The Fourth Northern Division 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 th ...

operated in an area covering parts of counties Louth,

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the ...

Monaghan Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Ireland. It also provides the name of its civil parish and barony. The population of the town as of the 2016 census was 7,678. The town is on the N2 road from Dublin to Derry and Let ...

, and Down during the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...

and

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

Frank Aiken Francis Thomas Aiken (13 February 1898 – 18 May 1983) was an Irish revolutionary and politician. He was chief of staff of the Anti-Treaty IRA at the end of the Irish Civil War. Aiken later served as Tánaiste from 1965 to 1969 and Minister f ...

was commander and Pádraig Quinn was the quartermaster general. John McCoy was Adjutant General for the division. After McCoy was shot and captured by British Crown forces in 1921, Seán F. Quinn, Pádraig's brother, took over the position. At the outbreak of the

, the Fourth Northern Division was neutral and in control of the

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

military barracks after the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

vacated it on 13 April 1922. Aiken was in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

with

Richard Mulcahy Richard James Mulcahy (10 May 1886 – 16 December 1971) was an Irish Fine Gael politician and army general who served as Minister for Education from 1948 to 1951 and 1954 to 1957, Minister for the Gaeltacht from June 1956 to October 1956, ...

( Chief of Staff of the IRA until the split), arguing against the Free State taking military action against a large anti-

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal per ...

IRA force which had taken over the

Four Courts The Four Courts ( ga, Na Ceithre Cúirteanna) is Ireland's most prominent courts building, located on Inns Quay in Dublin. The Four Courts is the principal seat of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the High Court and the Dublin Circui ...

. Mulcahy ordered Aiken back to Dundalk. On 4 July, Aiken wrote to Mulcahy stating the Fourth Northern Division would stay neutral, called for an end to the fighting and for the removal of the

Oath of Allegiance An oath of allegiance is an oath whereby a subject or citizen acknowledges a duty of allegiance and swears loyalty to a monarch or a country. In modern republics, oaths are sworn to the country in general, or to the country's constitution. Fo ...

from the Treaty because "you have the simple national abhorrence of swearing allegiance to a foreign king and allowing part of the Nation to be ruled by people who have a sworn loyalty to that king."

Eoin Neeson Eoin Neeson (13 September 1927 – 2 January 2011) was an Irish journalist, historian, novelist and playwright. Life and career Born to a staunch republican Cork family Neeson was the son of Seán Neeson, station director for 6CK, the first off ...

. ''The Civil War in Ireland'', 1st edition (1966), p. 213, Mercier Press. On 15 July, Aiken again met in Dublin with Mulcahy, arguing for peace. The following day Mulcahy's men came as friends to Dundalk and captured Aiken's barracks through a breach of faith, and Aiken and his officers and men were imprisoned in Dundalk jail. On 27 July, John McCoy led a small unit that attacked Dundalk, breached the prison wall with dynamite, and in fifteen minutes captured the garrison of 300 men and arms for 400. There no casualties during the jail break. A number of escaping divisional members were recaptured by Free State forces, including John McCoy of

Mullaghbawn Mullaghbawn ( or ; ), or Mullaghbane, is a small village and townland near Slieve Gullion in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 596. History A barracks was built near Mullaghbawn in 1689 and was known ...

, who had been shot and captured by British Crown forces in 1921, and who had been a brigadier in the barracks before the Free State troops took command. On 23 April 1923, Aiken was elected chief-of-Staff of the IRA. An Army Council, composed of Aiken, Pilkington and Tom Barry, was named. Seán F. Quinn succeeded him as officer commanding the Fourth Northern Division. On 27 April, Aiken issued a ''Suspension of Offensives'' command that all offensive operations should be suspended from noon on 30 April. This marked the end of the civil war.

Footnotes

References

*''The Singing Flame'',

Ernie O'Malley Ernest Bernard Malley ( ga, Earnán Ó Máille; 26 May 1897 – 25 March 1957) was an IRA officer during the Irish War of Independence. Subsequently, he became assistant chief of staff of the Anti-Treaty IRA during the Irish Civil War. O'Malley ...

, 1978, Anvil Books LTD () *''Irish Republic'',

Dorothy Macardle Dorothy Macardle (2 February 1889, in Dundalk – 23 December 1958, in Drogheda)Luke Gibbons, ''The Irish Times'', Weekend Review, "A Cosmopolitan Reclaimed: A Review of ''Dorothy Macardle: A Life''", by Nadia Clare Smith, 10 November 2007, p.1 ...

, 1965, Farrar Straus & Giroux ({{ISBN, 0-374-17728-7) *''Dundalk Democrat'', July 29, 1922 "Dundalk sensation: Jail bombed and prisoners released" Irish Civil War Irish Republican Army (1919–1922) Irish War of Independence