The IRA Border Campaign 1956-1962

In the years following Independance the anti treaty IRA was consigned to
increasing irrelevance and isolation. It refused to rcognise both states on the
island seeing them as a betrayal of the 1916 ideal. By the 1940 the IRA had seen
a brutal suppression by the Fianna Fail governmant during World War Two.
Fianna Fail would not tolerate the IRA drawing the ire of an embattled Britian on
Ireland. De Valera didn’t finch from interning IRA men during WWII.The older
generation that saw the war of independence was now beyond action. They were
seen as ideologues without any real impact on the Ireland of the time.
This began to change with the influx of young idealistic men in the republican
movement. This new influx brought new ideas and the desire to do something
practial about British Rule in Northern Ireland.The partition of the country was
theorised as a sore on the whole country. This sore was the sole cause of
economic stagnation in Ireland. If an united Ireland was a achieved then that
would solve our problems. The economic policies of successive Irish government
were not consided to have played a part in these problems. The presence of the
British state in the north eastern part of the island was seen purely as a act of
British aggression against Ireland. An imperial entity that acted as way of
mantaining imperial control over not just northern Ireland but the whole Island.
It was held against the will of the majority of the people of the island. That was
the essiencial point for the IRA. The presense of the convinced unionists in the
northern Ireland didn’t enter the thinking of the IRA all that much. The british
army was an occuping force and so it should be driven out. Unionist being in IRA
ideology Irishmen should stand aside to leave them drive a foreign aggressior
out of the Island.
The birth of the new era in the IRA was the succession of the three “Macs” to the
leadership. Tomas Mac Curtain, Tony Magan and Padraig McLogan. Tony Magan
was elevated to the Army Council in September 1948. He was a bachelor farmer
from County Meath. He had characteristics common in many IRA men from the
era. He was sincerely Catholic and a fluent Irish speaker. His devotion to the
cause was such that he sold his farm. The money from this sale was seed fund for
the border Campaign or Operation Harvest as it was called by the IRA.
Tomas MacCurtain was the son of Tomas MacCurtain the lord mayor of Cork who
murdered during the war of independence. MacCurtain was a devoted
republican. He had refused to recognise the Irish Free State. He was fined 40
shilling for violently protesting the visit of WT Cosgrave to the Cork. He lived by
the belief that no State on the Island of Ireland was an inheritor of the true
republicanism. He had been on hunger strike and refused to wear prisoners
clothes. MacCurtain had been convicted of the murder of Detective Garda John
Roche. This won he no sympathy for Irish people in the Republic.
The Third Mac was Padraig McLogan. McLogan was not on the Army Council he
was a from Armagh. He had been on hungery strike. He was on the Army
executive from 1925-1938. He was an absentionait MP in the Stormont
Parliment in the Thirties. He was link between the older war of independence
generation and the younger generations.
Under the three Macs the IRA moved away from attacking the Irish Free State. In
1949 the IRA appealed for funds. The appeal stated that the “primary object” of
the IRA was a “successful military campaign against the British Army of
Occupation in the Six Counties”. The IRA was signaling that it was preparing for a
renewed campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland. The Irish Rupublic
would no longer be subjected to IRA subversion. “In view of the fact that any
disturbance in the 26 counties area would hinder the achieving of this object the
Army has definately ruled out any kind of aggressive military action in the 26
counties” 1 The note continues to annouce an appeal for funds to undertake this
goal. The MacCurtain appeal was a sign of things to come. Army Order No. 8 in
1954 committed the IRA to waging war solely against Northern Ireland.
The IRA were not the only ones in mid-century Ireland thinking about partition.
It was the constant policy of Irish governments to lobby in international forums
against partition. Both the strongly republican Fianna Fail and moderate Fine
Geal governments made the ending of parition their primary foreign policy. This
was the political consesus in Dublin at the time. There was a mass meeting on the
13 May 1949 where all the party leaders spoke in protest at the Ireland Act 1949.
The Ireland Act was passed in Westminister after the declaration of the Republic.
It gave Irish citizans the de facto rights of a commonwealth citizen. But it
reafirmed the status of Northern Ireland in the UK. This was the definative
affirmation of partition that was unacceptable to all Irish parties.
As part of the this campiagn against partition propraganda films were shot in
secret. One film compares two street in Fintona Co. Tyrone. Mill street is
populated with nationalist families. The voiceover tells us that most the families
are large and the houses small. Two thirds of the town are nationalist we are
told. Mill street is contrasted with Craigavon Park. It is unionist and unionist it
must stay the voice over tells us. Not one house went to a nationalist. The houses
are modern semi-detached houses. The neat gardens of the Craigavon Park are
constrasted with rutted street the nationalists live on. The film makes the point
that partition is unnatural, undemocratic and discriminatory. The film was made
to educate the public about the evils of partition. But it is at pains to to say that it
does not want to rouse sectarian hatreds. 2
The IRA was also outraged by the sealing of partition. They applyed their own
logic to the situation and decided that the only course of action was armed assult
on the northern state. They like the government propragandists were anxious to
make distincions between been anti partition and being sectarian. Their
manifesto of 1949 reaffirms the traditional republican thinking. It emphatises
that the partition of the country occured in Westminster without the
representation of the Irish MPs. They are asserting their belief that partition is
undemocratic. The illegistmacy of both states on the island is reaffirmed. “While
any sod of Irish territory remains occupied by the army of a foreign country, it
cannot be truthfully stated the Republic of Ireland has been restored” 3. The focus
is every much on driving out the British from Northern Ireland. The IRA belief
that sitting Dail was illegitmate is down played. True republican will fight on to
drive out foreign rule from the country.
In forties and fifties the IRA had an influx of new recruits. They were inspired by
the recollections of the war of independence that appeared in the press and in
books. The government propreganda that was produced at the time made being
1
Brian Hanley, The IRA: A documentary History 1916-2005 (Dublin: Gill &
Macmillian, 2010), 121
2
www.youtube.com/watch?v=#769950
3
Hanley, The IRA, 123
anti partition a moral issue. These young men reasoned that politics having failed
the logic of nationalism meant that the only way to remedy the evil of partition
was physical force against an imperialist army. Republican publications from the
time emphatise the skill with which the IRA carred out the operation. “Great
credit is due to the men who planned and carried out the operation for the
foresight and efficiency displayed throughout”4. The raid was a publicity coup for
the IRA. They stole weapons without the authorities being aware of the raid. The
raid was, for an republican, a satisfying sign of opposition to the British state.
“The officer in change in charge of the operation expressed regret that he had
omitted to leave a note of thanks to their Most Gracious Majesties for their kind
co-operation, by causing large numbers of the Crown forces to be drafted from
Derry to Belfast thus facilitating him in making [...] the only effective protest that
can be made to England5[.]
The second raid was on Armagh. An IRA man Leo McCormack discovered that
the sentry had no unloaded gun. The IRA sent Sean Garland to join the Royal
Irish Fusiliers at Gough. Garland then supplied information to the IRA. Garland
was skillful spy. He was promoted to the rank of colour sergeant. The raid
happened in broad daylight. It was compleated in under half an hour. The united
Irishman was quick to emphatise the raid that had “such amazing coolness that
the routine life of the Armagh City went on undisturbed. The raid was another
great propaganda boast for the IRA. They received an influx of new recruits fired
up by the romanticism of attacking the empire. The was an extended training
camp in the Wicklow mountains in the summer of 1954. These summer camps
took place under the nose of the Irish authorities. The Garda in practise turned a
blind eye to IRA activities. Eamonn Boyce the leader of the raid was changed
with treason felony. This was antiquated law from the 19th century. Boyce
though it was a ludicrous. “I am a Dublin man, and as far as I am concerned, you
have no right to change me with treason”6 . The raid lead to an wave of support
for the IRA. Philip Clark and Tom Mitchell were elected to the House of
Commons. The IRA had engaged in first gun battle with the British army for
many years.
The Arbourfield Raid was the most daring. Volunteers with to Britain separately
and raided an army camp. They managed to escape the camp with guns and
50000 rounds of ammunition. These were recaptured. Ruairi O Bradaigh in his
account of the raid speaks of his joy that at last he was fighting the English. He
relished physically attacking British soldiers. The raid was a failure as far as
getting arms. Three volunteers were sentanced to life in prison. The IRA could
argue that the British were being vindicative. No one was killed. The three men
were martyrs for the cause.
During the 1950s the IRA began rearming. Raids were undertaken in Derry.
Omagh Essex Berkshire and Armagh. The first of these arms raids was at Derry.
The British royals were visiting northern Ireland and the IRA chose to mark it by
showing that the British Army were less than diligent at guarding their barracks.
The guns were needed for a renewed campaign that had been in gestation since
the 1930s. Tom Barry the IRA hero from the 1930s had proposed an attack on

4
Hanley, The IRA, 124
5
Ibid.
6
Hanley, The IRA, 125
Northern Ireland.7 Sean Cronin was the man that created a plan to do this. Taking
his lead for the war of independence he proposed that there be flying columns.
These flying columns would attack areas in Northern Ireland. They would make
them ungovernable for Stormount. The people in the “liberated” areas would
come to agree with the rebels. Similar to the manner in which the electorate
voted for Sinn Fein after the Easter rising. A document found at the time out lines
Cronins plan. It was found in Cronin’s flat. The offences against the state act had
been invoked by the Costello government. Republican activists were rounded.
The document in Cronins flat was fifteen pages long and was headed the “General
Directive for the Guerrilla Campaign”. The document outlined how the IRA
would “break down the enemy’s administration in the occupied area until he is
forced to withdraw his forces. Our method of doing this guerrila warfare within
the occupied area and propaganda directed at its inhabitants. In time as we will
biuld up our forces, we hope to be in a position to liberate large areas and tie
these in with other liberated areas- that is areas where the enemy’s writ no
longer runs”8.

The Brookborough Raid during the Border campaign has been in many ways the
most resonant. It has gone down in Republican folklore and song. The characters
of Sean South and to a lesser extent Fergal O Hanlon were symbols of the
movement. Sean South was a cast as a new Padraig Pearce. South had in his
person many of the characteristics of the republican movement in mid century
Ireland. He was idealist. He was devoted to the Irish language. In 1948 he joined
“Cairde Na Geailge” an Irish language association founded by jesuit priest Fr
Thomas O Murthuile SJ. This organisation was mainstream. South around the
same time wrote a letter to the editor of “An tEireannach Aontaithe” the Sinn
Fein monthly looking for information about Sinn Fein. He was also a member of
Gealic League. These organisations didn’t satisfy his veal for the language.
Together with Micheal O Corbain and Liam MacRaghnaill he founded a stricter
organistaion, The soldiers of Freedom “Saighdiuiri na Saoirse”. The aims of the
organisation was to “To bring all Irish speakers together and break the
dominance of the English Language over Ireland.
To speak only Irish among themselves. To write only in Irish. To buy Irish goods.
To speak En glish only with the permission of the committee. They would take
every chance to promote all thing Irish. 9Because the rules of this organisation
were so strict South set up a youth wing. The Scouts of Freedom “Giollai na
Saoire. It was based on the Scouts that South ahd been a member of as a child.
But in the Scouts of Freedom the emphatise was on the Irsih language.
Sean Souths devotion Catholicism is another aspect of his idealism. He was a
member of the famous Limerick confraternity. This was nothing out of the
ordeinary. South was a daily Mass goer and was a daily communicant. Under the
rules of the time this would have required fasting. He was involved in pennie
dinners. On Sunday morning he would help with breakfst for local down and
outs. He was a member of Irish speaking branch of the legion of Mary An Realt.
7
Henry Patterson, The Politics of Illusion: Republicanism and Socialism in Modern
Ireland (London: Hutchinson Radius, 1989), 72
8
J. Bowyer Bell, The Secret Army: The IRA 1916-1976 (Dublin: The Academy
Press, 1979), 300-301
9
Des Forgerty , Sean South of Garryowen (Ennis: A.K Ilen Company, 2006), 37
He was involved in disputes with Jehovah’s Witesses. For this work on this he
recieved a blessing from the Bishop of Limerick. The most outlandish aspect of
his Catholicsm was his assocaition with Maria Duce (Mary our Leader). Maria
Duce wanted to have the Roman Catholic Church declared the official state
religion. The founder of the Maria Duce was Fr Denis Fahy. Fr Fahy was anti
semite. He promoted a conspiritorial world view. The Jews were behide the
communism and any other thing Fr Fahy thought was evil. These ideas of Jewish
conspiracy had a clear influence on South. In a letter to the Limerick Leader he
called Hollywood films “insidious propaganda which proceeds from Judaeo-
Masonic contolled sources”. He emplores Irish people having fought “so
heroically [...] for Faith and Fatherland” not to “betray and forsake that gloriously
noble heritage by succumbing, like slaves, to the modern attacks against God[.]” 10
11
His belief in conspiracy theories was strange but it is understandable. He was
picking up on the general atmostphere in the anglophone world. In a second
letter on the same subject he cites the McCarthy era investigations in America.
“[T]he Committee (on un-American Activities) reports that through infilration
into Key positions where communists and fellow travellers can be advanced,
aided and promoted in their careers”12. Hollywood films were a conserted effort
to undermine the morals of good Christians in America and Ireland. This ideas
are understandable considering that committees of the US senate were
promoting them. They provide anyone who though Hollywood films were
immoral with an explanation of this. The right wing bend of South’s activities can
seem incongruous with his membership of the IRA. The IRA had had a left wing
bend. The bishops had made it clear that thay consided membership of the IRA a
mortal sin. For a devout Catholic like South the decision to join the IRA must
have provoked much soul searching. His belief in right wing conspiracy theories
and membership of a IRA are not incompatable. The IRA had members who
wanted a marxist revolution. But it also had members who said the rosary at
meeting. Also it would simplicitic to say that just because South was anto
communist that he was pro capitalist. The Theories of Father Fahy don’t fit
neatly in the political spectrum. Fahy wanted to distribute as property to as
many people as possible under an authoritarian Catholic regime. He was not a
capitalist as in the usual sense of the term. South had represented many common
threads in the Republican movement. He had a devotion to his country it’s
language and faith. He believed in it’s fundamental goodness. Conversly he
believed in that Northern Ireland was blemish on Ireland caused by an
imperialist aggressor. It was that ideal that lead him to lose his life on New Years
Day 1957.
He was part of a column lead by Sean Garland. They were out in Fermanagh cold
and uncomfortable. They had been trying to set up ambushes but these failed.
They were runing out of time. They had been ordered to return by January 4 to
be refitted. In desperation the raid on the police station at brookborough was
planned. Sean Garland in 2007 emphatises that element of surprise in the raid on
Brookborough. “We had been in the Fermanagh countryside for many nights and
the element of surprise was the key to our operations. [...]. The Police station
10
Forgarty, Sean South, 33
11
Barry Flynn, Soldiers of Folly: The IRA Border Campaign 1956-1962 (Cork: The
Collins Press, 2006), 15-17
12
Forgarty, Sean South, 35
presented us with a target and we went there confident that we could attack the
station and make good our escape13. They IRA believed that they had the element
of surprise. But this is contradiced by the testimony of Alex Spiers of the RUC
“[t]he Special Crime Unit of the RUC at the time had their finger on the pulse of
all the subversive and this attack had been anticipated14. Weather the raid the
was anticipated or not it was a military failure for the IRA. Once they attacked
they were under return fire from an officer who had rushed upstairs with a gun.
The gelignite they planted at the door failed to explode. Bullets were fired still it
failed to explode. Sean Garland ordered a retreat. They all piled into the back of
their lorry. They were all open to bullets there. By the time they had escaped the
Sean South and Fergal O Hanlon had been fatally wounded.
The may have been a military failure but it was propraganda coup for the IRA.
Sean South and Fergal O Hanlon became the subject of popular songs praising
their deeds. Sean South from Garryowen and the patriot game respectively. The
Funerals were exploited by the IRA. The coffins were taken to St Macartans
Cathedral and placed before the high alter. Noel Kavanagh gave the oration at O
Hanlons funeral saying that “[i]f you want to erect a monument to this volunteer
I ask you to erect a monument which can be seen all over the world. I have in
mind a monument which Fergal would like and that monument is the Irish
Republic”15. They deaths were being used as recruiting tool. The remains of Sean
South made a slow progress back to Limerick. In Dublin they were met by large
crowds and IRA military processions. Every town it passed the people recited the
rosary. In limerick thousands of people came out for the funeral. The tricolour
was lowered and the Garda stood to attention for the coffin. The deaths of South
and O Hanlon provoked widespread sympathy in the population.
The IRA Campaign put pressure on the Governemnt of the time. The inter party
government was lead by Fine Geal with the support of Clann Na Poblachta. Clann
Na Poblachat was very republican party lead by a former IRA chief of staff Sean
McBride. Because of the violence in the north he was compeled to deal with the
IRA. He was urged by the Co. Monaghan Protestant Association to “tale all
possible measures to assist in discovering those possible and bring them to
justice16”He met with his cabinet for twelve hours to take stock of the situation.
He received deputation from the army and the Garda. His decision was to issue a
statement he would take “necessary step” to deal with “illegal organisations”
operating in the state17. The press at the time urged Costello deal with the IRA.
The Irish Time urged him to be vigorous with the IRA. The Belfast Telegraph told
it’s readers that civil servants in the south were involved in raids as they had not
been at work the Mondays after raids. The British press wanted IRA to be dealt
with quickly. “Cut the IRA down size” the Daily Telegraph said. The London
Evening Standard called on the Republic to “ control this evil movement, which
exploits in a new generation old hatreds and old appetites. The Irish Press
wanted a fresh election. The response of the Irish newspapers indicates that
their was little popular appetite for a the IRA’s plan for national reunification.
Mainstream opinion was against the IRA. The British press made the case that
13
Flynn, Soldiers of Fortune, 98
14
Ibid 97
15
Forgerty, Sean South, 123
16
Flynn, Soldiers of Fortune, 84
17
Ibid 84
the IRA were engaging in irrational attacks on a state that existed because of
democratic will. The IRA were driven by a cult of the 1916 constantly harkening
back to a martyrs for the cause but giving little thought to the wishes of the
unionist population in the north of Ireland beyond simplistic invocations to
stand aside in the war against British imperialism.
The attitude of the conservative British press would have reassured the unionist
government in Stormont that the government in London was ready to give aid.
Lord Brookeborough appeared on the BBC Panorama programme to discuss.
H.A.L Craig a member of the Irish Labour Party appeared on the BBC during the
same period. He called the IRA attacks a joke until someone was killed. He
objected to the characterisation of the IRA as “delinquents” by the Unionist
politicans. He continued that referred to the British “mutilation” of Ireland. It
was a great thing he said that “that people could not walk 200 yards without
being reminded of Wolfe Tone and Robert Emmet”18. He had a nuanced view of
the IRA campaign stating to an Ulster audience that most people in the south
were not behind the campaign. Craig a protestant who was a republican in the
tradition of Wolfe Tone was proved to be correct. This outraged the
Brookborough who replied soon afterwards by reaffirming that England had a
duty to Northern Ireland it’s “oldest colony” 19. Anthony Eden made clear his
determination to protect Northern Ireland. “In the Ireland Act, 1949, the
Parliment of Westminister declared Northern Ireland to be an integral part of the
United Kingdom. This is a decalration which all parties in this house are pledged
to support. The safety of Northern Ireland and it’s inhabitants is, therefore, a
direct responsibility of the Her Majesty’s Government, which, they will, of course,
dischange”20.
John A Costello made a speech on radio on the 6 January 1957. He condemned
the IRA violence by a lawless group that aggregated to itself the powers of the
state by bearing arms. They had no right to do this because they had no
democratic mandate. He said “We righty honour those who rose against British
rule in other times. Many of them are to be found among members of the
Government and of Dail Eireann today, and they are the first to recognise the
fundamental differences between circumstances of the past and those that obtain
today.”21 They had a national parliament of the people. The IRA were refusing to
acknowledge will of the people He denounced the cult of martyrdom and said
that “the Leaders of these young men were ruthless and subtle and can be
counted on to exploit the fullest sympathy with the loss of young lives” 22. Costello
was willing to deal with the IRA up to a point. He had been a early supporter of
the Irish council on Civil Liberties. He had just signed up to the European
declaration on Human Rights. He didn’t want to be the first to seek a derogation
on ideas by dealing with the IRA in a heavy handed manner. He was in coalition
in Clann na Poblacta. Their was considerable unease in that party about the
manner in which the the coalition was dealing with the IRA.

18
Flynn., Soldiers of Folly, 86
19
Ibid, 87
20
Bowyer, The IRA, 283
21
Donnacha O Beachain, Destiny of the Soldiers: Fianna Fail, Irish Republicanism
and the IRA, 1926-73 (Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 2010), 242
22
Flynn, Soldiers of folly, 140