How British policy made martyrs out of republicans

The War of Independence witnessed some of its darkest days in the last months of 1920. Between the sack of Balbriggan on September 20 and the burning of Cork on December 11 were packed many of the set pieces that are synonymous with the War of Independence, including Bloody Sunday and the Kilmichael Ambush. From the dozens of republicans who died in these months, two new martyrs would be added to the Irish republican pantheon: the 41-year-old Terence MacSwiney, who died on hunger strike on October 25 and, a week later, the 18-year-old medical student Kevin Barry: the first Irish republican to be executed since Roger Casement in 1916. During these months, the tempo, tide and tenor of the conflict changed. As events intensified domestically, so too did the international battle over information and the news narrative. The British government’s policy of official reprisals handed republican propagandists ready-made coups. The excesses of an empire and its army, at a time when Britain was still shaping the peace in Europe, did untold damage to Britain’s profile on the world stage. In particular, the power of the Irish diaspora in the US was brought to bear in shaming Britain among her Versailles allies and jeopardising the Anglo-American relationship.