Civil War Operations and Intelligence Reports Collection
(February 1922 - February 1927)

Article 46 of the Constitution of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) Act, 1922 gave the Oireachtas “the exclusive right to regulate the raising and maintaining of…armed forces…in the territory of the Irish Free State”¹. The National Army was initially composed of men in units of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) that supported the Treaty. The original command structure of the National Army closely followed that of the War of Independence period IRA. Some of the command areas referred to within this collection include Eastern, Northern, Western and 3 (Third) Southern commands.

However, the structure of the National Army was formally re-organised on 18 January 1923 when command boundaries were redrawn according to General Routine Orders No.14². This Order divided the National Army into nine commands: Athlone, Claremorris, Cork, Curragh, Donegal, Dublin, Kerry, Limerick, and Waterford. Most of the material within this collection reflects this new command structure.

The operations and intelligence reports were generated by officers in each of these commands and forwarded to the Director of Operations and Director of Intelligence. Many of these reports were submitted on pro formas supplied by a section named the Department of Military Statistics.

Scope and Content:

This collection is primarily comprised of reports on National Army Operations and daily and weekly Intelligence reports for the period of the Civil War. The collection also contains administrative material such as general orders and staff memoranda issued from General Headquarters.

¹An Act to enact a Constitution for The Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) and for implementing the Treaty between Great Britain and Ireland signed at London on the 6th day of December, 1921. The Stationery Office, Dublin 1921. p.24
²Duggan, John P., A History of the Irish Army Dublin 1991, Appendix 2

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