Historical Section Collection
(1913-1966)

This collection contains files created by and maintained by the Historical Section, Second Bureau (also known as Military Archives on various dates). Files include typed statements gathered in connection with a project titled ‘History of the Anglo-Irish Conflict 1913-1921’ which ran from 1933 to 1935, and correspondence between staff of the Historical Section and contributors to the project. Collection also includes files containing contemporaneous paperwork relating to I.R.A. executions, the truce liaison and evacuation period and the Civil War generally. A number of these files are linked to other collections in the Military Archives, namely Department of Defence ‘A’ file series, Civil War Captured Documents and Truce Liaison and Evacuation papers.

The original arrangement of the files has not been disturbed. However, original files and documents which were created by Michael Collins and members of the I.R.A. during the period 1917 to 1922 have been removed from the collection, re-catalogued and presented in the Collins Papers collection IE-MA-CP. Gaps within the file numbers are therefore visible. The collection varies in scope and content and the range of material can be described as follows: Range IE-MA-HS-A-001 - IE-MA-HS-A-031 (15 files) contains correspondence between Military Archives/Historical Section staff, Regular Officers and the Chief of Staff, concerning the establishment of Military Archives, the work of the Historical Section and the establishment and progress of a project titled ‘History of the Anglo-Irish Conflict’. A file relating to the Irish Volunteer Movement contains a copy of the Irish Volunteer Gazette (1913) and a copy of Field Service Regulations, Part I, Organisation and Administration.

Range IE-MA-HS-A-032 - IE-MA-HS-A-078 (15 files) contains newspaper extracts, research notes, a selection of contemporaneous documents, typed statements and extracts from publications relating to the foundation of the Irish Volunteers, their activities during the period 1914 to 1915, Na Fianna Éireann and the Irish Republican Brotherhood. It also includes material concerning the Howth Gun Running and the Curragh Mutiny.

Range IE-MA-HS-A-101 - IE-MA-HS-A-124C (28 files) contains newspaper extracts, research notes, selection of contemporaneous documents, typed statements and copy extracts from publications relating to Casement’s Brigade, accounts of military operations during Easter week 1916 (statements of Officers) and Eoin MacNeill’s countermanding order. Files also include casualty lists prepared by Military Archives/Historical Section staff; correspondence between Major Fletcher Vane and Arthur Griffith, President of the Provisional Government, Irish Free State in March 1922, regarding the executions of Francis Sheehy Skeffington, Dickson and McIntyre in 1916 (see IE-MA-HS-A-124C); correspondence, statements and notes relating to investigations and enquiries undertaken by the Department of Defence, Department of Justice and others during the period 1924 to 1932, in connection with the execution of the 1916 leaders (see IE-MA-HS-A-124).

Range IE-MA-HS-A-125 - IE-MA-HS-A-287 (35 files) contains newspaper extracts, research notes, typed statements and copy extracts from publications broadly relating to the military and political situation in Ireland following the 1916 Rising. Subject matter includes: the release of internees in May/June 1916 and 15 June 1917, the Irish Volunteer convention 1917, the re-organisation of the Irish Volunteers 1917, the Conscription crisis, and the German Plot. Files also contains notes and lists showing details of casualties suffered by the Irish Volunteers in 1917 and 1918, lists of men released between 13 May and 13 June 1916 and, as a consequence of the amnesty, on 15 June 1917 (see IE-MA-HS-A-127 and IE-MA-HS-A-138).

Range IE-MA-HS-A-345 - IE-MA-HS-A-626 (65 files) contains newspaper extracts, research notes, typed statements and copy extracts from publications broadly relating to the War of Independence 1919-1921. Files include: lists of people arrested and imprisoned during the War of Independence; lists of casualties (Crown Forces and I.R.A.), statements which detail I.R.A. operations during the War of Independence; research notes on the Auxiliaries and original British Army documents showing the activities and movements of British Army personnel, typically located in the 6th Division during 1920 and 1921 (IE-MA-HS-A-413, IE-MA-HS-A-622). This range also includes a file titled ‘Executions by I.R.A.’ containing letters from members of the public to state authorities in late 1922, concerning family members who disappeared during the War of Independence (IE-MA-HS-A-535).

Range IE-MA-HS-A-629 - IE-MA-HS-A-735 (16 files) contains newspaper extracts, research notes, typed statements and copy extracts from publications broadly relating to Divisional Organisation of the I.R.A. in 1921, the operations of the Irish White Cross and the Irish Republican Dependent’s Fund during 1921, Officer training camps held during the Truce period, and internment in 1921. This range also includes file titled Executions by I.R.A. containing letters from members of the public to state authorities in late 1922 concerning family members who disappeared during the War of Independence (IE-MA-HS-A-649).

Range IE-MA-HS-A-770 - IE-MA-HS-A-827 (35 files) contains newspaper extracts, research notes, typed statements and copy extracts from publications broadly relating to the Irish Volunteers 1913, the 1916 Rising, War of Independence and the Civil War. Files include ‘Executions 1922 – 23’ containing notes and statistical information prepared by Historical Section, Second Bureau (IE-MA-HS-A-770); a copy of an account attributed to Liam Mellows on events leading up to the outbreak of Civil War (IE-MA-HS-A-790) and three pamphlets published by the I.R.A. during the Civil War (IE-MA-HS-A-792).

Range IE-MA-HS-A-828 - IE-MA-HS-A-944 (106 files) consists of files containing newspaper extracts, research notes, typed statements, photographs, and copy extracts from publications broadly relating to the Irish Volunteers, the 1916 Rising, War of Independence and the Civil War. Files include a photograph of the staff of Sinn Fein Headquarters, 6 Harcourt Street, Dublin, 1918 (IE-MA-HS-A-829); correspondence between Colonel Joseph Byrne, Brigade Headquarters, Collins Barracks, Cork and members of the Smith family concerning the remains of Major Compton Smith (IE-MA-HS-A-848); a typed list showing Officers serving in divisions of the National Army following the ‘Split’ (IE-MA-HS-A-859); a menu card, on the occasion of the wedding of Major Gearoid O'Sullivan and Mrs. O'Sullivan, 25 November 1922 (IE-MA-HS-A-861) and a photograph, taken at Kilfenora, Co. Clare, at an Officers Training camp which was held during the Truce with England (IE-MA-HS-A-872). Files also include the ‘Memorandum on the Development of the Forces (National Army), in the period 1923 to 1927’ prepared by the General Staff (IE-MA-HS-A-876); files on the ‘Attack on British Forces at Cobh, March 1924’ (IE-MA-HS-A-894, IE-MA-HS-A-916); a bound ledger, showing service number, rank, name, home address, date of attestation, age, unit to which posted, army qualifications, religion and date of discharge, which appears to relate to men who enlisted between 1922 and 1923 from Northern Ireland (IE-MA-HS-A-899) and Intelligence files relating to a number of I.R.A. men killed in action during the Civil War (IE-MA-HS-A-902).

Range IE-MA-HS-A-945 - IE-MA-HS-A-989 (46 files) contains newspaper extracts, research notes, typed statements, copy extracts from publications and ‘captured documents’ broadly relating to the Civil War and the National army during the years 1922 to 1924. This range includes: twenty (20) files purporting to be copies of documents captured in Headquarters, Royal Ulster Constabulary, Belfast in 1922 (IE-MA-HS-A-988-1 - IE-MA-HS-A-988-20); copy inquest papers in respect of Cathal Brugha (IE-MA-HS-A-980), Henry [Harry] Boland (IE-MA-HS-A-963) and Michael Sweeney (IE-MA-HS-A-945). ‘Captured documents’ include a letter (original) from Florence O’Donoghue, Adjutant General I.R.A. to Commandant General Seamus Robinson, dated 4 April 1922, regarding Robinson’s appointment to the position of Divisional Commandant 2 Southern Division (IE-MA-HS-A-941) and a letter (original) from Sean O’Broin, Brigade Adjutant, Kilkenny Brigade to Adjutant, 2 Southern Division dated 28 April 1922 confirming the takeover of the county prison by Kilkenny Brigade (IE-MA-HS-A-942).

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