OPINION (AN COLÚN): What happened to the RIC men in North Tipperary & Offaly?

HERITAGE WEEK, which takes place every August, has grown into an excellent and hugely popular nationwide celebration of our heritage. One of the events I attended this year was a lecture about the RIC (Royal Irish Constabulary) in North Tipperary and Offaly by University Lecturer Brian Hughes. The lecture was in Cloughmoyle School House (a beautiful building), Shinrone, and Doctor Hughes shone a light into a world that definitely needs a lot more investigation.
“My aim here,” Doctor Hughes told us, “is to examine the final months of the Royal Irish Constabulary, and particularly the range of experiences of its final cohort of members after they were disbanded from the force over the course of 1922.”
In 1922 the RIC was made up of two categories. There was the “old RIC”, most of whom were Irish-born men and had joined the force up to 1919. The second category was the “Black and Tans”, those who had joined from the 2nd of January 1920. Most of the Black and Tans were British-born men. About 20% of the recruits from January 1920 were Irish.
Brian's lecture focussed mainly on the old RIC. An important thing to remember is that while British Black and Tans could return to their native land after disbandment, the Irish ex-RIC faced a different set of prospects. Brian told us that he has so far conducted forty interviews with RIC descendants. His lecture included some of the insights gleaned from twelve of the interviews which were conducted with children of the RIC men. He said one of his aims was to show the additional complexity and nuance in a story which is often dominated by the excesses of the Tans.
It was first announced in January 1922 that the RIC would be disbanded. Following this, the RIC members were first transferred to larger centres before being released in a staggered fashion. Barracks in North Tipperary were taken over in February 1922. On March 3 the RIC barracks in Birr was evacuated and a contingent of republican police took over. By March 11 all the police and military had left Offaly. RIC in Tullamore and Edenderry left on March 9 and were transferred to Gormanston camp where they were disbanded in April and May.
In mid-April 1922 William Kennedy, who was pensioned from the RIC in 1919 and settled in Birr, wrote in a letter that, “All the RIC are left here long since, not a police uniform to be seen, it seems so strange. There is a lot of volunteers in the police barracks.” In a July letter he said the Military Barracks had been “burned to the ground last week and Birr Castle had a narrow escape - we have Free State soldiers here now.” (William perhaps didn't know that one of his sons had allegedly provided the petrol for the Crinkle burning).
At 12 o'clock on August 17, 1922, the new Civic Guard (later An Garda Síochána) took charge of Dublin Castle and the RIC was, as the Irish Times put it, “fairly disbanded and put into civil life.” Some onlookers said they regretted the passing of “what was admittedly the finest police force in the world.” 13,000 men were released into Ireland's civil life. Many of them were unable to support themselves or their families indefinitely and they had few prospects. 15 of them were killed in southern Ireland by the end of 1922 and some were subjected to threats and raids on their homes. “A lot of the worst predictions didn't come to pass, however,” commented Brian, “and experiences were ultimately varied.” 79 Irish-born men were disbanded from Offaly. About a third of the 79 stayed in the Irish Free State, with five of those in Offaly (two collecting pensions in Birr and three in Banagher). 13 moved to Northern Ireland, including four who joined the RUC. Nearly 40% went to Britain. Sergeant George Anderson moved from Banagher to London. Richard Richardson, who had been the sergeant in Shinrone in 1920, moved to his home county of Wicklow and then to Birmingham. Five of the Offaly-born disbanded RIC went to Palestine where they served in the new British Section of the Palestine Gendarmerie. Also serving in this British Section were 26 men disbanded from North Tipperary.
147 men were disbanded from Tipperary North Riding and only 24% of these remained in the Irish Free State. 27% of the North Tipperary members went to the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Palestine. The British police forces were unwilling to take on men with RIC service, therefore the RUC or colonial forces were the primary options for men who wished to continue in policing. “The high proportion of men disbanded in North Tipperary,” said Brian, “who left Ireland likely points to an increased feeling of being unsafe there, whether justified or imagined. Much of the lethal violence against serving or ex-RIC in 1922 was in Munster counties where the conflict with police had been most acute...Neither North Tipperary nor Offaly appear to have been particularly attractive places for ex RIC during the Civil War. For context, from a total sample of over 6,000 Irish-born men, about one third left while two-thirds stayed.”
The majority of the Irishmen disbanded in Offaly and North Tipperary were Catholics from farming backgrounds “and, ultimately, most Irish-born disbanded policemen stayed in Ireland after retirement or disbandment or returned after a relatively short period away. As I say, the receptions they received in the Irish Free State could be mixed. Some former policemen found themselves at the mercy of local suppliers and could be forced to pay over the odds for goods and services. RIC families having to travel sometimes found it difficult to obtain help from neighbours to secure means of transporting their goods. Families making a hasty departure were also sometimes forced to sell furniture at a loss.”
Brian told us that of the 40 interviews with RIC descendants none were from Offaly or North Tipperary and he's keen to hear from them if they are out there. If you are a descendant please email him at Brian.Hughes@mic.ul.ie

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