The term Black and Tans (Irish: Dúchrónaigh) refers to the Royal Irish Constabulary Reserve Force (Fórsa Chúltaca Chonstáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann), which was one of two paramilitary forces employed by the Royal Irish Constabulary from 1920 to 1921, to suppress revolution in Ireland. Irish (ga ''Gaeilge'' is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish. The Royal Irish Constabulary ( RIC) ( Irish: Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann) was one of Ireland's two police forces in the early twentieth century Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Although it was established to target the Irish Republican Army, it became notorious through its numerous attacks on the Irish civilian population. The Irish Republican Army ( IRA) (Óglaigh na hÉireann was a military organisation descended from the Irish Volunteers, established 25 November 1913 and who

However, Black and Tans is very often used to refer to both the RIC Reserve Force and the other RIC force raised for the Irish War of Independence, the RIC Auxiliary Division. The Irish War of Independence (or Tan War, or Anglo-Irish War, Irish: Cogadh na Saoirse) from January 1919 to July 1921 was a guerrilla The Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary (ADRIC generally known as the Auxiliaries or Auxies, was a Paramilitary organization

Foundation

The late 19th and early 20th centuries in Ireland were dominated by the Irish pursuit of Home Rule or independence from the United Kingdom. Home rule refers to a demand that constituent parts of a state be given greater self-government within the greater administrative purview of the central government Home Rule — limited self government — was passed by the British parliament in 1912, but postponed because of the outbreak of the First World War. Some radical Irish republicans saw Home Rule as being too limited a form of independence however. Irish republicanism (Poblachtánachas is an ideology based on the Irish nationalist belief that all of Ireland should be a single independent Republic After the Easter Rising in Dublin in 1916 when armed Irish nationalists staged a rebellion against British rule of Ireland, Irish nationalism was greatly radicalised and after public outrage at the execution of the rising's leaders and the threatened imposition of conscription on Ireland for the First World War, it was channelled into the revolutionary Sinn Féin movement. The Easter Rising (Éirí Amach na Cásca was a rebellion staged in Ireland in Easter Week, 1916 Irish nationalism (Náisiúnachas Éireannach refers to political and sociological movements and sentiment that embodies a love for Irish ancestry, culture and language and Irish nationalism (Náisiúnachas Éireannach refers to political and sociological movements and sentiment that embodies a love for Irish ancestry, culture and language and Sinn Féin () is a political party in Ireland. The current party led by Gerry Adams was formed following a split in January 1970 Sinn Féin won 73 out of 105 seats in Ireland at the 1918 general election, and in January 1919 the First Dáil declared an independent Irish Republic. The First Dáil (An Chéad Dáil was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 1919&ndash1921 The Irish Republic ( Irish: Poblacht na hÉireann or Saorstát Éireann) was a unilaterally declared independent state of Ireland proclaimed In the same month, the Irish Volunteers, or Irish Republican Army, began the guerrilla campaign known as Irish War of Independence, which in 1919 consisted of attacks on the Royal Irish Constabulary. The Irish Volunteers ( Óglaigh na hÉireann) was a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists. The Irish Republican Army ( IRA) (Óglaigh na hÉireann was a military organisation descended from the Irish Volunteers, established 25 November 1913 and who The Irish War of Independence (or Tan War, or Anglo-Irish War, Irish: Cogadh na Saoirse) from January 1919 to July 1921 was a guerrilla The Royal Irish Constabulary ( RIC) ( Irish: Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann) was one of Ireland's two police forces in the early twentieth century

These attacks escalated during 1919 and in September the British administration outlawed the Dáil. Starting work on its next Home Rule Act, it had to plan for a growing loss of morale in the RIC with an interim solution until the Act was ready. An Act to Provide for the Better Government of Ireland, more usually the Government of Ireland Act 1920, (and sometimes called the Fourth Home Rule Act) was an Act

In January 1920, the British government started advertising in British cities for men willing to "face a rough and dangerous task", helping to boost the ranks of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) in policing an increasingly anti-British Ireland. The Royal Irish Constabulary ( RIC) ( Irish: Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann) was one of Ireland's two police forces in the early twentieth century There was no shortage of recruits, many of them First World War army veterans, and by November 1921 about 9,500 men had joined. This sudden influx of men led to a shortage of RIC uniforms, and the new recruits were issued with khaki army uniforms (usually only trousers) and dark green RIC or blue British police surplus tunics, caps and belts. This article is about the fabric. For the colour see Khaki (color. Law enforcement in the United Kingdom is organised separately in Scotland, Northern Ireland, England and Wales (administration of Police matters This mixture gave rise to their nickname, the Black and Tans (in Irish, na Dúchrónaigh), from the name of a famous pack of foxhounds from Limerick, the Scarteen Black and Tans, whose colours were and are similar. Irish (ga ''Gaeilge'' is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish. County Limerick ( Contae Luimnigh in Irish) is a County in the Province of Munster, located in the mid-west of Ireland with County The name stuck even after the men received full RIC uniforms.

The new recruits received three months' hurried training, and were rapidly posted to RIC barracks, mostly in Dublin, Munster and eastern Connacht. Munster ( Irish: An Mhumhain, ənˈvuːnʲ Cúige Mumhan or Mumha) is the southernmost of the four Provinces of Ireland. The first men arrived on 25 March 1920. Events 1199 - Richard I is wounded by a crossbow bolt while fighting France which leads to his death on April 6. Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar The government also raised another unit, the Auxiliary Division of the constabulary, known as the Auxiliaries or Auxies. The Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary (ADRIC generally known as the Auxiliaries or Auxies, was a Paramilitary organization This group was made up of ex-army officers. The Black and Tans acted with the Auxiliaries in the government's attempts to break the IRA.

In action in Ireland

Members of the Black and Tans were paid the relatively good wage of 10 shillings a day plus full board and lodging. With minimal police training, their main role was to strengthen the military might of police posts, where they functioned as sentries, guards, escorts for government agents, reinforcement to the regular police, and crowd control, and mounted a determined counter-insurgency campaign. See also Insurgency In the context of an occupation or a Civil war, counter-insurgency (abbreviated COIN is a military term for the combat The Black and Tans and the Auxies became known as Tudor's Toughs after the police commander, Major-General Sir Henry Hugh Tudor. Major General Sir Henry Hugh Tudor KCB, CMG (1871-1965 was a British Soldier who fought as a junior officer in the Second Boer They were viewed by Republicans as an army of occupation because of these duties. Irish republicanism (Poblachtánachas is an ideology based on the Irish nationalist belief that all of Ireland should be a single independent Republic They soon gained a reputation for brutality^[1], as the RIC campaign against the IRA and Sinn Féin members was stepped up and police reprisals for IRA attacks were condoned by the government.

Alexander Will, from Forfar in Scotland, was the first Black and Tan to die in the conflict, during an IRA attack on the RIC barracks in Rathmore, County Kerry, on 11 July 1920. Forfar is a town and former Royal burgh of approximately 13500 people located in the Unitary authority of Angus in Scotland. County Kerry ( Contae Chiarraí in Irish) is a southwestern county of Ireland.

The Black and Tans were not subject to strict discipline in their early months in Ireland and as a result, the deaths of Black and Tans at the hands of the IRA in 1920 were often repaid with arbitrary reprisals against the civilian population. In the summer of 1920, the Black and Tans burned and sacked many small towns and villages in Ireland, beginning with Tuam in County Galway in July 1920 and also including Trim, Balbriggan, Thurles and Templemore amongst many others. Tuam (pronounced /tʃuəm/ Tuaim is a town in County Galway, Ireland. County Galway (Contae na Gaillimhe is located on the West Coast of Ireland. Trim ( is the traditional County town of County Meath in Ireland, although the county town is now Navan. Balbriggan ( Baile Brigín in Irish) is a town in north county Dublin, Ireland. Thurles (pronounced /θɜɹlɛs/ or locally /tɜrləs/ Dúrlas Éile is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland, situated on the River Suir, with a Templemore ( An Teampall Mór, meaning The Big Church in Irish) is a town in County Tipperary in Ireland. In November 1920, the Tans "besieged" Tralee in revenge for the IRA abduction and killing of two local RIC men. Tralee (Trá Lí (or Tráigh Lí is the county town of County Kerry, in the southwest corner of Ireland. They closed all the businesses in the town and let no food in for a week. In addition they shot dead three local people. On 14 November, the Tans abducted and murdered a Roman Catholic priest, Fr Michael Griffin, in Galway. Galway (Gaillimh is the only city in the province of Connacht in Ireland. His body was found in a bog in Barna a week later. Bearna, also known as Barna, is a Village west of Galway city in County Galway, Ireland, on the R336 Regional road Finally, the Black and Tans sacked Cork city, on the night of 11 December 1920, the centre of which was burned out — destroying more than 300 buildings. Cork (Corcaigh is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland 's third most populous city after Dublin and Belfast They also shot dead two IRA suspects in the city that night.

In January 1921, the British Labour Commission produced a report on the situation in Ireland which was highly critical of the government's security policy. It said the government, in forming the Black and Tans, had "liberated forces which it is not at present able to dominate". However since 29 December 1920, the British government had sanctioned "official reprisals" in Ireland — usually meaning burning property of IRA men and their suspected sympathisers. Taken together with an increased emphasis on discipline in the RIC, this helped to curb the random atrocities the Black and Tans committed since March 1920 for the remainder of the war, if only because reprisals were now directed from above rather than being the result of a spontaneous desire for revenge. (see also Chronology of the Irish War of Independence). This is a chronology of Irish War of Independence (or the Anglo Irish War) of 1919&ndash1921

However, many of the atrocities popularly attributed to the Black and Tans were probably committed by the far more brutal Auxiliaries; some were committed by Irish RIC men. For instance, Tomás Mac Curtain, the mayor of Cork, was assassinated in March 1920 by local RIC men and the massacre of 13 civilians at Croke Park on Bloody Sunday was also carried out by the RIC although a small detachment of Auxiliaries were also present. Tomás Mac Curtain ( March 20, 1884 - March 20, 1920) was a Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Cork, Ireland. Croke Park (Páirc an Chrócaigh in Dublin, Ireland is the largest sports Stadium in Ireland (fifth largest in Europe) and the principal stadium Bloody Sunday was a day of violence on 21 November 1920 in Dublin, during the Irish War of Independence ( 1919 - 1921) Moreover, the regular British Army also committed atrocities, burning the towns of Mallow and Fermoy for example. Fermoy ( in County Cork, Ireland is a Town of some 5800 inhabitants environs included (2006 census situated on the River Blackwater in However most Republicans did not make a distinction, and "Black and Tans" was often used as a catch-all term for all police and army groups.

The actions of the Black and Tans alienated public opinion in both Ireland and Britain. The violent tactics the Black and Tans encouraged both sides to move towards a peaceful resolution. Edward Wood MP, a future Foreign Secretary, rejected force and urged the British government to offer the Irish an offer "conceived on the most generous lines". Edward Frederick Lindley Wood 1st Earl of Halifax, KG, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, PC ( 16 April 1881 &ndash ^[2] Sir John Simon MP, another future Foreign Secretary, was also horrified at the tactics being used. John Allsebrook Simon 1st Viscount Simon GCSI GCVO OBE PC ( 28 February 1873 &ndash 11 January 1954 Lionel Curtis, writing in the imperialist journal The Round Table, wrote: "If the British Commonwealth can only be preserved by such means, it would become a negation of the principle for which it has stood". The Round Table The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs is a policy matters journal relating to the Commonwealth of Nations. ^[3] The King, senior Anglican bishops, MPs from the Liberal and Labour parties, Oswald Mosley, Jan Smuts, the Trades Union Congress and parts of the press were increasingly critical of the actions of the Black and Tans. The Liberal Party was one of the two major British political parties from the early 19th century until the rise of the Labour Party in the 1920s and a third party The Labour Party is a Political party in the United Kingdom. Founded at the start of the 20th century it has been since the 1920s the principal party of the Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 &ndash 3 December 1980 was a British Politician, known principally as the founder of the British Field Marshal Jan Christiaan Smuts, OM, CH, PC, ED, KC, FRS (24 May 1870 &ndash 11 September 1950 was a prominent The Trades Union Congress (TUC is a national trade union centre, a federation of Trade unions in the United Kingdom, representing the majority of trade Mahatma Gandhi said of the British peace offer: "It is not fear of losing more lives that has compelled a reluctant offer from England but it is the shame of any further imposition of agony upon a people that loves liberty above everything else". Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi ( Gujarati: મોહનદાસ કરમચંદ ગાંધી moɦən̪d̪äs kəɾəmʧən̪d̪ gän̪d̪ʱi (2 October 1869 – 30 January ^[4]

About 7,000 Black and Tans served in Ireland in 1920-22. More than one-third of the Black and Tans died or left the service before they were disbanded along with the rest of the RIC in 1922, an extremely high wastage rate, and well over half received government pensions. A total of 404 members of the Royal Irish Constabulary died in the conflict and more than 600 were wounded but it is not clear how many of these were pre-war RIC men and how many were Black and Tans or Auxiliaries. The Royal Irish Constabulary ( RIC) ( Irish: Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann) was one of Ireland's two police forces in the early twentieth century

Those who returned to civilian life sometimes had problems re-integrating. At least two former Black and Tans were hanged for murder in Britain and another wanted for murder committed suicide before the police could arrest him ^[5].

Legacy

Due to the ferocity of the Tans' behaviour in Ireland and the atrocities committed, feelings continue to run high regarding their actions. "Black and Tan" or "Tan" remains a pejorative term for British in Ireland. One of the most famous Irish Republican songs is Dominic Behan's Come Out Ye Black And Tans. Dominic Behan ( 22 October, 1928 - 3 August, 1989; Irish: Doiminic Ó Beacháin) was an Irish songwriter short " Come Out Ye Black and Tans " (sometimes " Black and Tan " is an Irish rebel song referring to the Black and Tans, the British The Irish War of Independence is often referred to by Irish republicans as the Tan War or "Black-and-Tan War", which has caused many to think that they were already active in 1919 when the war started. The Irish War of Independence (or Tan War, or Anglo-Irish War, Irish: Cogadh na Saoirse) from January 1919 to July 1921 was a guerrilla This term was preferred by those who had fought on the losing side in the Irish Civil War as they believed that Ireland had not yet won its full independence. The Irish Civil War ( June 28 1922 &ndash May 24 1923) pitted supporters of the Anglo-Irish Treaty against its opponents The "Cogadh na Saoirse" medal, which was distributed to Old IRA Volunteers after 1941, bears a ribbon with two vertical stripes in black and tan. ^[6]

Whatever its merits, the provisions of the Government of Ireland Act 1920, enacted in December 1920, could not be accepted by most Irish people, given the activities of the Black and Tans in the previous six months

The black and tans were actually named after wild dogs that roamed the streets of Limerick City

Quote

If a police barracks is burned or if the barracks already occupied is not suitable, then the best house in the locality is to be commandeered, the occupants thrown into the gutter. An Act to Provide for the Better Government of Ireland, more usually the Government of Ireland Act 1920, (and sometimes called the Fourth Home Rule Act) was an Act Let them die there—the more the merrier.

Should the order ("Hands Up") not be immediately obeyed, shoot and shoot with effect. If the persons approaching (a patrol) carry their hands in their pockets, or are in any way suspicious-looking, shoot them down. You may make mistakes occasionally and innocent persons may be shot, but that cannot be helped, and you are bound to get the right parties some time. The more you shoot, the better I will like you, and I assure you no policeman will get into trouble for shooting any man.

—Lt. Col. Smyth, June 1920^[7]

References

See also

• Royal Ulster Constabulary
• Ulster Special Constabulary
• Counties of Ireland
• The Wind That Shakes the Barley (film)

External links

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/events/northern_ireland/history/newsid_64000/64204.stm
• http://www.guardian.co.uk/Northern_Ireland/Story/0,2763,209091,00.html
• http://www.psni.police.uk/museum/text/rictoruc.htm
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/northern_ireland/newsid_784000/784872.stm
• http://www.kcs.cambs.sch.uk/depts/history/detailed/ireland.htm
• http://www.cant.ac.uk/depts/acad/history/coursebooks/edge-ofthe-union.DOC
• http://eprints.qut.edu.au/archive/00000009/01/Ainsworth_Black_conf.PDF
• http://homepage.tinet.ie/~abbeydorney/book/burning.html
• Chronology of Irish History 1919 - 1923
• http://www.thewindthatshakesthebarley.co.uk