The IRA Quartermaster General (QMG) runs a department which is responsible for obtaining, concealing and maintaining the store of weaponry of the

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief tha ...

. In the

Provisional IRA The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, fa ...

, the QMG department is a large and important department. It works closely with the IRA Engineering Department, which develops weapons. A number of people have held the post of QMG. In 1997, the then QMG,

Michael McKevitt Michael McKevitt ( ga, Mícheál Mac Dhaibhéid) (4 September 1949 – 2 January 2021) was an Irish republican and paramilitary leader. He was the Provisional Irish Republican Army's Quartermaster General. Due to the Provisional IRA's involvem ...

broke away from the

to form the

Real IRA The Real Irish Republican Army, or Real IRA (RIRA), is a dissident Irish republican paramilitary group that aims to bring about a United Ireland. It formed in 1997 following a split in the Provisional IRA by dissident members, who rejected the ...

, taking PIRA weaponry to his breakaway organization.

List of Quartermasters General of the Irish Republican Army (1917–1922)

List of Quartermasters Generals of the (anti-Treaty) Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)

Liam Mellows William Joseph Mellows ( ga, Liam Ó Maoilíosa, 25 May 1892 – 8 December 1922) was an Irish republican and Sinn Féin politician. Born in England to an English father and Irish mother, he grew up in Ashton-under-Lyne before moving to Irelan ...

, 1922 *Sean O'Muirthile, 1923-1924 *Andrew Cooney, July 1924 – 1925 *F. Cronin? *

Seán Russell Seán Russell (13 October 1893 – 14 August 1940) was an Irish republican who participated in the Easter Rising of 1916, held senior positions in the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence and Irish Civil War, and was Ch ...

, 1927-1936 *Mick Fitzpatrick, 1936-1937 *James Hannegan, from 1937 *Charlie McGlade, from 1941 * Harry White, 1942-1943 *

Archie Doyle Archie Doyle (29 September 1903 - 1980) was one of three anti-Treaty members of the Irish Republican Army (1922–1969) (IRA) who on 10 July 1927 assassinated the Irish Justice Minister Kevin O'Higgins. He had had a long subsequent career in the ...

, 1940s * Larry Grogan, from c. 1950 *

Cathal Goulding Cathal Goulding ( ga, Cathal Ó Goillín; 2 January 1923 – 26 December 1998) was Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army and the Official IRA. Early life and career One of seven children born on East Arran Street in north Dublin to an ...

, 1959-1962Treacy 2013 p.11 *Mick Ryan, from 1962
(also first QMG of the Official IRA from 1969) *Prior, to 1966 *Jimmy Quigley, from 1966 *Pat Regan, late 1960s

List of Quartermasters Generals of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (1969–2005)

Dáithí Ó Conaill Dáithí Ó Conaill (English: ''David O'Connell'') (May 1938 – 1 January 1991) was an Irish republican, a member of the IRA Army Council of the Provisional IRA, and vice-president of Sinn Féin and Republican Sinn Féin. He was also the firs ...

, 1969 *Jack McCabe, 1969-1971 *Denis McInerney, 1971-1972Moloney 2002 p. 137 * Patrick Ryan, 1972-1973 * Brian Keenan, from 1973 *Frank Hegarty, 1980s *Kevin Hannaway, to 1985Moloney 2002 p. 384 *

, 1985-1997Andrew Sanders, ''Inside the IRA: Dissident Republicans and the War for Legitimacy'', p.209

List of Quartermasters General of the Irish Republican Army (1917–1922)

List of Quartermasters Generals of the (anti-Treaty) Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)

List of Quartermasters Generals of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (1969–2005)

See also

References

Sources

Citations