31 Historical Photos of the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921)

The Irish War of Independence or Anglo-Irish War or the Tan War was a guerrilla war fought from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the Army of the Irish Republic) and the British Security Forces in Ireland. It was an escalation of the Irish revolutionary period into armed conflict.

A truce was agreed in July 1921. In December 1921, the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed, effectively ending British rule in Ireland, excepting the Six Counties: Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Derry/Londonderry, Tyrone.

Group of women activists holding protest posters and an American flag, being directed by policemen, at an unidentified location, December 1920

Following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in December 1921, there was a steady evacuation of British soldiers from Ireland during 1922.

A historical photo set from National Library of Ireland that documented emotional moments of the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921).

 The car in which Lord French was ambushed, sergeant pointing out bullet hole, Dublin, December 1919

A fraction of the thousands of people flocking each day to visit and pray at 'bleeding' statues set up in a yard beside T. Dwan's newsagents, Main Street, Templemore, Tipperary, August 1920

Aeroplane on roof at Barrack Street, Waterford, November 1920

Dublin and Cork fire brigade appliances, December 1920

Friends of the victims and members of the military outside Jervis Street Hospital during the military enquiry into the Bloody Sunday shootings at Croke Park, 21 November 1920

Funeral procession of Major E. Smyth and Captain A.P. White on the quays in Dublin, 14 October 1920

Group of women activists holding protest posters and an American flag, being directed by policemen, at an unidentified location, December 1920

Black and Tans man in uniform on duty, smoking and posing with a Lewis gun, Dublin, circa 1920

R.I.C. military and armoured car leaving Limerick on a scouting expedition, 1920

Sinn Féin Bank at No. 6 Harcourt Street, Dublin, November 1920

The Burning of Cork, 14 December 1920

 'Up Sinn Féin' on Austin armoured car outside Mounjoy Prison in Dublin, 12 April 1920

A crowd gathered outside the Mansion House in Dublin, one day before a truce was signed in the War of Independence,
 8 July 1921

A group of men who were interned in Ballykinlar together, 1921

A prayer vigil, during the Irish Civil War, in London, 14 July 1921

A young man repairing a house that had apparently been damaged in a raid, Templemore, 1921

Aftermath of a fire at the British and Irish Steam Ship Co. Warehouse, May 5, 1921

Armed Royal Irish Constabulary outside a shop in Patrick Street, Cork getting the news from the street vendor, 1921

2British soldiers searching trains on Kerry line for republicans, 1921

Clean up after fire at former munitions factory, Parkgate Street, Dublin, June 4, 1921

Cork Funeral with military escort, 27th March 1921

Military carrying out official reprisal following an ambush in Meelin, Co. Cork, 5th January 1921

'Mother of God, open the prison gates'; 'Release our Fathers and Brothers'; and 'Mother of Mercy, pray for prisoners',
23 July 1921

Sir Hamar and Lady Margery Greenwood arriving for the opening of the Ulster parliament, Belfast, 22 June 1921

Tank pulling three ton military truck from the banks of the Liffey, Dublin, 17 May 1921

Tans glad to have escaped the bombs thrown at their headquarters in Dublin, 11 April 1921

 Three huge casks of tobacco being guarded by soldiers, May 17, 1921

British soldiers marching out of a barracks, Dublin, 17th May 1922

Firing party giving three volleys over the grave of Joseph McGuinness T.D. at Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin, June 2, 1922

Soldiers marching across the bridge in Athlone for the handover of Custume Barracks, just one of the many barracks around the country to move from British to Irish control, 25 February 1922

Soldiers of a British cavalry regiment prepare to leave Ireland with their horses at North Wall, Dublin, 1922