Our War of Independence Centenary Series continues with an in-depth look at the events of May 1921. The burning of the Customs House was a famous act of symbolic destruction by the IRA in Dublin, but also a military disaster for the organization. Two elections in Ireland took place in 1921, as a result of the Government of Ireland Act 1920 to establish the House of Commons of Northern Ireland and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland. Attacks, reprisals, and burnings continued throughout the country, while on May 5th, the Ulster Unionist leader, James Craig, and the Sinn Féin leader, Éamon de Valera, met for the first and only time.
This is the twelfth lecture in our War of Independence Centenary Series with Executive Director Dr. Elizabeth Stack.