The Irish Republican Police (IRP) was the police force of the Irish Republic.

Foundation

The IRP was founded between April and June 1920 under the authority of Dáil Éireann. It was raised by the IRA Chief of Staff and Cathal Brugha, minister for defence, and then handed over to the Minister for Home Affairs of Dáil Éireann. The purpose of the IRP was to provide security for the Republican Courts, as wel as to enforce their decrees. It also occupied itself with more mundane matters, such as enforcing licensing regulations, dealing with theft and maintaining street patrols. The existence of the IRP was also considered as an important component in the campaign to ostracise the Royal Irish Constabulary. 1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... The Dáil Chamber Dáil Éireann is the lower house of the Oireachtas (parliament) of the Republic of Ireland. ... Cathal Brugha Cathal Brugha (Charles William St John Burgess) (18 July 1874-7 July 1922) was an Irish revolutionary, born in Dublin of mixed Irish and English parentage, who was active in the Easter Rising and the Irish Civil War. ... The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) was one of Irelands two police forces in the early twentieth century, alongside the Dublin Metropolitan Police. ...

In 1920, the IRP had a presence in 21 of Ireland’s 32 counties. In June 1920, the Irish Bulletin claimed that the IRP had arrested 84 criminals in 24 counties within 13 days.

Functioning

The IRP faced considerable difficulties in enforcing its authority. First and foremost, the IRP was viewed as an illegal body by the British troops and the Royal Irish Constabulary. As a result, members of the IRP were shot or arrested. Even after the 1921 Truce, the RIC challenged the authority of the IRP and threatened its members with arrest.

Secondly, the operation of the IRP was also made difficult by blurring of civil and military law during the Anglo-Irish War as neither the military authority of the Irish Republican Army nor the civil authority of the IRP was clearly defined. An Irish War of Independence memorial in Dublin The Anglo-Irish War (also known as the Irish War of Independence) was a guerrilla campaign mounted against the British government in Ireland by the Irish Republican Army under the proclaimed legitimacy of the First Dáil, the extra-legal Irish parliament... The West Cork Flying Column during the War of Independence. ...

The IRP had no jails or prisons in which to confine offenders. Although the IRP had no jails, a partial solution was found in that some of those convicted by the Republican Courts were exiled to small and unpopulated islands off the West Coast of Ireland. In one incident, three offenders who had been banished by a Republican Land Court to such an for 3 weeks refused to be rescued by the RIC declaring that as citizens of the Irish Republic, the RIC had no authority over them.

Organisation

IRP recruits generally came from the ranks of the Irish Republican Army. In the city of Cork, where the IRP had a considerable presence, the IRA elected officers for duty with the IRP. Cork (Corcaigh in Irish) is the second city of the Republic of Ireland. ...

The IRP operated according to the IRA brigade structures and each brigade police unit was headed by a bridage police officer.

The members of the IRP wore no uniform, however some units wore armbands with the letters IRP. Armbands are strips of cloth or other distinctive material that are wrapped around the upper arm. ...