Who was in charge of the Belfast I.R.A. from the 1920s to the 1960s? Formally, the I.R.A. designated Belfast as either a Battalion or Brigade from 1922 through to the late 1960s with it’s commander usually listed as O/C Belfast. As a clandestine organisation, the identity of it’s leadership was not usually transparent. Occasional arrestsContinue reading “Who was in charge of the Belfast I.R.A.?”
Tag Archives: Jack McNally
List of commandants of Belfast IRA, 1924-1969 (updated)
The following is an updated version of the previously posted list of officers commanding the IRA’s Belfast battalion (the name normally given to its structures in the city for most of this time) from 1924 to 1969. The list is based on a variety of sources. Despite the revisions and corrections there are still gapsContinue reading “List of commandants of Belfast IRA, 1924-1969 (updated)”
Election headquarters, Barrack St, Belfast, 1925
The photograph below was posted online by Gerry Adams. It is of the republican election headquarters in the former Oceanic Bar, at the corner of Barrack Street and Divis Street at the time of the April 1925 elections. The photograph neatly tidies up an existing account of that election that was otherwise unclear. The election campaign isContinue reading “Election headquarters, Barrack St, Belfast, 1925”
At a canter: the 1936 hunger strike
After their arrest at Crown Entry in 1936, the senior IRA men charged and found guilty of treason felony had agreed on a campaign for political status after they had been sentenced (this happened on 22nd July 1936). Sean McCool was O/C of the republican prisoners in Crumlin Road at the time, while Tony LaveryContinue reading “At a canter: the 1936 hunger strike”
The Treason Felony men
The following is a draft list of those who were charged and found guilty by the northern government, up to around 1954, under the archaic Treason Felony Act of 1848 (which still stands in the UK). The Act charges: If any person whatsoever shall, within the United Kingdom or without, compass, imagine, invent, devise, or intend toContinue reading “The Treason Felony men”
Sectarian violence in the summer of 1935
The following article looks at sectarian violence in Belfast around the Twelfth in 1935 and the (apparently) coordinated raid by De Valera’s own special police on a Belfast IRA training camp in County Louth. It includes a brief chronology of sectarian violence in the summer of 1935 in the lead up to the Twelfth thatContinue reading “Sectarian violence in the summer of 1935”
Fianna Éireann in Belfast, 1917-24.
This article takes a look at Fianna Éireann in Belfast in the period after the Easter Rising in 1916, through to 1923-24 when the organisation more or less collapsed. It includes a list of members of the 1st Battalion, Belfast Brigade, for 1921 and more detailed accounts of the north Belfast companies (in 2nd battalion). It alsoContinue reading “Fianna Éireann in Belfast, 1917-24.”
List of O/Cs of Belfast IRA, 1924-69.
The following is a draft list of the officers commanding the IRA’s Belfast battalion (the name normally given to its structures in the city) from 1924 to 1969. The list is based on a variety of sources. There are gaps and may well be omissions since those listed are those named in accounts of differentContinue reading “List of O/Cs of Belfast IRA, 1924-69.”
The Treason Felony Blog 