New DRI Collection: 1920s Intelligence Files of the Irish Republican Army

The Intelligence File, Officer in Command, First Western Division is a file containing correspondence and orders to the OC, 1st Western Division (Commandant Joseph Barrett) from the Director of Intelligence, Chief of Staff and Director of Communications of the Irish Republican Army (Óglaigh na hÉireann). This file relates to operation orders, arms and weapons (including the use of petrol tin mines), treachery, divisional expenses, boycott of British goods and intelligence operation concerns.

On publication of the collection, Clare County Archivist Rene Franklin said:

This historic collection documents Clare’s involvement in the Easter Rising, the War of Independence, the Civil War and its aftermath through to the Emergency and Post Emergency years. The collection holds archival items such as army orders and regulations, political pamphlets, military pension claim files and photographs dating from c.1920. It is hoped additional material from within the collection will be digitised and allow researchers to access this valuable insight into this period of Clare’s history.

DRI Membership Manager Lisa Griffith added:

We are delighted to preserve this intelligence file in the Repository and make it accessible to a wider audience. Not only does it relate to a crucial period of Irish history, but it shines a light on the regional activities and intelligence operations in Munster. This is the first collection published by Clare County Archives and we look forward to working with them to preserve more of their collections.

The Repository contains a growing number of items relating to the War of Independence and Civil War period in Ireland including (most recently) the Fingal and the Fight for Irish Freedom collection. We encourage you to browse this new addition to the Repository of Intelligence File, Officer in Command, First Western Division. We’d also encourage you to browse the wider material relating to the Irish Civil war in our search box on the homepage dri.ie or by using our subject headings in the metadata fields. You can keep up to date with all of our new collections by signing up to our newsletter.