Policing Genealogy Ireland and History Useful Links .

Formation of the New Irish Police Force

A secret meeting was held on 9 February 1922 at the Gresham Hotel In Dublin. It was presided over by Michael Collins and with the invite of members of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), IRA and other individuals. The gathering had one aim: to establish a new police in the Irish Free State to replace the disbanded RIC. They were known as the Civic Guard. The first Garda recruits arrived at the RDS on 21 February 1922 from all across the county. These men, which consisted of an overwhelming majority of IRA Veterans had to begin implementing policing in Irish communities that had become divided and hostile during the emergence of the Irish Civil War 1922-1923. Despite the challenges during this period the decision was made to make the Civic Guards an unarmed police force which is still in practice overall in the present day. On 8 August 1923 the Civic Guard was renamed An Garda Síochána, meaning ‘Guardians of the Peace’. The Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP) was amalgamated with the Gardaí in 1925, who police the 26 counties in the Republic of Ireland.

Purpose and Mission.

A hundred years after its establishment, a tradition of family service going back as far as four generations still continues. Reforms in the Irish policing system introduced the first women ‘bean’ Gardaí in 1959, although they did have to give up their careers when they got married, a law which was not removed until 1973 in Ireland . This means many people across Ireland and even the world have some family member who served in Ireland’s police force. This can be father, grandfather, great grandfather, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, uncle, granduncle, aunt, grand aunt , among many others. Currently there is no Garda Genealogy service for the public which has sparked significant interest and demand since the Centenary was marked throughout 2022. Have you any ancestors who served in An Garda Síochána? Want to find out more about their lives but unsure how to start? Our aim is to advise you on how to do this and what resources are available. The Civic Guard Register 1922-1925 along with other sources have been transcribed into a search mode. If you have just a reg number or even a name only, it will show you the results for both and the details of the Garda recruit. Some of the external links on this website are a good starting point. This website will primarily focus on the first 50 years of Garda History 1922-1972. It will respect the confidentiality of the individuals who served by providing limited information extracted from newspaper articles, online civil records and other platforms that are already available to the public. This will also explore the family history of the early Garda recruits and ow life was for their wives and children .

Composition of the Rank and File

Most of the Civic Guard Recruits in 1922 and 1923 about 85% were IRA Veterans from the Irish War of Independence. Only about 2% of former members of the disbanded RIC joined and were only accepted if they were recommended by prominent IRA Officers, having helped the IRA during their struggle. Some RIC men had resigned from the Force in the years prior out of sympathy to the Sinn Féin struggle or to even join the ranks of the IRA. Most recruits also used references from their local Parish Priest. Many of the recruits from 1924 onwards were ex-soldiers of the Irish National Army who were being discharged when the Irish Civil War came to an end. Almost 5% of early recruits by May 1922 also served in the IRP (Irish Republican Police). About two-dozen ex-members of the British Army who were veterans of the First World War also joined in 1922, only with references from prominent IRA individuals. When Eoin O’Duffy replaced Michael Staines as Garda Commissioner, he emphasised that the recruits should have an exceptionally high standard of physical fitness. They needed to be between 19 and 27 years of age and unmarried. They had to be at least 5ft 9 inches in height and 36/37 in Chest Measurement. About 40% of the men came from farming backgrounds (similar to the RIC recruits) and labourers at 15%. Roman Catholics also composed of 98% of the Civic Guards The geographical backgrounds of the recruits varied over the years. Between February and May 1922, County Clare made up the highest proportion of the recruits at 12% followed by Counties Galway and Limerick with 8% each. County Cork made up the biggest percentage of origins for recruits in the first decade of the Gardaí, with 8%
followed by Counties Kerry and Mayo at 7% each. Throughout, the six counties of Northern Ireland made up some of the lowest margins of the recruits.

Uniform of the Recruits

As the Civic Guard filled its rank and file with new recruits, it needed a unform that made them distinct to the former Royal Irish Constabulary and proved that they were the new police force of Ireland. John Ireland and son, 13 Ellis's Quay, Dublin, who also had previously made the R.I.C uniform, appears to have made the Civic Guard Uniforms, especially to members stationed in the D.M.A. (Dublin Metropolitan Area) up until 1986. These new uniforms were first seen on recruits at Kildare Barracks in the Summer of 1922. They marched together as a force without the uniforms in during the funeral procession and burial of Frank Lawless TD in April 1922. The first Civic Guard recruits marched under Commissioner Michael Staines into Dublin Castle during the evacuation of the British on 17 August 1922 wearing their new uniforms. An onlooker during the state funeral of Arthur Griffith in August 1922 described how he could see the Civic Guard in their ‘Field Blue Uniform’ keep crowd control.

Acknowledgements:

The idea to examine the genealogical history of the Irish Police in Ireland from 1922 onwards as Civic Guards and DMP to An Garda Síochána was thought of by Michael Reynolds, who has several years of experience in Genealogy and completed an MA in History of the Family at the University of Limerick. Using his own initiative, Michael saw that there was a niche area for Garda Genealogy which is currently not being done and many people in Ireland and around the world want to know about their ancestors. Apart from spearheading and participating in the transcribing process of both registers, he also set up the Facebook group ‘Garda Genealogy and History Ireland’. His passion and interest for history comes from his father, Dr John Reynolds PhD, whose knowledge for Irish Policing History is well-known. Without the following people who kindly volunteered and spent many hours transcribing the Civic Guard and DMP registers, this would have been very difficult to do and would like to thank and acknowledge them: Mary O’Hagan, Seamus Hoare, Rosemary Hartigan, Martha Francis, Joe Doherty, Ber Doherty, Fergus O’Brien, Deborah O’Brien, Michael Regan, Sally Gaynor, Alexa Cahill-Spillane, Michael Craddock. Martina Kiely, Donal Corry, Jenny Ryan, Jim Driscoll, Sean Dieter Eggert. A special thanks to John Dwyer for his assistance also. To all the families whose ancestors were in the early days of the Civic Guards and later DMP that have provided further information and pictures to go with their entries, many thanks. This is really appreciated to help keep memory of their history in the Irish Police in the Irish Free State over a century later and onwards. Many thanks to all the members of Garda Genealogy and History Ireland Facebook Page who have made contributions to increasing awareness in Irish Policing History also. A special thank you to the Garda Síochána Retirement Association (GSRMA) who have kindly given me permission to use content from their Síocháin magazine including pictures and information from obituaries. If anyone does have information and pictures of their Garda Ancestors they wish to share to GSRMA and publish in their Síocháin Magazine, feel free to contact them by email: editor@gardaretired.com

A Special thanks to Hammad Hassan, who did a superb job as a Freelance Website Designer over the past year updating the website display and function to making it user-friendly and more accessible for people. Without him, this website would not be possible (https://www.freelancer.com/u/Hammadhassan21?projectId=36220484).