2 April 2012: The End of the Fighting

After all of the horrific actions taken by both the Free State and the Republicans, it seemed as if it was only a matter of time before it was ended. As it turned out, the worst part of the war was directly before the end. By 1923, the offensive and defensive capabilities of the Republicans were in a very rough shape. This proved to be an influencing factor for the decision that was made to end their campaign after Republican leader Liam Deasy was captured by Free State forces. Deasy called for his fellow Republicans to stop fighting and reach an agreement with the Free State. This proved to be one of the reasons the Republicans stopped fighting. Another reason is that the Free State executed 34 Republican prisoners. This was demoralizing for the rest of the Republican forces and had a great and terrific effect on their morale. Not only were the Republicans demoralized, they were being systematically broken up and taken down by the Free State forces. This seemed to point to the end of the war but for some reason when the Republican leader, Éamon de Valera, called for a ceasefire, the Free State declined. It was as if they felt they needed to punish the Republicans more than they already had for fighting and resisting. On March 26, the Republicans gathered to discuss the future of the war and a proposal was actually brought forth to end it. This proposal was rejected by a vote of 5 in favor and 6 against. It seemed as if the war would never end because now the Republicans would not back down.

Éamon de Valera

A few short weeks later however, Liam Lynch, one of the stubborn and unyielding Republican leaders was killed. The Free State Army had learned from Republican prisoners that multiple Republican leaders would be in Knockmealdown mountains in early April. This information led to the death of Lynch and the capture of a few other high ranking Republican officers. The lack of Republican leadership then led to the appointment of Frank Aiken. With this new leader, the Republicans finally listened and gave up what seemed to be a futile struggle against the Free State Army. By the end of April, Aiken had declared a ceasefire on behalf of the Republicans. To show that they actually wanted a ceasefire, the Republican forces were ordered to dump their weapons. This was the best option because they were fighting a fight they simply could not win. Éamon de Valera supported the order, issuing a statement to Anti-Treaty fighters on 24 May; "Soldiers of the Republic. Legion of the Rearguard: The Republic can no longer be defended successfully by your arms. Further sacrifice of life would now be in vain and the continuance of the struggle in arms unwise in the national interest and prejudicial to the future of our cause. Military victory must be allowed to rest for the moment with those who have destroyed the Republic." It seemed as if the nightmare was over and Ireland was finally in a state of peace, even if it was fragile.


It was not to be though as the peace negotiations enacted by the Free State government in early May fell through. As a result, they were worried that the 13,000 Republicans who had been captured after they dumped their weapons and returned home would revolt and start fighting again. This meant that the Emergency Powers Act was enacted. This took place on July 2 and was approved by a vote of 37-13. The Irish Civil War finally seemed to be over. While this is true for the most brutal fighting, it was not completely finished. I will talk about some of the events that took place after the Emergency Powers Act in the next post.