The Irish History Boys

This week we explore the controversial legacy of the Ulster Special Constabulary, tracing its 1920 origins as a multi-tiered force. We look at the the group's involvement in sectarian violence and the subsequent disbandment of the A and C Specials following the 1925 London Agreement, despite vocal protests from members over their severance terms. We also chat about the B Specials long-term survival until 1970, while contrasting the era’s news with the political despair felt in Northern Ireland fifty years later. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we dive into President WT Cosgrave’s reliance on neighbourly feeling rather than written guarantees for the safety of Northern Catholics and the establishment of customs barriers in 1923 and their controversial persistence for over 70 years. Illicit pig smuggling in the mid-1970s makes an appearance and Tim relives the 11-plus exam. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Following the leak of the Boundary Commission's report, the high-stakes Tripartite Agreement of 1925 established that the border would remain unchanged, ensuring Northern Ireland conceded no territory. In exchange for accepting the existing boundary, the Irish Free State was relieved of its crippling obligation to pay a share of the UK's imperial debt, estimated at roughly £150 million. However, W.T. Cosgrave’s government faced severe backlash and a major political crisis for prioritising this financial reprieve over the interests of Northern nationalists, who were effectively abandoned by the deal. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode centers on the crisis created by the leaked award of the Irish Boundary Commission in November 1925, which was abysmal for nationalists as it suggested the Free State would lose parts of Donegal and Monaghan, leading to the resignation of Free State Commissioner Eoin MacNeill and creating the biggest crisis Cosgrave’s government faced since the Civil War. President Cosgrave rushed to London to attend conferences with British Premier Stanley Baldwin and Northern Premier Sir James Craig, determined to bury the report because the findings were politically unacceptable, despite being in a weak negotiating position. Free State negotiators, particularly Kevin O'Higgins, leveraged the threat that their government’s collapse would result in a Republican regime to shift the negotiation focus towards shelving the boundary issue (Article 12) in exchange for waiving the Free State’s substantial financial contribution to imperial debt under Article 5. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode concentrates on the 1925 Boundary Commission crisis and its fallout for the Free State, triggered by the dramatic resignation of Free State representative Eoin MacNeill around November 22nd. We also discuss the concurrent debate among anti-Treaty Republicans, including Éamon De Valera, about whether to abandon their abstentionist policy and enter the Free State parliament amidst the political instability. Finally, we address a listener query on the distinct development of healthcare systems, particularly the role of religious hospitals, in Northern Ireland and the Free State following Partition. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.