (April 1923). The IFS was left in control of the 26 Counties. Eventually in the 1930s a complete break with Britain came, although Ireland is still partioned.








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Created: 6:35 PM 7/18/2004
Last updated: 6:35 PM 7/18/2004