List of brigades of the Irish Republican Army

This is a list of brigades of the Irish Republican Army, formed or active between 1916 and 1922, which were involved in activities undertaken by the Irish Republican Army.

Munster

County Clare

Period	Brigade	Division	Commandant
1916–1917	East Clare Brigade		Michael Brennan
1916–1917	Mid Clare Brigade		Sean McNamara
1916–1917	North Clare Brigade		H. J. Hunt
1916–1917	West Clare Brigade		E. Fennell
1917–1918	Clare Brigade		Patrick Brennan
1918–1922	East Clare Brigade	1st Western Division	Michael Brennan
1918–1922	Mid Clare Brigade	1st Western	Frank Barrett
1918–1922	West Clare Brigade	1st Western	Art O'Donnell

County Cork^[1]^[2]

Period	Brigade	Division	Commandant
1914-1919	Cork Volunteers	1st Southern Division	Tomás Mac Curtain
1919-1920	1st Cork Brigade	1st Southern Division	Tomás Mac Curtain^[3]
1920	1st Cork Brigade	1st Southern Division	Terence MacSwiney
1920-1922	1st Cork Brigade	1st Southern Division	Sean O'Hegarty
1919-1921	2nd Cork Brigade (North Cork Brigade)	1st Southern Division	Liam Lynch^[4]
1921	2nd Cork Brigade (North Cork Brigade)	1st Southern Division	Sean Moylan
1921	2nd Cork Brigade (North Cork Brigade)	1st Southern Division	George Power
1919-1920	3rd Cork Brigade (West Cork Brigade)	1st Southern Division	Tom Hales
1920-1921	3rd Cork Brigade (West Cork Brigade)	1st Southern Division	Charlie Hurley
1921-22	3rd Cork Brigade (West Cork Brigade)	1st Southern Division	Tom Barry
1921	4th Cork Brigade	1st Southern Division	Paddy O'Brien^[5]^[6]
1921-1922	4th Cork Brigade	1st Southern Division	Sean Moylan^[7]
1921-1922	5th Cork Brigade	1st Southern Division	Gibbs Ross^[8]^[9]

County Kerry

Period	Brigade	Division	Commandant
1914-1917	Kerry Brigade	1st Southern Division	Austin Stack
1917-1919	1st Kerry Brigade	1st Southern Division	Austin Stack
1919–1921	1st Kerry Brigade	1st Southern Division	Patrick Cahill
1921	1st Kerry Brigade	1st Southern Division	Andrew Cooney
1921-1922	1st Kerry Brigade	1st Southern Division	Humphrey Murphy^[10]
-1921	2nd Kerry Brigade	1st Southern Division	Dan Mahony
1921	2nd Kerry Brigade	1st Southern Division	Humphrey Murphy
1922	2nd Kerry Brigade	1st Southern Division	John Joe Rice^[11]

County Limerick

County Tipperary

Period	Brigade	Division	Commandant
1918-1922	3rd Tipperary Brigade	2nd southern division^[12]	Séumas Robinson

County Waterford

Leinster

County Carlow

County Dublin

County Kildare

County Kilkenny

County Laois

County Longford

Period	Brigade	Division	Commandant
1919-1922	Longford Brigade	1st Midlands Division	Thomas Reddington^[13]

County Louth

County Offaly

Period	Brigade	Division	Commandant
1920-1922	Offaly Brigade	1st Eastern Division	Barry Byrne^{[citation needed]}

County Westmeath

County Wexford

County Wicklow

Ulster

County Antrim

Period	Brigade	Division	Commandant
1916–1922	Belfast Brigade	3rd Northern	Sean Cusack & Joe McKelvey

County Armagh

County Cavan

Period	Brigade	Division	Commandant
1916–1921	Cavan Brigade	Ulster	Pat Woods
1921–1922	East Cavan Brigade	5th Northern	Peadar McMahon, Seán Gallagher & Séamus McGovern
1921–1922	West Cavan Brigade	6th Northern	Éamonn McGovern, Michael MacManus & Seán Dolan

County Donegal

Period	Brigade	Division
–1922	West Donegal Brigade	1st Northern Division
–1922	North East Donegal Brigade	1st Northern
–1922	South West Donegal Brigade	1st Northern
–1922	South East Donegal Brigade	1st Northern

County Down

County Fermanagh

No.1 Batt. Enniskillen A. Boho B. Derrygonnelly C. Enniskillen D. Monea E. Rosinuremore

No.2 Batt. Belcoo A. Belcoo B. Doobally C. Glan Lower D. Glan Upper E. Killinagh F. Mullaghdun

County Londonderry

County Monaghan

Period	Brigade	Division	Commandant
1916–1922	Monaghan Brigade	5th Northern Division	Eoin O'Duffy

County Tyrone

Connacht

County Galway

Period	Brigade	Division	Commandant
1916–1920	Galway Brigade
1920–1922	South East Galway Brigade	1st Western	Joeseph Stanford
1920–1922	North Galway Brigade	2nd Western Division
1920–1922	West Galway Brigade	4th Western Division	Peter Joe McDonnell

County Leitrim

County Mayo

Period	Brigade	Division	Commandant
	1 West Mayo Brigade	4th Western Division	Ned Mohan
	2 North Mayo Brigade	4th Western Division	C. Mackin ; Séamus Kilcullen
1922-	5 North West Mayo	4th Western Division	Anthony Farrell
	East Mayo	3rd Western Division

^[14]

County Roscommon

County Sligo

Other

Period	Brigade	Division	Commandant
	1st Scottish Brigade	1st Scottish
	2nd Scottish Brigade	1st Scottish
	Liverpool Battalion
	London Battalion
	Newcastle-on-Tyne Battalion
	Q Company GHQ

Bibliography

Hopkinson, Michael (2002). The Irish War of Independence: The Definitive Account of the Anglo Irish War of 1919-1921. Gill & Macmillan Ltd. ISBN 0-7171-6197-8.
McKenna, Joseph (2011). Guerrilla Warfare in the Irish War of Independence, 1919-1921. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-8519-2.

References

^ "Brigades – Brigade Activity". Archived from the original on 24 October 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
^ "Atlas of the Irish Revolution: The War in Cork and Kerry". www.irishexaminer.com. 18 September 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
^ "Dictionary of Irish Biography | Dictionary of Irish Biography". Archived from the original on 13 August 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
^ admin (14 January 2012). "General Liam Lynch, Chief-of-Staff of the Irish Republican Army". Irish Volunteers.org. Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
^ Patrick, O'Brien. "Military Archives - Paddy O'Brien Witness Statement" (PDF). militaryarchives.ie. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 December 2019.
^ "North Cork Brigade". homepage.eircom.net. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
^ Moylan, Sean. "Sean Moylan - Military Witness Statement" (PDF). www.militaryarchives.ie. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 May 2020.
^ Reidy, Thomas. "Thomas Reidy - Witness Statement" (PDF). www.militaryarchives.ie/. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 May 2020.
^ "Listing of persons whose names appear on war memorials in Ireland". www.irishwarmemorials.ie. Archived from the original on 4 October 2021. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
^ "Military Pensions - Kerry I Brigade" (PDF). www.militaryarchives.ie.
^ "Military Service Pensions - Kerry II Brigade" (PDF). www.militaryarchives.ie. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 October 2021.
^ "3 Tipperary Brigade (South-Tipperary) - 2 Southern Division". Brigade Activity. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
^ Lyons, Thomas (1 October 2022). "Recalling a tragic Longford event of Civil War". www.longfordleader.ie. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links

Bureau of Military History, 1913-1921 at Defence Forces
Order of Battle of the Irish Republican Army, June 1922 by Paul V. Walsh

[1] "Brigades – Brigade Activity". Archived from the original on 24 October 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2020.

[2] "Atlas of the Irish Revolution: The War in Cork and Kerry". www.irishexaminer.com. 18 September 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2020.

[3] "Dictionary of Irish Biography | Dictionary of Irish Biography". Archived from the original on 13 August 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2020.

[4] (14 January 2012). "General Liam Lynch, Chief-of-Staff of the Irish Republican Army". Irish Volunteers.org. Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2020.

[5] Patrick, O'Brien. "Military Archives - Paddy O'Brien Witness Statement" (PDF). militaryarchives.ie. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 December 2019.

[6] "North Cork Brigade". homepage.eircom.net. Retrieved 8 January 2020.

[7] Moylan, Sean. "Sean Moylan - Military Witness Statement" (PDF). www.militaryarchives.ie. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 May 2020.

[8] Reidy, Thomas. "Thomas Reidy - Witness Statement" (PDF). www.militaryarchives.ie/. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 May 2020.

[9] "Listing of persons whose names appear on war memorials in Ireland". www.irishwarmemorials.ie. Archived from the original on 4 October 2021. Retrieved 8 January 2020.

[10] "Military Pensions - Kerry I Brigade" (PDF). www.militaryarchives.ie.

[11] "Military Service Pensions - Kerry II Brigade" (PDF). www.militaryarchives.ie. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 October 2021.

[12] "3 Tipperary Brigade (South-Tipperary) - 2 Southern Division". Brigade Activity. Retrieved 8 May 2024.

[13] Lyons, Thomas (1 October 2022). "Recalling a tragic Longford event of Civil War". www.longfordleader.ie. Retrieved 8 May 2024.

[14] "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

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v t e Irish Republican Army (1919–1922)
General	Genealogy Irish Volunteers Irish Citizen Army Easter Rising Sinn Féin Declaration of Independence Irish Republic Dáil Éireann (First Dáil & Second Dáil) Irish Bulletin Irish War of Independence Flying column Government of Ireland Act 1920 Partition of Ireland (Northern Ireland & Southern Ireland) Anglo-Irish Treaty Irish Civil War Irish Free State
Organisation	Brigades of the Irish Republican Army Irish Republican Police The Squad
Actions	Soloheadbeg ambush Rescue at Knocklong Listowel mutiny Rineen ambush Tooreen ambush Battle of Ballinalee Dublin Bloody Sunday Kilmichael ambush Clonfin ambush Dromkeen ambush Upton train ambush Clonmult ambush Coolavokig ambush Sheemore ambush Clonbanin ambush Selton Hill ambush Burgery ambush Crossbarry ambush Headford ambush Scramoge ambush Kilmeena ambush Custom House burning Carrowkennedy ambush Rathcoole ambush Coolacrease killings Belfast Bloody Sunday
Chiefs of Staff	Cathal Brugha (1917–1918) Richard Mulcahy (1918–1922) Eoin O'Duffy (1922)
Personalities	Michael Collins J. J. "Ginger" O'Connell Terence MacSwiney Emmet Dalton Dick McKee Paddy Daly Piaras Béaslaí Erskine Childers Liam Mellows Joe McKelvey Michael Brennan Frank Aiken Gearóid O'Sullivan Tom Maguire Seán Lemass Seán Mac Mahon Stephen Behan Andrew Cooney Seán Treacy Dan Breen Seán Hogan Séumas Robinson Tom Barry Seán Mac Eoin Charlie Hurley Seán O'Hegarty Seán Moylan Tom McEllistrim George Oliver Plunkett George Lennon Michael Kilroy Ernie O'Malley Frank Aiken Moss Twomey Tom Hales Seán Hales Peadar O'Donnell Liam Deasy Liam Tobin Joseph McGrath Richard Barrett Louis Darcy W.J. Brennan-Whitmore
Associates	Irish Republican Brotherhood Cumann na mBan Fianna Éireann Clan na Gael Irish Self-Determination League National Association of Old IRA 1916–1921 Club
Derivatives	National Army Anti-Treaty Irish Republican Army