Another red letter day

The Government tells us that December 15th is a “red letter” day, the day the troika evacuates and our sovereignty is restored. It is also the anniversary of another evacuation that happened 91 years ago. In mid-December 1922, the remaining British troops in Dublin sailed away and a military connection that went back to Henry II in 1172 came to an end.

The symbolic departure of the troops following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty had taken place on January 31st with the hand over of Beggar’s Bush barracks to the National Army, but most of them remained in other barracks and on June 3rd more than 9,000 paraded in the Phoenix Park to celebrate the birthday of King George. The provisional government didn’t press for their departure and during the year they provided a considerable amount of ordnance including the 18 pounder guns used to shell the Four Courts.

The British government was equally slow to bring its men home because of the possible need to re-assert imperial authority in southern Ireland if the fledgling government in Dublin was overwhelmed by the “irregulars” and the area descended into chaos. On June 23rd, the officer commanding in Ireland, Gen Nevil Macready, received an order to seize the Four Courts, but he wisely delayed acting and it was rescinded two days later when wiser counsels prevailed. However, once the Irish Free State had come into formal existence on December 6th and Northern Ireland had opted out on December 7th, the future of Ireland seemed to be settled and the evacuation of the remaining 5,500 men couldn’t be delayed much longer. A four-day period commencing on December 14th was chosen, not from considerations of high politics but for the banal reason that later dates would cause difficulties for the railway companies in England as the Christmas rush began. A final parade and service were held in the chapel of the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham on Sunday, December 10th, and the regimental colours were taken down for transport to London.

On Thursday, December 14th, men from the Richmond and Island Bridge barracks marched to their ships at the North Wall with colours flying while an armoured car unit provided protection.

On December 15th, men from the Welsh, Lancashire,and Northampton regiments billeted in the Phoenix Park and in Marlborough barracks departed. At O'Connell Bridge they were cheered by a crowd and a band played Auld Lang Syne. The following day, Macready said goodbye to the pensioners in the Royal Hospital.

On December 17th, the Union flag was lowered at the hospital and Macready went to review the final contingent of troops as they left the Royal (later Collins) barracks. He then motored to Kingstown where he received a 17-gun salute and joined Admiral Cecil Fox, the Sligo born naval commander in the area, on board a cruiser HMS Dragon to sail home to England and retirement.

Meanwhile, the troops, 3,500 men mostly from the Leicester, Worchester and Border regiments, marched to the port. At Beresford Place they were greeted by 500 members of the Legion of Irish Ex-Servicemen, in civilian clothes but wearing their decorations. Thousands of other people lined the quays and the armoured cars and the DMP stood by, but there was no trouble. Embarkation on to six ships began around 1.15pm. At 3.10pm, the last one to leave, the steamer Arvonia chartered from the London and North Western Railway, weighed anchor while a band on deck played God Save the King and a crowd broke into the North Wall Extension to wave a final farewell as it entered Alexandra Basin. A writer in this newspaper recorded that "not one note of discord marred the happy harmony".

Then, the armoured cars drove north to Ulster and the evacuation of Irish Free State (apart from the Treaty ports) was over. Gen Richard Mulcahy, who took over the Royal barracks that day, claimed “the incubus of occupation that has lain as a heavy hand on the country for years has been removed” – words that wouldn’t sound out of place in a different context today.

In his memoirs, Macready expressed annoyance that a photograph of Fox and himself published on December 18th (in The Irish Times) had the caption "two gallant Irishmen". Although he had an Irish grandfather, he cordially loathed this country.

The British left fully outfitted barracks to the Irish Army and artifacts including a large card in the Headquarters in Parkgate Street printed with the admonition: LOVE ONE ANOTHER.