IFI Irish Film Archive

All’s Fair in…

Year1921 Duration25s

This newsreel shows a hostage being taken on to the back of a Military patrol lorry where we see a group of soldiers (Black and Tans) stopping to pose for the camera. The Black and Tans, officially named the Royal Irish Constabulary Special Reserve, was a force of Temporary Constables recruited to assist the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) during the Irish War of Independence. The force was the brainchild of Winston Churchill, then British Secretary of State for War. Recruitment began in Great Britain in late 1919 with many of them being British Army veterans of World War I, . Their role was to help the RIC maintain control and fight the Irish Republican Army (IRA), the army of the Irish Republic. The nickname “Black and Tans” arose from the colours of the improvised uniforms they initially wore. The Black and Tans became infamous for their attacks on Irish civilians and civilian property.

The Burning of Cork by British forces took place on the night of December 11th and 12th 1920 , during the Irish War of Independence. It followed an Irish Republican Army ambush of a British Auxiliary patrol in the city, which wounded twelve auxiliaries, one fatally. In retaliation the Auxiliaries, Black and Tans and British soldiers looted and burnt numerous buildings in the city center. Many civilians reported being beaten, shot at, and robbed by British forces. Firefighters testified that British forces hindered their attempts to tackle the blazes through intimidation, cutting their hoses and shooting at them. More than 40 business premises, 300 residential properties, the City Hall and Carnegie Library were destroyed by the fire. Over £3 million worth of damage (equivalent to €172 million today) was wrought, 2,000 people were left jobless and many more became homeless.

1m 13s

Free State or Republic

Scenes of Polling stations at the Irish general election are shown in this newsreel, where the main issue being voted on was whether the country should remain as a Free State or become a full Republic – the goal of de Valera’s Fianna Fáil party. Crowds of people gather on Marlborough Street and Free state soldiers stand guard at the exterior of a polling station. Inside, men are seen distributing ballots as the count progresses. General Richard Mulcahy, Minister for Defence is returned. At Stephen’s Green Mrs Charlotte Despard, noted republican and suffragette stands and speaks to camera. Ms Despard was sister of former Viceroy Lord French and president of the Women’s Freedom League. Final intertitle introduces young Vivian (sic properly Vivion) de Valera, son of Eamon. Richard Mulcahy was an army general and commander-in-chief for the Irish Republican Army. He later served in the cabinets of W. T. Cosgrave and John A. Costello. He fought in the 1916 Easter Rising, served as Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army during the War of Independence and became commander of the pro-treaty forces in the Irish Civil War after the death of Michael Collins. The uniform of General Mulcahy’s from 1922 is currently held by the National Museum of Ireland.

7m 04s

Republican Loans

In 1919, on the block where Robert Emmet was executed, Michael Collins read a letter from Michael Fogarty, Bishop of Killaloe, pledging financial support to the new self-declared Irish Republic. Filmed at St. Enda’s College in Rathfarnham, (the school founded by Patrick Pearse in 1908), this remarkable film shows Michael Collins, the Irish Government’s Minister for Finance, inviting various prominent Republicans to purchase bonds to help finance the new Republic. Bonds are purchased by 30 named figures, Republicans and survivors of executed 1916 leaders. They include: Arthur Griffith; Eoin MacNeill; Erskine Childers; William Cosgrave; the widows of Eamonn Ceannt, Tom Clarke, the O Rahilly, Joseph Plunkett, and the mother and sister of Patrick Pearse. The film was made during an interlude in the making of Willy Reilly and his Colleen Bawn, a feature- length drama directed by John MacDonagh, which was released the following year. The film played an instrumental role in the success of the Republican Loans campaign. Director John MacDonagh, brother of the executed 1916 leader Thomas MacDonagh (a teacher in St Enda’s) , once said, “in those dangerous and exciting times, no cinema owner would dare risk exhibiting the Republican Loans film so it was planned for a few volunteers in fast cars to visit certain cinemas, rush the operator’s box, and, at gun-point, force the operator to take off the film he was showing, and put on the Loan film”.

12m 45s

Irish Revolution - 1922

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 entity independent from the United Kingdom but within the British Empire. The Civil War was waged between two opposing groups, Irish Republicans and Irish Nationalists, over the Anglo-Irish Treaty. The forces of the Provisional Government (which became the Free State in December 1922) supported the Treaty, while the Republican opposition saw it as a betrayal of the Irish Republic (which had been proclaimed during the Easter Rising). Many of those who fought on both sides in the conflict had been members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) during the War of Independence.

1m 45s

Battle of Belleek

This exclusive newsreel from Topical Budget shows the “recapture of the Ulster border” by Sinn Féin. Troops can be seen marching down a laneway in the countryside and armoured vehicles and howitzer guns are fired towards the town of Belleek as the General looks on. In June 1922, at the beginning of the Civil War, Pettigo and Belleek in County Fermanagh were occupied by the Irish Republican Army who had arrived there from Donegal. The IRA fought a group of Ulster Special Constabulary, who crossed Lough Erne. In the ensuing fighting, in which the British bombarded the village and then stormed it, three IRA men were killed, six wounded and four captured before being forced to retreat back to Donegal. One British soldier and one Ulster Special constable were killed in the fighting.

1m 27s

City of Terror

In this compilation newsreel from 1920, we see the first pictures from Derry , soldiers on the streets during the War of Independence. “The aftermath” intertitle shows us the devastation the Civil War had on Dublin, showing the many shelled and gutted buildings, many of which can be seen being pulled down by workers to avoid them from collapsing on someone. Michael Collins can then be seen, in footage that appears to be from 1921, giving a speech to a large crowd of people outside the Mansion House in Dublin following the signing of the Anglo Irish Peace Treaty. The final segment is of Rory O’Connor, an Irish Republican activist, seen giving a speech to the Dublin City Brigade at Smithfield, April 1922.