“Black and Tans” is the name given to a British army of the 1920s. Sadly notorious for its acts of extreme violence, this militia’s aim was to suppress Irish independence movements involved in armed groups such as the IRA. Considering themselves a veritable army of occupation, the Black and Tans did not hesitate to murder, rape and pillage the Irish population until the signing of the Treaty of London on December 21, 1921. Their imprint on Irish history is forever marked by violence.
A Black and Tans in Dublin – National Library of Ireland on The Commons
Black and Tans take their name from a Limerick hunting dog that never misses its prey. A clear message to the Irish, advocating combat efficiency that always results in victory.
This army was formed shortly after the First World War, when London struggled to resolve the “Irish problem”. At this time, the Irish were campaigning for Irish independence, and calling for the withdrawal of the British from their island. The latter refused the presence of the British on their soil, and called for independence and the creation of their nation.
Naturally, England didn’t take kindly to his nationalist demands, and decided to create an army of career soldiers, ready to take action in the event of outbursts…
This militia soon became a large-scale army, numbering over 16,000 men. With the British government feeling the pinch from the War of Independence (1919-1921), it decided to send the Black and Tans to Ireland, to assist the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) in crushing the Irish independence revolt.
The instructions were clear: the militia had carte blanche to repress any anti-British demonstration in Ireland.
Black and Tans featured in Ken Loach’s The Wind Rises
Numerous eyewitness accounts recount the terrible violence of the operations. The Black and Tans behaved like a veritable army of occupation, murdering, beating, torturing, shooting, raping, setting fire to and pillaging the Irish population with impressive acts of savagery. They acted indiscriminately, violating men, women and children, regardless of their hypothetical lack of involvement in Republican nationalist movements.
They also took the opportunity to ransack Irish homes, setting them on fire, machine-gunning them or destroying them with heavy artillery, plunging the survivors into total destitution.
Fear is everywhere: the Irish flee when they can. A climate of terror set in.
Their actions were so shocking and barbaric that international opinion was quick to speak out, strongly condemning their actions, as well as those of England.
When the Treaty of London of December 21, 1921 put an end to British occupation of the Irish Free State, the Black and Tans were finally disbanded. However, there were many problems reintegrating into British society: some of them became criminals, while others committed suicide a few years later.
Whatever the case, this militia still represents a painful memory in Ireland’s collective history. It was Ireland’s deadliest army of the 20th century… It left an indelible mark on the history of many Irish families, and remains to this day, a terribly dark episode in the history of Ireland and Great Britain.
