The Irish Civil War

This episode explores the events leading up to the outbreak of hostilities between those who supported and those who opposed the Anglo-Irish Treaty, which was signed in late 1921.

This episode explores the conventional phase of the civil war. The fledgling Government, egged on by Churchill, opens fire against rebels installed in the Four Courts. Rebels take de facto control of the southern Munster Republic. The Army goes west and south to reassert its supremacy. Battle is joined and brother fights brother, to the horror of the war-weary citizenry.

This episode explores the guerrilla phase of the Civil War. After the pro-treaty forces retook many large towns, republicans were forced to change tactics against overwhelming odds. Though a ceasefire was declared in 1923, atrocities and reprisals from both sides left a terrible legacy that continued to influence Ireland generations later.