In 1937 a new constitution drafted by de Valera was adopted, and the name of the state was changed from "Irish Free State" to "Erie". Formally, the new state remained within the British Commonwealth, but in actual practice it was a republic in everything but name. In the 1930s and 1940s, the government repeatedly found itself in conflict with the IRA, but even under de Valera, stern measures were taken against the IRA. During World War II, de Valera's government, supported by a majority of its citizens, followed a policy of neutrality.

In 1948, Republicans attained their 150 year old dream, at least for the 26 counties: In name as well as in substance, the 26 counties became a full Republic outside the Commonwealth, pursuant to legislation sponsored by John A. Costello (1891-1976), a Fine Gael leader who succeeded de Valera as prime minister in a coalition government. The same legislation renamed the state from "Erie" to the "Republic of Ireland", its current name.

After mid-century, historical focus turned to Northern Ireland, where Catholics had been persecuted continuously since 1921, including a pogrom in 1922 and anti-Catholic Belfast riots in 1935. Civil Rights protests in the United States on behalf of blacks inspired a Civil Rights movement in Northern Ireland on behalf of Catholics. Predictably, the Northern Ireland (Stormont) government played into the hands of the peaceful demonstrators. In a celebrated incident at Burntollet Bridge, television cameras captured uniformed police mingling gregariously with a mob tossing rocks and bottles off a precipice onto peaceful marchers below; later that day, according to a British investigation, the police invaded Catholic neighborhoods in Derry and committed numerous acts of assault, battery and malicious property damage. British troops then were called in to restore order, but the conduct of the troops soon turned hostile to beleaguered Catholics, who sought help from the previously moribund IRA * by taunting it with graffiti on walls "IRA = I Ran Away". This inspired a violent faction of the IRA, later known as the "Provisional IRA" (a.k.a. "Provos" or "PIRA"), to split from the "Official" (and now less violent) IRA, and to launch a campaign of terror and violence. Violent retaliation promptly came from militant Protestants, who organized as the Ulster Volunteer Force ("UVF"). In mid-1971, PIRA and UVF violence led the Stormont government, backed by the British Army, to ban all civil rights demonstrations and also to inaugurate internment (imprisonment without trial or even charges); but when 345 out of 346 of the internees turned out to be Catholic, Catholics were confirmed in their belief that the British and Stormont governments were collaborating to suppress the legitimate aspirations of Catholics. Civil rights demonstrations continued, despite the ban being enforced by the British Army.

Bloody Sunday II (January 30, 1972) in Derry is the defining moment in the history of the Northern Ireland statelet. With no discernable cause, elite British troops -- shades of Kent State -- opened fire into a crowd of peaceful and unarmed civil rights demonstrators. The shooting continued for a full 15 minutes, with many of the survivors comparing themselves to ducks in a shooting gallery. When the massacre finally was over, 13 unarmed and peaceful demonstrators lay dead. Among Catholics, the atrocity was made worse when the official investigation of Lord Widgery whitewashed the killings on the specious grounds the troops had been under IRA fire, or thought they were **. (No spent bullets were found behind the troops, nor did any journalist or other independent witness detect any rifle fire.) Bloody Sunday II, together with the Widgery whitewash, dramatically elevated the status and standing of the PIRA (now called simply "IRA" again) within a Catholic community which understandingly believed it had nowhere else to turn.

In March 1972 the aggregate impact of Bloody Sunday and IRA/UVF violence forced the British Parliament to abolish the "home rule" Parliament (at Stormont) which had been given to Northern Ireland at its inception in 1920. The British Parliament assumed "direct" governance of Northern Ireland, and imposed numerous worthwhile reforms. Among other things, gerrymandered city councils were eliminated, and laws prohibiting anti-Catholic discrimination both in the allocation of public housing units (which constituted the majority of all housing units) and in public employment were enacted and effective. Laws prohibiting discrimination in private sector employment also were enacted, but have been less effective. For the IRA, however, progress on civil rights was a subsidiary issue; the ultimate goal, and the only goal acceptable to the IRA, was a "United Irish Republic" comprising all 32 counties. Throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and into the 1990s, the IRA continued their campaign of terror against British targets in Northern Ireland, Britain, and elsewhere. Then in August 1994, the IRA announced a "complete cessation of military operations", and requested multi-party peace negotiations on Northern Ireland. But when peace talks had not materialized by February, 1996, the IRA detonated a large bomb in the Docklands area of London, killing two people, injuring many others, and causing massive property damage. Politicians quickly scurried about to resurrect the "peace process", but few historians believed the violence was over.


PART 13 FOOTNOTES:

*  Following World War II, the IRA seemed to be a spent force militarily. It evolved into a Marxist-oriented organization agitating for Catholic civil rights and radical social reform in Northern Ireland, but it failed to win much support, even among the Catholic minority.

**  Assuming arguendo that the troops had been under fire, Lord Widgery still must have found it challenging to justify at least some of the killings. Paddy Doherty was killed as he crawled on his hand and knees, obviously unarmed, to assist a youngster lying wounded in the middle of the street; the fatal bullet entered his buttocks, traveled up his spine, and exited his chest. Bernard McGuigan, waving a white handkerchief and obviously unarmed, was shot in the head while trying to aid the fatally injured Doherty. Kevin McElhinney, only 17, died like Doherty, except that he was crawling towards the safety of a doorway instead of to help a wounded man; the bullet entered his buttocks and went through his body. James Wray initially was only wounded, and lying face down on the pavement (probably paralyzed), from a shot in the back; then a soldier, noticing that he was still alive, took a few steps closer, and fired another shot into Wray's back, killing him. Gerald McKinney stood holding his hands above his head in the traditional surrender gesture when a soldier approached and from 9 feet away shot him in the chest.