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January: The Irish Free State Government, were to join the League of Nations until 1932. - 34 members of the Anti - Treaty IRA had been executed up to this month in the Irish Free State to try and stop their random attacks. - James Larkin the Labour leader, was released from jail, and he founded the Workers Union of Ireland. - Richard Mulcahy, was to be the Minister for Defence in the Irish Free State up until 1924.

February: In the Irish Free State, Liam Lynch the Anti - Treaty IRA Chief of Staff, extended reprisals to other persons beside those previously nominated, and Eammon de Valera indicated he understood why he was forced to adopt such drastic measures and personally stated that, " If the Irregular IRA Republicans, who had lost their lives, had lost them for nothing of National value it would be awful."

March 10th: The Irregular IRA met on the run in the Nier Valley in Co. Waterford in the south - east of the Munster Province, were Eamonn de Valera voted to end the confrontation with the Irish Free State Government, but Liam Lynch the IRA Irregulars Chief of Staff would still not agree, and he put forward his "Document No 2" again to them, as the answer to their problem with the Treaty. This upset the dead set Irish Republicans, especially Liam Lynch, so Eammon de Valera gave him a few home truths about the actual army position, and also told him that it was a political question and had nothing to do with him. Mary Mac Swiney, attacked Eammon de Valera on his "Document No 2," which basically still sold out Ireland as a Republic, in her eyes.

Kevin O Higgins for the Irish Free State Government, was moved to comment that, "This is not going to be a draw, with a replay in Autumn" and W.J. Cosgrave the President of the Irish Free State stated, "Eammon de Valera wants a dignified withdrawal, and we are not going to help him achieve it."

March 23rd: In the Irish Free State, the Anti - Treaty Irregular IRA Executive held a meeting in Bleantasour in Co. Waterford in the south - east of the Munster Province, were Eammon de Valera was made to wait until they let him attend the session, while they now also had to continually be on the move, as the Irish Free State troops harassed whatever area they were in.

March 27th: The Anti - Treaty Irregular IRA, were still endeavouring to hold their meetings wherever they could, and a motion calling for cessation of the conflict was put forward, "As further armed resistance against the Irish Free State Government will not further the deal of total Independence," and it was narrowly defeated at this time by only 6 votes to 5.

Monsignor Luzio, was sent as a Papal Delegate by the Pope, to inspect the actual conditions still existing in Ireland, and he tried to discuss the matter of bringing about peace with Eammon de Valera.

April 9th: In the Irish Free State, after the Papal delegate's visit, Eammon de Valera put it to the other Anti - Treaty members, J.P. Rutledge and Austin Stack that the Irish Civil War in must be brought to an end.

April 10th: In the Irish Free State, the members of the Irregular IR.A. met again at Mullinahone in Co. Tipperary in the north - east of the Munster Province, were Liam Lynch their Chief of Staff was killed on the way to the meeting, and Austin Stack was captured, which caused the Irregular IRA members to meet again in Dublin, where they then decided to call off the Irish Civil War. Frank Aiken then took over command of the Irregular IRA, and Eammon de Valera wrote to him to bring it to an end, as they had to face the inevitable sooner or later.

April 20th: The Anti - Treaty Irregular IRA Executive met at Poulacappal again, were Frank Aiken who was now in charge was convinced that it was time for peace, and Eammon de Valera obtained an agreement from them to make peace, subject to certain conditions. Monsignor Luzio the Papal Legate, had previously left Ireland feeling that he had gained nothing, and was also on the outer with the Irish Free State Government anyway, for being involved with Eammon de Valera in the first place. Meanwhile Eammon de Valera had contacted Senator Douglas and Senator Jameson, to discuss with W.J. Cosgrave the President of the Irish Free State, peace arrangements, subject to certain conditions.

April 30th: Frank Aiken who had previously been the T.D. for Co. Louth in the north - east of Northern Leinster, and who was now the Irregular IRA Chief of Staff, ordered the ending of the Anti - Treaty campaign, and the Anti - Treaty forces and the Irregular IRA leaders then went into hiding from the Irish Free State Government.

May 2nd: 2 of the Irregular IRA prisoners were executed at Ennis in Co. Clare in the north - west of the Munster Province, which bought the number of Irregular IRA executions up to 82 over the previous 6 months under W.J. Cosgrave who was the Taoiseach / leader / Priom Aire of the Irish Free State. He also informed Senator Douglas and Senator Jameson that he had ruled out all of the conditions that had been set down by Eammon de Valera and the Irregular IRA, to bring about peace in the Irish Free State.

May 13th - 14th: In the Irish Free State, the rival Emergency Republican Government, previously also set up by Eammon de Valera and the Irregular IRA Council, met at Santry, were it was decided that Frank Aiken their Chief of Staff was to order a public cease fire anyway, and all their arms were to be dumped.

May 24th: The Irish Civil War came officially to an end under the leadership of William T. Cosgrave as the Taoiseach / leader of the Irish Free State Government, when a ceasefire was declared with 13,000 IRA Irregulars still in jail, and in the meantime the Ascendancy Official Unionists had used the Irish Civil War period, to further consolidate their own position in the 6 Counties, Artificially Partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province.

Some of the Irregular IRA officers, now wanted to destroy all their arms, but Eammon de Valera advised them to hide their weapons and await a more favourable opportunity to continue on with the struggle and to still not recognize the 3rd Dail Eireann / Irish Assembly, who he considered was not the legitimate Irish Republican government. He then replied to his detractors, whom he informed that he was guided by his own intelligence and conscience, as there was no military situation, and they were attacking him without any knowledge of the real situation. He now decided to get out of this awkward situation, with some chance of not destroying altogether whatever hope remained for his personal agenda, so he wrote to Monsignor Luzio to have the Pope intervene for a General Amnesty for all the Irregular IRA members, and remove any of their excommunications. Eammon de Valera, then tried to reorganize the Sinn Fein Party instead, whose members were all to join with Frank Aiken as Irish Republicans, as there were 2,000 on the run, and thousands more in prison, and he further put forward the proposition that they should not be allowed to emigrate from Ireland, without a permit of permission.

July: The Anti - Treaty Irregular IRA, under their organizers Frank Aiken, Patrick Mac Logan, David Fitz Gerald and James Killeen, met at the Elliot Hotel in Dublin, to draw up new rules and a Constitution, and they all agreed to not associate anymore with the Irregular IRA, and Noel Lemass was to be arrested, and his body was to be found in the Dublin Mountains three months later. - William T. Cosgrave the Taoiseach of the Irish Free State Government, called an election, and Eammon de Valera stated from his hiding place, that he would stand as the Sinn Fein Party representative for his old seat in Co. Clare in the north - west of the Munster Province, where he was still in favour with his followers there, and Desmond Fitz Gerald the Minister for External Affairs in the Irish Free State Government said. "Eammon de Valera and every other enemy of the Country will have to go on the run."

August 12th: Eammon de Valera, set out with Sean Hyde to go to Co. Clare in the north - west of the Munster Province, to stand as the Sinn Fein Party representative, where Captain Fallon and the Irish Free State Government troops would be waiting for him to turn up.

August 15th: Eammon de Valera, was able to make it onto the platform in Ennis in Co. Clare, near the Daniel O Connell monument, where he was arrested at the Sinn Fein Party rally, by the Irish Free State troops and taken to Arbour Hill Barracks, and imprisoned for nearly a year without being tried, as William T. Cosgrave believed that that this might bring about further bloodshed.

August: In the General Elections for the Irish Free State, 44 of the representatives from the Sinn Fein Party were elected altogether, with 30 % of these not taking up their seats, because of the Oath of Allegiance to the British Crown, with Eamonn de Valera receiving 17,762 votes to Eoin Mac Neill's 8,196, who was standing for the Cuman na Gaedhal Party reorganized under William T. Cosgrave, who all up won 63 seats. Eamonn de Valera and Brian O Higgins another Sinn Fein Party candidate, together with C. Hogan representing the Farmers, and P. Hogan from the Labour Party, were all elected for Co. Clare. Another Tomas Derrig, was elected the T.D. for Co. Carlow in the south of Southern Leinster until 1954, and for Co. Kilkenny in the south - west of Leinster up until 1973.

October: Eammon de Valera was transferred to Kilmainham Prison near Dublin. - William T. Cosgrave, the newly elected Taoiseach of the Irish Free State, agreed to continue to pay the Land Annuities to the British Treasury for money raised from the Irish farmers to buy back their own Irish land from 1891 AD to 1909 amounting to 5,000,000 pounds a year. - Sean Mac Bride, was imprisoned until 1924, and would eventually found Amnesty International. - William Butler Yeats won the Nobel Prize for Literature this year.

November: Small parts of Co. Armagh and Co. Fermanagh were to be seceded to the Irish Free State and a part of Co. Donegal to the 6 Counties, Artificially Partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province by the Boundary Commission, and the Irish Free State representative, Eoin Mac Neill resigned in protest. James Craig the Ascendancy Official Unionist leader, now met with William T. Cosgrave the Taoiseach of the Irish Free State (26 Counties), in London, and they agreed to maintain the status quo, and the Boundary Commission Report was not released. James Craig and his group also met with Kevin O Higgins and his group, and a tripartite agreement retained the Artificial Border, between the divided territories detailed in the British Government's Government of Ireland Act 1920, and they never met again.

The Irish Free State's Congested Districts Board / Land Commission was set up to purchase and re - distribute 450,000 acres of Ireland, back to 24,000 Irish Families, and eventually they were to be able to return 2,000,000 acres of Irish land back to the Irish people. - Edward Martyn, (1859 - 1923) the Catholic Irish Nationalist, who lived in Tulera Castle at Ardrahan / Ard Rathain (The Fern Height) near Coole Park in Co. Galway in the west of the Connacht Province, died this year.

In the 6 Counties, Artificially Partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, under the Ascendancy Unionist Government, unemployment was running at 18%, and a further 232 Irish people were killed, during the time of the Civil War there, and over 1,000 were injured, with 2/3 of these being Catholic Irish, although they now only made up 1/3 of the population there.

+On to 1924

Situated on the western bank of the Hunter River, midway between Muswellbrook and Denman the doorway to the Heart of Australia's "Horse Capital" in the Hunter Valley in New South Wales., Australia.

John & Sue Markham

RAINBOW FARMS 603 Roxburgh Road., Muswellbrook., 2333.

02 65 479 100 - Fax: 02 65 479 102 E - Mail: www.rainbowfarms@bigpond.com