IFI Irish Film Archive

The Curragh Camp

Year1922 Duration32s

After the Anglo-Irish War the British Army handed over the Curragh Camp to the Irish Free State Army to a party of Irish troops commanded by Lieutenant General O’Connell, on Tuesday May 16th 1922. The Curragh Camp was the former Headquarters of the British Army in Ireland. In this newsreel General O’Connell can be seen at the top of the water tower hoisting the first tricolour to fly over the Curragh Camp. By tradition the British Army had cut down the flagpole requiring the Irish officers to physically hold the flagpole while the tricolour was raised.

In this newsreel the Ministry and members of the Republican Party who opposed the Treaty stand for the camera after contesting the policy of the Free State Party at the elections in 1922. On 14th January 1922 a meeting of the members elected to the House of Commons of Southern Ireland was held at the Mansion House, Dublin. At the meeting the Anglo-Irish Treaty was ratified by the Irish side and a Provisional Government was elected. Michael Collins was appointed its Chairman and the Provisional Government took up office two days later on January 16th 1922 when the British administration handed over Dublin Castle to Collins in person. The Treaty, which would replace the Republic as a dominion of the British Commonwealth, was signed on December 6th. De Valera was not happy with the signing of it as he had stipulated that regardless of the outcome the delegates should not be pressured into any agreements and should return to consult with the cabinet and him, their President. After the Treaty was narrowly ratified, de Valera and a large majority of Sinn Féin T.D.s left Dáil Éireann and Arthur Griffith was elected President.

35s

President of Éire

Large crowds gather on the streets of Dublin as Ireland’s first President, Dr. Douglas Hyde, is installed. This newsreel from 1938 depicts the military procession that leads Douglas Hyde past the Grand Central Cinema and the GPO on O’Connell Street, Dublin to the Phoenix Park where he is to be installed as President of Ireland. When he arrives at Áras an Uachtaráin he is greeted by Eamon de Valera, Prime Minister, and Seán T O’Kelly, Tánaiste who would succeed Hyde as President in 1945. Áras an Uachtaráin was built in 1751 in Phoenix Park, Dublin. It had been acquired for use by the Viceroys who oversaw British rule in Ireland until 1922 but became the President of Ireland’s official home in 1938. This film is part of The Irish Independence Film Collection – The Early Irish Free State that explores facets of Irish society after the War of Independence and up to the birth of the Irish Republic.

6m 20s

Dublin Rebellion

In this newsreel British Troops march through the streets of Dublin and stand guard over the ruins of buildings in Dublin’s main thoroughfare, Sackville Street (two years after these events the street would be renamed O’Connell Street after the nationalist leader Daniel O’Connell). The city of Dublin is in ruins and smoke continues to billow from the GPO, the Four Courts and the Metropole Hotel. Civilians stand on piles of rubble and observe the destruction far more closely than they would be allowed to today… This footage was first screened in public on May 6th 1916, just one week after the events of the Easter Rising (April 24th -29th ). The Easter Rising was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week, April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish Republicans to end British rule in Ireland and to establish an independent Irish Republic while the United Kingdom was heavily engaged in the First World War. It was the most significant uprising in Ireland since the rebellion of 1798, and the first armed action of the Irish revolutionary period (which would ultimately lead to the creation of the Irish Free State).

1m 07s

Further Pictures of Irish Peace

This newsreel depicts the immediate aftermath of the Anglo-Irish Peace Treaty on December 6th 1921, showing the release of 1,700 internees from Ballykinlar internment camp. In the aftermath of Bloody Sunday, November 21st 1920, the British authorities arrested hundreds of republicans and opened several internment camps throughout Ireland. The first internment camp was this one at Ballykinlar, in Co. Down, while the volume of arrests was so great that additional camps had to be established at Gormanstown, Co. Dublin; Bere Island and Spike Island, Co. Cork; and at the Curragh, in Co. Kildare. Opened in December 1920 Ballykinlar Camp was situated on the Co. Down coast at the mouth of Dundrum Bay, about three miles from Dundrum village between Downpatrick and Newcastle. Over the following year 2,000 men were interned at Ballykinlar.Three days later after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, on December 9th 1921, all Republican prisoners were released from Ballykinlar. Three special trains brought the men to Dublin, from where the internees made their own way to their home Counties. The trains were attacked by loyalist mobs with gunfire, bricks and stones at several locations. The Leinster Leader however on, December 17th 1921, reported on the release of the Ballykinlar and Curragh Camp internees, remarking that the reception in Athy was ‘a very warmhearted one’.

55s

Rebirth of a Nation

This newsreel shows British troops unpacking lorries at the docks (Possibly Dublin Port) and leaving Ireland, following the Anglo-Irish War. The interesting aspect of this footage is that it shows that British troops did not all leave immediately after the signing of The Treaty. Here they are departing in the middle of the Civil War in December 1922. Tim Healy, Veteran Irish Patriot, can be seen towards the end of the newsreel. Tim Healy was an Irish nationalist politician, journalist, author, barrister and one of the most controversial Irish Members of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom and Ireland. His political career began in the 1880s under Charles Stewart Parnell’s leadership of the Irish Parliamentary Party, and continued into the 1920s, when he was the first Governor-General of the Irish Free State.

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.