Anglo-Irish War

The Anglo-Irish War (also known as the Irish War of Independence) is the name for the campaign mounted against the Royal Irish Constabulary, the British Army and the Black and Tans in Ireland by the Irish Republican Army (often described as the Old IRA to distinguish it from later organisations that used the initials IRA) and is usually dated from about January 1919 until the truce in July 1921.

It had its origins in the formation of unilaterally created independent Irish parliament, called Dáil Éireann, formed by the majority of MPs elected in Irish constituencies to the British parliament in Westminster. This parliament, known as the First Dáil, and its ministry, called the Áireacht declared Irish independence. The IRA, as the 'army of the Irish Republic', was perceived by members of Dáil Éireann to have a mandate to wage war on the Dublin Castle British administration running Ireland.

The war ended in a Truce in 1921, which led to the negotiation of the Anglo-Irish Treaty (1921) and the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922. A minority of those involved in the War of Independence refused to accept the Treaty and started the Irish Civil War which lasted until mid 1923 and which cost of the lives of some of the leaders of the independence movement, notably Michael Collins and Rory O'Connor.

A memorial called the Garden of Remembrance was erected in Dublin in 1966, the fiftieth anniversary of the Easter Rising.\n