Fascinating South Kilkenny Historical Society delves into army mutiny of 1924

The lecture delivered by John Dorney on March 22 to the South Kilkenny Historical Society dealt with the army mutiny of 1924.

Mr Dorney began by highlighting the international situation post-World War, when nationalist movements in Poland and Turkey had ended in military rule headed by charismatic figures, Pilsudski and Ataturk; counter revolution in Hungary and Finland had led to military rule post-1918 under military figures Horthy and Mannerheim; and Kapp Putsch in Germany, former military in right wing Frei Korps attempting to overthrow Weimar Republic in 1920.

He then went on to outline the situation in Ireland following the Civil War and the precarious financial situation in which the Free State found itself. This financial situation necessitated the rapid demobilisation of the army.

However, the demobilisation of the army was not a simple task, as security needed to be maintained; the IRA, while defeated, had not disappeared or surrendered; there was the possibility of a destabilising effect of dumping thousands of troops on the labour market; and the implications of a decision as to who to demobilise first.

In the autumn of 1923 a decision was made to reduce the strength of the army and to reorganise it for peacetime. This entailed a reduction of 30,000, to 17,000 personnel and eventually to 8,000, with ancillary organisations such as the Railway Protection Corps and the Special Infantry Corps to be disbanded first.

A small group of officers, led mainly by former members of Collins’ intelligence unit, attempted to resist the efforts to demobilise and it evolved into what has been called the Army Mutiny of March 1924. This demobilisation led to serious discipline breaches, such as bank and post office robberies, the hanging of William Downes and a number of sexual assault cases in Kenmare and Mayo.

The crisis within the army was solved but the government was divided, with Richard Mulcahy resigning as Minister for Defence and Kevin O’Higgins emerging victorious.

Today, the mutiny is often dismissed as a mere farce. However, it was led by very dangerous men, most of whom served in the IRA Squad and Intelligence Department during the War of Independence. John Dorney concluded by stating that the importance of the Army Mutiny of 1924 was not in what actually happened but that when it was resolved the supremacy of democratic control was established over the Defence Forces.

An interesting and informative question and answer session followed the lecture and the organisers were very pleased with the turnout, the quality of the lecture and the interest shown by the attendance.

The next South Kilkenny Historical Society lecture takes place at 8pm on Friday, April 26 in Mullinavat Parish Hall (opposite St Beacon’s Church). This lecture, ‘Kilkenny’s Titanic Survivor’ will be delivered by MaryAnn Vaughan.