List of IRAs

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The IRA (Irish Republican Army) is a name used to describe several paramilitary movements in Ireland in the 20th and 21st centuries, though the first known use of the term occurred in the Fenian raids on Canada in the 1860s.

All claim descent from the original Irish Republican Army, which was formed from the Irish Volunteers. It was the army of the Irish Republic, declared by Dáil Éireann in 1919. Most Irish people dispute the claims of more recently created organizations that insist that they are the only legitimate descendants of the original IRA, often referred to as the "Old IRA".

The playwright and former IRA member Brendan Behan once said that the first issue on any IRA agenda was "the split". For the IRA, that has constantly been the case. The first split came after the signature of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921, with supporters of the Treaty forming the nucleus of the National Army while the anti-treaty forces continued to use the name Irish Republican Army. After the end of the Irish Civil War, the IRA was around in one form or another for forty years, when it split into the Official IRA and the Provisional IRA in 1969. The latter then had its own breakaways, namely the Real IRA and the Continuity IRA, each claiming to be the true successor of the Army of the Irish Republic.

The original IRA (in later years, known as the "Old" IRA), recognised by the First Dáil as the legitimate army of the Irish Republic in April 1921. Split into pro-Treaty forces (the National Army, also known as the Government forces or the regulars) and anti-Treaty forces (the Republicans, irregulars or Executive forces) after the Treaty.
The Irish Republican Army (1922-1969) - the anti-treaty IRA which fought and lost the civil war and which thereafter refused to recognise either the Irish Free State or Northern Ireland, deeming them both to be creations of British imperialism.
The Official IRA, the remainder of the IRA after the 1969 split with the Provisionals, now inactive in the military sense.
The Provisional IRA (PIRA), which broke from the OIRA in 1969 over the latter's failing to protect nationalist communities in Northern Ireland, has a left-wing orientation and increasing political activity; the term 'IRA' is almost always now used to denote this particular group.
The Continuity IRA, broke from the PIRA in 1986 because the latter ended its policy on abstentionism (thus recognising the authority of the Republic of Ireland).
The 'Real' IRA, a 1997 breakaway from the PIRA consisting of members opposed to the peace process.

Genealogy of the IRA and its splits

Here in more detail is a representation¹ of a genealogical tree of Irish nationalist movements derived from the original IRA:

Original IRA (the "old" IRA) - fought in the War of Independence 1919-1921
* That part of the Old IRA that accepted the compromise of the 1921 treaty which established the Irish Free State and that became the initial Free State government. Its supporters became the modern-day Fine Gael Party, currently the second-largest party in Ireland. With additional recruits, it became the National Army, later known as the Irish Defence Forces
* That part of the original IRA organized within Northern Ireland not included within the Free State (see below).
* That part of the IRA, organized within the twenty six counties that became the Free State, which rejected the compromise of the 1921 treaty with Britain and under Liam Lynch fought the Irish Civil War against the Free State 'National Army' (led by Michael Collins), with the support of the anti-treaty faction of Sinn Féin, led by Éamon de Valera.
** Fianna Fáil - some years after losing the Civil War a faction of Sinn Féin led by de Valera returned to the democratic fold as the Fianna Fáil party, which is currently the largest party in Ireland.
** The remainder of the IRA, including that part of the Old IRA organised within Northern Ireland, carried on low level sporadic paramilitary activity in Northern Ireland as well as some activities in the Free State (later the Republic of Ireland). After a period of poor relations, the symbiotic relationship between Sinn Féin and the IRA was re-established in the late 1930s.
*** By the 1960s, after the IRA waged a disastrous border campaign, Sinn Féin moved towards a Marxist class struggle outlook. With the outbreak of the Troubles Sinn Féin, or as it came to be called after the formation of the Provisional IRA and Provisional Sinn Féin, Official IRA / Official Sinn Féin found itself sidelined because of its decision not to defend Catholic areas of Belfast from sectarian attacks. Over time the Official IRA faded away, while Official Sinn Féin moved to a purely Marxist position, renaming itself first Sinn Féin the Workers Party, and then in 1982 the The Workers Party.
****After the Official IRA's 1972 ceasefire it and Official Sinn Féin suffered a split in 1974 leading to the formation of the extreme left wing Irish National Liberation Army and the Irish Republican Socialist Party, led by Séamus Costelloe (later assassinated by the Official IRA during a bloody feud). The INLA was known for a series of internal feuds and some of the more sectarian killings from the nationalist side.
**** In 1992 the Workers' Party suffered a split when a majority faction failed to secure changes. They left and formed the Democratic Left the most leftist of the parties in the Republic with seats in the Dáil Éireann (though also operating in Northern Ireland). Ultimately the Democratic Left merged into the Labour Party.
*** In 1969, the more traditionalist republican members split off into the Provisional IRA and Provisional Sinn Féin. The Provisional IRA operated mostly in Northern Ireland, using violence against the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the British army, and British institutions and economic targets. They also killed members of the Irish army and the Garda Síochána (the Irish police force), which was against one of their standing orders. A further split occurred in 1986, when the southern leadership of Provisional Sinn Féin under Ruairí Ó Brádaigh was deposed and replaced by a new northern leadership under Gerry Adams.
**** The deposed elements, who took a hardline republican stance, and opposed Provisional Sinn Féin's decision to abandon abstentionism and enter Dáil Éireann, set up a rival party and military wing, called Republican Sinn Féin and the Continuity IRA.
**** Members of the Provisional IRA who did not accept the peace process split off to form the Real IRA. Its political wing is the 32 County Sovereignty Movement.
* The Provisional IRA and Provisional Sinn Féin (now more generally referred to simply as the IRA and Sinn Féin, moved to a less militarist and more politically-led position, which ultimately produced the Hume-Adams report and the peace process.

List of IRAs

Genealogy of the IRA and its splits

See also