163:(10 July 1921) McCorley was a major leader in the defense of nationalist areas from attacks by both the police and loyalists. On that day twenty people were killed. This was despite a nationwide truce that had been agreed between British and Irish leaders, due to come into effect at noon on 11 July. McCorley himself liaised with the RIC to try to ensure the truce held in Belfast but noted later that in Belfast 'the truce lasted six hours only' . At least 100 people were wounded, about 200 houses were destroyed or badly damaged - most of them Catholic homes, leaving 1,000 people homeless. (see:
134:, organized an Active Service Unit (ASU) within the first battalion of the Belfast Brigade, with the intention of carrying out attacks, with or without the approval of the Brigade leadership. The unit consisted of 32 men. McCorley later wrote, 'I issued a general order that, where reprisal gangs were cornered, no prisoners were to be taken'. In March 1921, McCorley personally led the ASU in the killing of three
147:
and had been posted to
Lisburn for his safety. During this period of violence, Ferris himself was among the casualties, being shot in the chest and neck, but surviving. McCorley claimed to have been one of the four IRA men who shot Ferris. In addition, McCorley's men bombed and burned a number of businesses including several cinemas and a
74:, 1919–1922. He was commandant of the Brigade's first battalion, eventually becoming Commandant of the Belfast Brigade. During this time McCorley's brother Felix was Adjutant and Training Officer of the IRA's Antrim Brigade and served in Liverpool, England. In June 1920, Roger McCorley was involved in an attack on a
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Thereafter, there was what historian Robert Lynch has described as a 'savage underground war' between McCorley's ASU and RIC personnel based in
Springfield Road barracks and led by an Inspector Ferris. Ferris had also been accused of involvement in the murder the Lord Mayor of Cork Thomas MacCurtain
138:
in
Victoria Street in central Belfast. He was responsible for the deaths of two more Auxiliaries in Donegall Place in April. In reprisal for these shootings, members of the RIC assassinated two republican activists, the Duffin brothers in Clonard Gardens in west Belfast. On 10 June 1921 Woods and
190:
In May 1922, the IRA launched an offensive with attacks all across
Northern Ireland. On 18 May 1922 in Belfast, McCorley and Woods men carried out an assault on Musgrave Street RIC barracks in which they captured the files and military plans of the police headquarters. He also conducted an arson
158:
On 3 June, McCorley organized an attack on
Crumlin Road jail in an attempt to rescue the IRA men held there before they were executed. The operation was not a success, however the condemned men were reprieved after a truce was agreed between the IRA and British forces in July 1921. On
118:' (USC). The role of the USC (a temporary police force raised for counter-insurgency purposes) in the conflict is still debated, but republicans maintain that the organization was responsible for the indiscriminate killings of Catholics and nationalists.
109:
reprisals on republicans and the
Catholic population in general. In addition, McCorley was in favour of conducting an armed defense of Catholic areas, whereas McKelvey did not want the IRA to get involved in what he considered to be
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to put down anti-Treaty guerrillas there. In the spring of 1923, McCorley, bitterly disillusioned by the brutal counter-insurgency against fellow republicans, resigned his command. He recalled he was, 'fed up', with the civil war.
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broke out between Pro and Anti-Treaty elements of the IRA. McCorley took the side of the Free State and
Michael Collins. After Michael Collins was killed in August 1922, McCorley's men were stood down. About 300 of them joined the
179:. With McKelvey's departure Seamus Woods became Officer Commanding of the IRA's 3rd Northern Division (which had up to 1,000 members) with McCorley designated as Vice Officer Commanding during an intense period of
183:. McCorley for his part, supported the Treaty, despite the fact that it provided for the partition of Ireland and the continued British rule in Northern Ireland. The reason for this was that Michael Collins and
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violence. McCorley wrote later that in the end, 'the issue settled itself within a very short space of time, when the Orange mob was given uniforms, paid for by the
British, and called the
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553:
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He later asserted that he 'hated the Treaty' and only supported it because it allowed
Ireland to have its own armed forces. Both McCorley and Seamus Woods were severe critics of the
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on 6 September 1901, one of three children born to Roger Edmund McCorley, a meat carver in a hotel, and Agnes
Liggett; he had two elder brothers, Vincent and Felix. He joined the
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86:. On Sunday August 22, 1920, in Lisburn, McCorley was involved in the assassination of RIC District Inspector Oswald Swanzy who was held responsible (by the Irish leader
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In April 1922, McCorley became leader of the IRA Belfast Brigade after Joe McKelvey went south to Dublin to join other IRA members who were fighting against the
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McCorley was noted for his militancy, as he was in favour of armed attacks on British forces in Belfast. The Brigade's leaders, by contrast, in particular,
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had assured him that this was only a tactical move and indeed, Collins sent men, money and weapons to the IRA in the North throughout 1922.
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McCorley units were involved in the killing a RIC man who was suspected in the revenge killings of the Duffin brothers (see 23 April 1921
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In 1936 he was instrumental in the establishment of the All-Ireland Old IRA Men's Organization, serving as Vice-President with President
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and economic independence from Britain. He died on 13 November 1993 and is buried in the Republican Plot of Glasnevin cemetery.
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McDermott, Jim, (2001), Northern Divisions The Old IRA and the Belfast Pogroms 1920-22, BTP Publications, Belfast, pg 8,
151:. In May 1921, however, 13 of McCorley's best men were arrested when surrounded by British troops during an operation in
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officers in their beds in the Railway View hotel in central Belfast. Shortly afterwards, McCorley and another IRA man,
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campaign on businesses in Belfast. His men also carried out a number of assassinations, including that of Unionist MP
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in his teens. His family had a very strong republican tradition and he claimed to be the great-grandson of the
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To escape from the subsequent repression, McCorley and over 900 Northern IRA men fled south, to the
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of over 200 Belfast IRA men. McCorley's command saw the collapse of the Belfast IRA.
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Roger Edmund McCorley was born into a Roman Catholic family at 67 Hillman Street in
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439:"The attacks began on July 21st when 5,000 workers were driven from their jobs"
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On 26 January 1921, McCorley, was involved in the fatal shooting of three
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Lawlor, Pearse (2009), The Burnings 1920, Mercier Press, Cork, pg 182,
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143:). Two RIC men and a civilian were also wounded in that attack.
404:| Today in Irish History – July 10 1921 – Belfast’s Bloody Sunday
215:. McCorley was put in command of these men. In June 1922, the
155:. They were held in Crumlin Road jail and sentenced to death.
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inertia towards Northern Ireland after the death of
171:Belfast Brigade & 3rd Northern Division leader
531:The Northern IRA and the Early Years of Partition
346:O'Halpin, Eunan & Ó Corráin, Daithí (2020),
259:In the 1940s, McCorley was a founding member of
564:People of the Irish Civil War (Pro-Treaty side)
105:, were wary of sanctioning attacks for fear of
22:(6 September 1901 – 13 November 1993) was an
8:
494:(Speech). Documents on Irish Foreign Policy
467:. New York: St. Martins Press. p. 84.
303:Who's Who in the Irish War of Independence
584:20th-century people from Northern Ireland
554:Irish Republican Army (1919–1922) members
141:Timeline of the Irish War of Independence
491:Seamus Woods to Richard Mulcahy (Dublin)
437:McEldowney, Eugene (3 September 2001).
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263:, a political party which aspired to a
50:, who was executed for his part in the
7:
533:, Irish Academic Press, Dublin 2006.
488:Woods, Seamus (29 September 1922).
247:(Cork No. 3 Brigade) and Secretary
419:. Four Courts Press, Dublin 2004;
165:The Troubles in Ulster (1920–1922)
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559:National Army (Ireland) officers
350:, Yale University Press, pg 281
348:The Dead of the Irish Revolution
211:, where they were housed in the
406:. The Irish Story. 10 July 2015
330:, Mercer Press, Cork, pg. 43,
306:. Lilliput Press. p. 59.
16:Irish republican (1901 – 1993)
1:
62:McCorley was a member of the
569:Paramilitaries from Belfast
540:, Mercier Press, Cork 2011.
463:Hopkinson, Michael (2002).
300:O'Farrell, Padraic (1997).
251:(Waterford No. 2 Brigade).
116:Ulster Special Constabulary
90:) for the assassination of
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326:Glennon, Kieran, (2013),
78:(RIC) police barracks at
72:Irish War of Independence
328:From Pogrom to Civil War
76:Royal Irish Constabulary
589:People from County Down
122:The Active Service Unit
538:1920-1922 The Outrages
181:intercommunal violence
68:Irish Republican Army
417:Belfast's Unholy War
161:Bloody Sunday (1921)
465:Green Against Green
415:Parkinson, Alan F.
195:, which caused the
512:McDermott, pg 266.
261:Córas na Poblachta
255:Coras na Poblachta
177:Anglo-Irish Treaty
128:Auxiliary Division
96:Lord Mayor of Cork
402:Glennon, Kieran.
392:978-1-85635-612-1
368:O'Halpin, pg 470.
359:O'Halpin, pg. 393
224:and were sent to
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103:Joe McKelvey
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579:1993 deaths
574:1901 births
149:Reform Club
84:County Down
548:Categories
427:, pg. 154.
271:References
245:Liam Deasy
197:internment
46:folk hero
30:Early life
26:activist.
448:12 August
203:Civil War
112:sectarian
107:loyalist
80:Crossgar
213:Curragh
66:of the
36:Belfast
498:13 May
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94:, the
40:Fianna
500:2024
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