Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)

Anti-Treaty sub-group of the original IRA

The Irish Republican Army (IRA; Irish: Óglaigh na hÉireann, lit. 'warriors of Ireland') was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that carried on a number of violent campaigns between 1922 and 1969, in pursuit of a 32-county Irish republic. It arose from a split in the original IRA over the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in December 1921, and was known during the ensuing Civil War as the Anti-Treaty IRA or the "Irregulars". It split in 1969 into the Provisional IRA and Official IRA. The Civil War ended with anti-Treaty forces dumping arms, and over the following years, membership fell to fewer than 2,000.

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