On this episode of the Irish History Show we discussed the Irish Army Mutiny of 1924. In March 1924 about 50 officers of the Free State’s National Army, who were set to be demobilised in the post- Civil War reduction of the Army, seized weapons and abandoned their posts. Led by erstwhile Army Director of Intelligence Liam Tobin and Charles Dalton, they delivered an ultimatum to the government, demanding that the Army Council, headed by Richard Mulcahy, resign and that they and their associates be given prominent commands.
They also demanded that the Army be purged of former British Army officers and that progress be made towards Michael Collins’ ideal of an all-Ireland Republic. Some contacts were made with interned anti-Treaty IRA prisoners to make common cause against the Free State government, though they were generally rejected by the anti-Treatyites, Civil War wounds being very fresh at the time.
Today the mutiny is often dismissed as a mere farce. These were however very dangerous men. Most had served in Collins’ IRA Squad and Intelligence Department in the War of Independence.
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Intro / Outro music “Sliabh” from Aislinn. Licensed under creative commons from the free music archive.
97 The Nine Years War
96 The Desmond Rebellions
95 The 1923 General Election in the Irish Free State
93 The Civil War in Kerry and the Terror Month
92 Liam Lynch
91 Land and Revolution
90 Irish Civil War Executions
89 Commemorating the Irish Civil War
88 Ireland and Ukraine
87 The Civil War Memory Project
86 The Irish American Mob
85 Ian Paisley
84 Irish Army Deserters during World War 2
83 The IRA in Dublin during the War of Independence
82 Sean Russell
81 The Arms Crisis
80 Partition and the Irish Border
79 James Hoban – White House Architect
78 Howe Peter Browne 2nd Marquess of Sligo
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