Last British troops finally leave the Irish Free State
Dublin, 18 December 1922 – The British army has been fully evacuated from the Irish Free State.
The completion of the withdrawal, which started in the wake of the ratification of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, involved the handover of the outstanding British-occupied barracks and posts to Irish troops yesterday morning. The handovers were followed by the ceremonial hoisting of tricolour flags.
At the headquarters of the British Command at the Royal Barracks on Infirmary Road large crowds of spectators gathered at the main entrance to witness the arrival of the first national troops.
General Mulcahy, Commander in Chief of the National Army, accompanied by Chief of Staff General MacMahon, inspected the troops on the square before addressing them in Irish and English. Mulcahy declared that the incubus of occupation that had lain as a heavy load on their country for years had been removed that morning. No longer would English soldiers hold their barracks. Irish soldiers would now occupy them in a way and in a spirit that would be very different from the way in which they had been previously occupied.
General Mulcahy told the troops that they were the army of Ireland and would be utilised not only for the defence of Ireland but for the building of the country.
British Pathé footage showing British troops leaving Ireland, 1922
At the nearby Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, similarly historic scenes were observed as General Sir Nevil Macready, commander of the British forces in Ireland, and his Chief of Staff, General Brind, were ready to march as soon as the Irish troops arrived to seize control of the facility.
General Macready shook hands with soldiers and inspected his men, taking the salute from about 2,000 troops representing the various regiments: the Wiltshires, Worcesters, Leicesters, Border Regiment, a tank corps, engineers, Signalling Corps and Medical Corps.
A deputation of 20 ex-servicemen, many adorned with their service medals, presented General Macready with a gold medal on which was engraved: ‘Presented to Gen. Macready by the Legion of Irish ex-Servicemen on the departure of the British troops from the Irish Free State.’
Free State soldiers patrolled the quays as the British troops made their way to the various points of departure and some ex-service men, along with the band of the Legion of Irish ex-Servicemen made their way to the North Wall to bid the British troops farewell.
General Macready and General Brind were taken to Dun Laoghaire where they boarded, to the cheers of the crew, the HMS Dragon, which alongside the HMS Wolsey, departed the harbour at an early hour of the morning, observed only by a very small crowd of onlookers.
[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]
