7 - Revolutionaries, 1919–1923

Summary

This chapter describes Protestant active rebels in the War of Independence and on the republican side in the Irish Civil War. It discusses the formative influences of Protestant IRA men, their activities during the conflict, and their tendency to support the anti-Treaty side during the succeeding Civil War. It also discusses the Protestant women of Cumann na mBan, and highlights the treatment of women who rejected the Treaty. Changing attitudes towards ‘outsiders’ or ‘synthetic Gaels’ are treated. The extent to which Irish Protestants were victims of a campaign of sectarian-based harassment and intimidation during this era has been controversial. The final section traces the reaction of some Protestant nationalists to events such as those of Dunmanway in late April 1922, when thirteen Protestant men were killed.