4th Year History: background to 1913

Notes for St. Elizabeths

Munster Republic

Within two days the ‘Irregulars’  inside had surrendered. They soon moved out of Dublin and the fighting started to happen in the countryside.

The irregulars moved south to Limerick and Waterford. This area became known as the ‘Munster Republic’.

¡This area was easily captured by the Free State army which now had 60,000 soldiers. The ‘irregulars ‘had to retreat further into the countryside.

¡Then Griffith died of a brain haemorrhage in August.Collins was killed ten days later in an ambush at Beal na mBlath, Cork by an ‘irregular.’

W.T. Cosgrave became the new leader of the Free State. He was helped by Kevin O’Higgins.

Notes for the basketballers! St. Johns

The Free State Government

Once the Civil war was over the pro Treaty party Cumann na Ngaedheal(Society of the Gaels) took over the running of the country.

W.T. Cosgrave became the leader of this new Free State Government.
There was a constitution for the Free State(laws of the country) which laid out the laws of the country.

¡It said that there was 2 houses in the parliament: the Dáil and the Seanad.

¡All members had to take an oath of allegiance.

The new State had a lot of problems with law and order. They needed to make sure the laws were being obeyed. Kevin O’Higgins the Minister for Home Affairs set up a new unarmed police force the Garda Síochána(Guardians of the peace).

¡The court system was reorganised. Local courts were established.

¡Public Safety Acts were introduced to deal with the I.R.A. These gave the Guards more ways to deal with them. 

Holocaust survivor speaks to senior students at Gortnor Abbey

Tomi Reichental, Holocaust Survivor, visited Gortnor Abbey on Thursday 29th November to speak to around 200 people - TY and Leaving Certificate History students, 5th Year Students and a number of  staff.

Tomi gave an excellent and very powerful talk, detailing his experiences in Bergen Belsen concentration camp during world war two.For over an hour and a half 200 students listened in stunned silence as Tomi spoke about his experiences at the hands of the Slovakian government and the Nazis.  Following the talk, he signed copies of his book  called  'I was a boy in Belsen'. 

 Students/staff alike said that Tomi's talk was unforgettable and believe they were very fortunate  and privileged to have the opportunity to listen to one of the few remaining survivors from the concentration camps. Tomi's message was clear that we should all make sure 'The Holocaust' he experienced never happens again.

It truly was an unforgettable experience.