The Troubles in Ulster (1920–1922)
The Troubles in Ulster of the 1920s was a period of conflict in the Irish province of Ulster, from June 1920 until June 1922, during and after the Irish War of Independence and the partition of Ireland. In Ulster, it was mainly a communal conflict between unionists, who wanted to remain part of the United Kingdom, and nationalists, who backed Irish independence: the unionists were mainly Ulster Protestants and the nationalists were mainly Irish Catholics. During this period, more than 500 people were killed in Belfast alone, 500 interned and 23,000 people were made homeless in the city, while approximately 50,000 people fled the province due to intimidation. Most of the victims were Nationalists with civilians being far more likely to be killed compared to the military, police or paramilitaries. In Belfast where Catholics made up only a third of the population, the disproportionate number of Catholic casualties combined with sustained attacks upon Catholic civilians involving police or special constabulary forces, led to the troubles being known as the 'Belfast Pogrom'.
During the Irish War of Independence, the Irish Republican Army attacked British security forces throughout the island; loyalists often attacked the Catholic community in retaliation. In July 1920, they drove 8,000 mostly Catholic workers out of the Belfast shipyards sparking sectarian violence in the city. That summer, violence also erupted in Derry, leaving twenty people dead, and there were mass burnings of Catholic property and expulsions of Catholics from their homes in Dromore, Lisburn and Banbridge.
Conflict continued intermittently for two years, mostly in Belfast, which saw "savage and unprecedented" communal violence between Protestants and Catholics. Almost 1,000 homes and businesses were destroyed and thousands of people were forced out of mixed neighborhoods. The British Army was deployed and the Ulster Special Constabulary were formed to help the regular police – the Royal Irish Constabulary. The USC was almost wholly Protestant. Members of both police forces were involved in carrying out reprisal attacks on Catholics. The self-declared Irish Republic approved the 'Belfast Boycott' of unionist-owned businesses and banks in the city. It was enforced by the IRA, who halted trains and lorries and destroyed goods.
In May 1921, the Government of Ireland Act 1920 came into force, dividing the island between two administrations: Southern Ireland and Northern Ireland. A truce between the belligerents began on 11 July 1921, ending the fighting in most of Ireland. It was preceded by Belfast's Bloody Sunday, a day of violence in which twenty people were killed. In early 1922, there was a resurgence of sectarian violence in Belfast, including the McMahon killings and the Arnon Street killings. In May 1922 the IRA launched their Northern Offensive. There were clashes near the new Irish border, at Clones and the Pettigo/Belleek area. Also in May 1922, the new government of Northern Ireland implemented the Special Powers Act, interning suspected IRA members, and imposing a nighttime curfew across the six counties of Northern Ireland. The outbreak of the Irish Civil War in the south on 28 June 1922 diverted the IRA from its campaign against the Northern government, and violence in Northern Ireland fell sharply.
Background
In the early 20th century, all of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom. A majority of Ireland's people were Catholics and Irish nationalists who wanted either self-government or independence. However, in the north-east of Ireland, Protestants and Unionists were the majority, largely as a result of the 17th century colonization of the northern province of Ulster - the Plantation of Ulster. Home Rule for Ireland had been an issue for many years – in 1886 the first Home Rule Bill was introduced in the British House of Parliament. Ulster Unionists resisted that Bill with violence – 31 to 50 people were killed in ongoing riots during June/July 1886. The second Home Rule Bill was introduced in 1893, much violence ensued with Catholic workmen being driven from their jobs in the Belfast shipyards. Riots occurred on a regular basis in Belfast during the 19th century, as far back as 1815. Serious rioting took place in 1835, 1841, 1843, 1857, 1864, 1872, 1880,1884 and 1898. In 1912 Belfast was the scene of "fullscale sectarian rioting" which caused further segregation between the Catholic and Protestant communities.Home rule for all of Ireland was set to take place with the Government of Ireland Act 1914. During the Home Rule Crisis of 1912–14, Unionists threatened to oppose any Irish government with violence if necessary, forming a paramilitary group: the Ulster Volunteers or Ulster Volunteer Force and arming themselves. On 20 March 1914, the Curragh Mutiny occurred in which British Army officers vowed to resign or be dismissed if they were ordered to enforce the Home Rule Act. Ulster unionists argued that if Home Rule could not be stopped, then all or part of Ulster should be excluded from it. The Act divided Ireland along established county lines, creating two self-governing territories within the United Kingdom: Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland . Six of the nine counties in the province of Ulster – Antrim, Down, Armagh, Londonderry, Tyrone and Fermanagh comprised the maximum area Unionists believed they could dominate. Generally, Irish nationalists opposed partition, in the 1918 Irish general election five of the nine Counties of Ulster returned Irish republican party Sinn Féin and Irish nationalist majorities. Although Counties Fermanagh and Tyrone returns showed nationalist majorities, they were included into Northern Ireland.
By the end of the First World War, most Irish nationalists now wanted full independence rather than home rule. In the last general election to be held throughout Ireland Sinn Féin won the overwhelming majority of Irish seats. In line with its manifesto, Sinn Féin's elected members boycotted the British parliament and founded a separate Irish parliament, declaring the establishment of an independent Irish Republic covering the whole island. However, Unionists won the most seats in the area that became Northern Ireland and affirmed their continuing loyalty to the United Kingdom. Many Irish republicans blamed the British establishment for the sectarian divisions in Ireland, and believed that Ulster Unionist defiance would fade after British rule was ended. The British authorities outlawed the Dáil in September 1919, and a guerrilla conflict developed as the Irish Republican Army began to attack British forces. This conflict became known as the Irish War of Independence.
Another contributing factor to the outbreak of communal violence was the severe economic recession that followed the end of World War I. Many workers were made redundant, working hours were reduced and many returning soldiers were unable to find work. Some returning Protestant soldiers felt bitterness against the many Catholics who had remained at home and now held jobs. At the same time, fiery political speeches were made by Unionist leaders and weapons were stockpiled by Ulster loyalists and Irish nationalists. Other events which contributed to the outbreak of violence were the assassinations of senior British Army officers, policemen and politicians: RIC Divisional Commissioner Lt Col Gerald Smyth, RIC District Inspector Swanzy, Belfast City Councilman William J. Twaddell, and British Army Field Marshall Sir Henry Wilson. IRA volunteers Reginald Dunne and Joseph O'Sullivan were apprehended
and found guilty of Wilson's murder. They were hanged on 10 August 1922.
In June 1920, the Ulster Unionist Council remobilized the UVF with one of the leading organizers being the future, long term Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Basil Brooke. In 1920, the Commander in Chief in Ireland, Nevil Macready, warned against a rearmed UVF that "would undoubtedly consist entirely of Protestants, and no amount of so called loyalty is likely to restrain them if the religious question becomes acute...the arming of the Protestant population of Ulster will mean the outbreak of civil war in this country, as distinct from the attempted suppression of rebellion with which we are engaged at present." The British Prime Minister, Lloyd George, had around the same time formed the Black and Tans and Auxiliary Division made up of returning soldiers to help bolster the RIC, but they quickly became notorious for their actions against nationalists.