The Partition of Ireland (Irish: críochdheighilt na hÉireann) was the process by which British Government divided Ireland into two self-governing polities: Northern and Southern Ireland. It was enacted on 3 May 1921 under the Government of Ireland Act 1920.
The Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed on December 6, 1921, ended the Irish War of Independence and established the Irish Free State as a self-governing dominion within the British Empire, granting 26 counties in Ireland a parliament and government, but also leading to the Irish Civil War due to disagreements over its terms.
…any action has been taken or is immediately threatened by any persons or body of persons of such a nature and on so extensive a scale as to be calculated, by interfering with the supply and distribution of food, water, fuel, or light, or with the means of locomotion, to deprive the community, or any substantial...
“The so-called IRA, IRB, Irish Volunteers, Cumann na mBan and Fianna na hÉireann have been proclaimed.
Free State forces continue to intern republicans for at least another year.
January 1924. Internees moved from Argenta to Larne Workhouse, Derry and Crumlin Road Gaols where they remained until June 1924.
December 1938 – July 1945
By late 1940 the introduction of the Treason Act 1939 and the Offences Against the State Act in Ireland, and the Prevention of Violence (Temporary Provisions) Act in Britain had seen many IRA members interned in Ireland, arrested in Britain, or deported from Britain
Approximately 400 were interned in Derry and Crumlin Road Gaols.
The Border campaign (12 December 1956 – 26 February 1962) was a guerrilla warfare campaign (codenamed Operation Harvest) carried out by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) against targets in the north of Ireland, with the aim of overthrowing British rule there and creating a united Ireland.
First civil rights march, 2,000 march from Dungannon to Coalisland.
RUC attack civil rights marchers, the assault is caught on film and broadcast internationally.
Top Secret Whitehall documentation released
Over a 36 hour period the British parachute regiment shot dead 11 civilians in the Ballymurphy area
A British army operation led by RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary) intelligence began in the early hours of 9th August, 1971, and saw the arrest of 342 people on the first day.
14 men selected for ‘deep interrogation’ suffered a methodology known as ‘The Five Techniques’
During the 9 August 1971 and the early hours of the 10 August the North of Ireland experienced the worst violence since August 1969. [Over the following days thousands of people (estimated at 7,000), the majority of them Catholics, were forced to flee their homes
Over 8,000 workers went on strike in Derry in protest at Internment. Joe Cahill, then Chief of Staff of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), held a press conference during which he claimed that only 30 IRA men had been interned.
The Barricades in the Bogside and other nationalist areas of Derry erected and remained so for 11 months in protest over Internment
Approximately 130 non-Unionist councillors announced their withdrawal from participation on district councils across the North of Ireland in protest against Internment.
a rents and rates strike was introduced in protest against internment and within weeks was supported by 26,000 households.
The government of the Republic of Ireland stated that it would take the allegations of brutality from the British Army & RUC to Internees to the European Court of Human Rights.
The report of the Compton inquiry was published. Report of the enquiry into allegations against the state forces of physical brutality arising out of events on the 9th August, 1971. (November 1971; Cmnd. 4832).
There was an anti-internment rally in Belfast which passed without major incident.
17 January 1972 seven Republican internees escaped from the British prison ship, HMS ‘Maidstone’, moored at the coal wharf in Belfast docks, and swam to freedom. They achieved fame in news headlines across the world as ‘The Magnificent Seven’.
An anti-internment march was held at Magilligan strand, County Derry, with several thousand people taking part. As the march neared the internment camp it was stopped by members of the Green Jackets and the Parachute Regiment of the British Army, who used barbed wire to close off the beach
Frank Lagan, then Chief Superintendent of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) notified Andrew MacLellan, then Commander 8 Infantry Brigade, of his contact with the Civil Rights Association, and informed him of their intention to hold a non-violent demonstration protesting against Internment on 30 January 1972
A British Government report was published by a committee headed by Lord Parker on the methods used by the security forces in to interogate those interned
During an anti-Internment march , British soldiers shot and killed 14 unarmed civilians during a protest march in Derry, Ireland. The incident is considered one of the worst mass shootings in Irish history.
The funerals of 11 of the dead of ‘Bloody Sunday’ took place in the Creggan area of Derry. Tens of thousands attended the funeral including clergy, politicians from North and South, and thousands of friends and neighbours
Edward Heath, then British Prime Minister, announced that the Stormont Parliament was to be prorogued, and ‘Direct Rule’ from Westminster imposed on the North of Ireland on 30 March 1972. The announcement was greeted with outrage from Brian Faulkner and Unionist politicians
IRA bombs kill 9 and injure over 100 in Belfast.
4,000 extra British troops were brought into the North to take part in the dismantling of barricades on the boundaries of ‘no-go’ areas. It turned out to be the biggest British military operation since the Suez crisis. 12,000 British troops supported by tanks and bulldozers smashed through the barricades
The Committee had been looking at possible changes to the legal procedures used in cases arising out the conflict. The report recommended that such cases should be heard by a Judge of the High Court, or a County Court Judge, sitting alone with no jury
First woman interned. Elizabeth Mc Kee a 19year old Belfast woman becomes the first woman to be interned. Between 1973 and 1975 33 republican women were interned.
Two Loyalists were detained, and then subsequently interned (5 February 1973), because of their alleged involvement in the killing of an innocent Catholic man.
The Irish government brought a case of torture against the British government to the European Commission on Human Rights. The case related to the treatment of Internees held in the North of Ireland.
Tish Holland – 17 years old, second woman to be interned.
After a series of protests in Long Kesh about the deteriorating conditions things came to a head when the internees and republican POWs burnt the camp. Thousands of British soldiers entered the camp and the ensuing pitched battle lasted hours. Hundreds of internees and POWs were injured.
Living in the debris of the burnt-out camp the internees dug a 195 feet tunnel and on November 06th 33 made a bid to escape. Twelve made it out before the tunnel was discovered. Hugh Coney an internee from Tyrone was shot dead by a British soldier whilst crawling through the barbed wire to freedom.
During that time 1,981 people were detained; 1,874 were Catholic / Republican, while 107 were Protestant / Loyalist.