The Irish Wars 1919-1923 (Documentary)

Support us and get 40% off Nebula: https://go.nebula.tv/the-great-war
Watch 16 Days in Berlin on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/16-days-in-berlin-01-prologue-the-beginning-of-the-end?refthe-great-war

In 1919, Great Britain had just emerged victorious from the First World War, and ruled over an even larger empire than before . But in Ireland, many were unhappy with British rule, and over the next two years, Irish republicans won a brutal war of independence but victory soon gave way to division, and Ireland would be torn apart by an even bloodier Civil War.

» SUPPORT THE CHANNEL
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/realtimehistory
Nebula: https://nebula.tv/the-great-war

» THANKS TO OUR CO-PRODUCERS
Rose Flaglor, Reed Spilmann, Erik Ritter, Cardboard, Ken Brownfield, David Garfinkle, Raymond Martin, Konstantin Bredyuk, Lisa Anderson, Brad Durbin, Jeremy K Jones, Murray Godfrey, John Ozment, Stephen Parker, Mavrides, Kristina Colburn, Stefan Jackowski, Cardboard, William Kincade, William Wallace, Daniel L Garza, Chris Daley, Malcolm Swan, Christoph Wolf, Simen Røste, Jim F Barlow, Taylor Allen, Adam Smith, James Giliberto, Albert B. Knapp MD, Tobias Wildenblanck, Richard L Benkin, Marco Kuhnert, Matt Barnes, Ramon Rijkhoek, Jan, Scott Deederly, gsporie, Kekoa, Bruce G. Hearns, Hans Broberg, Fogeltje

» SOURCES
Cottrell, Peter, The Irish Civil War 1922-23, (Oxford : Osprey Publishing, 2015)
Gibbons, Ivan, Partition: How and Why Ireland Was Divided, (London : Haus Publishing, 2021)
Bowen, Tom, The Irish Underground and the War of Independence 1919-21 Journal of Contemporary History Vol. 8, No. 2 (Apr., 1973), pp. 3-23
Hopkinson, Michael, The Irish War of Independence, (Montreal & Kingston : McGill-Queens University Press, 2002)
Knirck, Jason. Imagining Irelands Independence: The Debates Over the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921. Rowman & Littlefield, 2006.
Leeson, David, The Black and Tans: British Police and Auxiliaries in the Irish War of Independence, 1920-1921, (Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2011)
Lowe, W.J., Who Were the Black-and-Tans, History Ireland (Autumn 2004)
Townshend, Charles, The Republic: The Fight for Irish Independence 1918-1923, (London : Penguin Books, 2013)
Hart, Peter: The IRA and Its Enemies (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998)
Harvey, A.D: Who Were the Auxiliaries? The Historical Journal, Vol. 35, No. 3 (Sep. 1992)
Hopkinson, Michael: The Irish War of Independence (Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queens University Press, 2002)
Leeson, David: The Black and Tans: British Police and Auxiliaries in the Irish War of Independence, 1920-1921 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011)
McMahon, Sean: The War of Independence (Cork: Mercier Press, 2019)
OBrien, Paul: Havoc: The Auxiliaries in Irelands War of Independence (Cork: Collins Press, 2017)
Riddell, George: Lord Riddells Intimate Diary of the Peace Conference and After: 1918-1923 (London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1933)
Roxbourgh, Ian: The Military: The Mutual Determination of Strategy in Ireland, 1912-1921 in Duyvendak, Jan Willem & Jasper, James M. (eds) Breaking Down the State: Protesters Engaged (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2015)
Townshend, Charles: The Republic: The Fight for Irish Independence 1918-1923 (London: Penguin Books, 2014)
Hopkinson, Michael. The Irish War of Independence (Montreal & Kingston : McGill-Queens University Press, 2002)
The Macroom Ambush The Irish Independent, January 17 1921
McMahon, Sean. The War of Independence (Cork : Mercier Press, 2019)
OBrien, Paul. Havoc: The Auxiliaries in Irelands War of Independence (Cork : Collins Press, 2017)
Ridley, Nicholas. Michael Collins and the Financing of Violent Political Struggle (New York : Routledge, 2018)
Roxbourgh, Ian. The Military: The Mutual Determination of Strategy in Ireland, 1912-1921 in Duyvendak, Jan Willem & Jasper, James M. (eds) Breaking Down the State: Protesters Engaged, (Amsterdam : Amsterdam University Press, 2015)
Ryan, Meda. The Kilmichael Ambush, 1920: Exploring the Provocative Chapters, History, Vol. 92, No. 2 (306) (APRIL 2007)

» OUR SISTER CHANNEL
https://youtube.com/realtimehistory

»CREDITS
Presented by: Jesse Alexander
Written by: Mark Newton, Jesse Alexander
Director: Toni Steller
Editing: Toni Steller
Motion Design: Toni Steller
Mixing, Mastering & Sound Design: http://above-zero.com
Research by: Mark Newton, Jesse Alexander
Fact checking: Jesse Alexander
Executive Producer: Florian Wittig
Channel Design: Yves Thimian

Contains licensed material by getty images, AP and Reuters
Maps: MapTiler/OpenStreetMap Contributors & GEOlayers3

All photos and film in our documentaries are authentic historical footage. We do not use generative AI to create new assets. However, we may use AI tools to upscale or clean up certain assets without distorting or compromising the original image.

All rights reserved - Real Time History GmbH 2025