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The 1917-1921 Miniature Service Medal
As with all other miniature medals the miniature service medal was not
awarded with the full size medal but had to be purchased by the
recipient. Medals with pin bars are as common as those without and the
makers name is usually stamped on the back of the COMRAC bar rather than
the pin bar. The miniature medals were supposed to be purchased from a
Ministry of Defence approved jeweller, QUINN being one of those approved
jewellers
The full size medal was awarded to those who were deemed to have taken part in
the Irish War of Independence. There were two types of medal with Comrac
bar issued, named and un-named. Named medals were issued to those
Killed in Action or who had died between the end of the war and the
issuing of the medals in 1941. There is no difference in design between
named and un-named medals. COMRAC is Gaelic for Struggle.
The
Irish Volunteers (Irish: Óglaigh na hÉireann), Irish Volunteer Army was
a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists. It
was ostensibly formed in response to the formation of the Ulster
Volunteers in 1912, and its declared primary aim was "to secure and
maintain the rights and liberties common to the whole people of
Ireland". The Volunteers included members of the Gaelic League, Ancient
Order of Hibernians and Sinn Féin, and, secretly, the Irish Republican
Brotherhood (IRB). Increasing rapidly to a strength of nearly 200,000 by
mid-1914, it split in September of that year over John Redmond's
commitment to the British War effort, with the smaller group retaining
the name of "Irish Volunteers". The Irish Volunteers fought for Irish
independence in the Easter Rising of 1916, alongside the Irish Citizen
Army, Cumann na mBan, and Fianna Éireann. From 1919 it took part in the
Irish War of Independence, becoming known as the Irish Republican Army
or the IRA.
The Easter Rising (Irish: Éirí Amach na Cásca), also
known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland
during Easter Week, April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish
republicans to end British rule in Ireland and establish an independent
Irish Republic while the United Kingdom was heavily engaged in the First
World War. It was the most significant uprising in Ireland since the
rebellion of 1798, the first armed action of the Irish revolutionary
period.
Organised by a seven-man Military Council of the Irish
Republican Brotherhood, the Rising began on Easter Monday, 24 April
1916, and lasted for six days. Members of the Irish Volunteers " led by
schoolmaster and Irish language activist Patrick Pearse, joined by the
smaller Irish Citizen Army of James Connolly and 200 women of Cumann na
mBan " seized key locations in Dublin and proclaimed an Irish Republic.
The British Army brought in thousands of reinforcements as well as
artillery and a gunboat. There was fierce street fighting on the routes
into the city centre, where the rebels put up stiff resistance, slowing
the British advance and inflicting heavy casualties. Elsewhere in
Dublin, the fighting mainly consisted of sniping and long-range gun
battles. The main rebel positions were gradually surrounded and
bombarded with artillery. There were isolated actions in other parts of
Ireland, with attacks on the Royal Irish Constabulary barracks at
Ashbourne, County Meath and in County Galway, and the seizure of the
town of Enniscorthy, County Wexford. Germany agreed to send an arms
shipment to the rebels, but the British had intercepted it just before
the Rising began. Volunteer leader Eoin MacNeill had then issued a
countermand in a bid to halt the Rising, which greatly reduced the
number of rebels who mobilised.
With much greater numbers and
heavier weapons, the British Army suppressed the Rising. Pearse agreed
to an unconditional surrender on Saturday 29 April, although sporadic
fighting continued until Sunday, when word reached the other rebel
positions. After the surrender the country remained under martial law.
About 3,500 people were taken prisoner by the British, many of whom had
played no part in the Rising, and 1,800 of them were sent to internment
camps or prisons in Britain. Most of the leaders of the Rising were
executed following courts-martial. The Rising brought physical force
republicanism back to the forefront of Irish politics, which for nearly
50 years had been dominated by constitutional nationalism. It, and the
British reaction to it, led to increased popular support for Irish
independence. In December 1918, republicans, represented by the
reconstituted Sinn Féin party, won a landslide victory in the general
election to the British Parliament. They did not take their seats, but
instead convened the First Dáil and declared the independence of the
Irish Republic, which led to the War of Independence.
Almost 500
people were killed in the Easter Rising. About 54% were civilians, 30%
were British military and police, and 16% were Irish rebels. More than
2,600 were wounded. Many of the civilians were killed as a result of the
British using artillery and heavy machine guns, or mistaking civilians
for rebels. Others were caught in the crossfire in a crowded city. The
shelling and the fires it caused left parts of inner city Dublin in
ruins.