ABSTRACT

This article assesses the extent, geography and nature of ‘forced disappearances’ carried out by the Irish Republican Army during the Irish Revolution of 1919–1923. The victims were either Irish civilians suspected of being spies and informers working for British intelligence, or members of the British army and Royal Irish Constabulary. It reveals the scale of these secret killings as a phenomenon that developed in the context of the IRA’s military strategy during the Irish War of Independence. Disappearances continued at a far lower level during the Truce (largely in Co. Cork), and almost ceased during the Irish Civil War of 1922–1923. The study found that rather than being a nationwide military strategy forced disappearances were the initiative of local IRA units, with those in Co. Cork (notably Cork 1 Brigade), displaying a more ruthless attitude to this tactic than elsewhere. Civilian targets (the majority of whom were ex-soldiers) were usually assumed by the IRA to be dangerous British intelligence assets. This was also the case with many crown force targets, but others were simply opportunistic killings.

摘要

本文评估了爱尔兰共和军在 1919-1923 年爱尔兰革命期间实施的“强迫失踪”的范围、地理和性质。受害者要么是涉嫌为英国情报部门工作的间谍和线人的爱尔兰平民，要么是英国军队和爱尔兰皇家警察的成员。它揭示了这些秘密杀戮的规模是在爱尔兰独立战争期间爱尔兰共和军军事战略背景下发展起来的一种现象。在停战期间（主要在科克），失踪人数继续减少，在 1922 年至 1923 年的爱尔兰内战期间几乎停止。研究发现，强迫失踪并非是一项全国性的军事战略，而是由当地爱尔兰共和军单位发起的，包括科克公司（特别是科克 1 旅），对这种策略表现出比其他地方更无情的态度。平民目标（其中大多数是前士兵）通常被爱尔兰共和军认为是危险的英国情报资产。许多皇家部队的目标也是如此，但其他目标只是机会主义的杀戮。