Civil War Captured Documents

Administrative / Biographical history:

This collection is comprised of documents taken on IRA personnel captured in action or in search operations, from intercepted couriers, from raids on premises used by the IRA, Sinn Féin, Fianna Éireann, Cumann na mBan and by known or suspected sympathisers. The great majority of items relate to the Civil War period comprising much traffic between IRA General Headquarters and Brigades and between Brigades and sub-units.

As soon as possible after capture these documents came under control of the Intelligence Branch which recorded the names of the persons on or from whom they were captured and the date and place of capture. Each such group was allocated a “lot” number for record purposes.

Scope and Content:

The collection contains 233 lots of captured documents relating to current political issues, to assessments of public opinion and sentiment in relation to the issues of the war, and of reactions of the civilian population to the actions taken by the combatants. The documents include a few dating to 1919 to the prelude to the War of Independence. The items relating to the period between the conclusion of the Civil War and July, 1925, contain information concerning the efforts made to re-organise the IRA to improve military training and organisation in the light of the experience of the Civil War, to maintain the strength of units and to establish a reserve force.