Back İrlandiya Könüllüləri AZ Voluntaris Irlandesos Catalan Irští dobrovolníci Czech Gwirfoddolwyr Gwyddelig CY Irish Volunteers German Ιρλανδοί Εθελοντές Greek Voluntarios Irlandeses Spanish Irlandar Boluntarioak EU سازمان داوطلبان ایرلندی FA Irlannin vapaaehtoisjoukot Finnish
| Irish Volunteers | |
|---|---|
| Óglaigh na hÉireann | |
 An Irish Volunteer atop a memorial to the Irish War of Independence in Dublin by Leo Broe | |
| Leaders | Eoin MacNeill Éamon de Valera |
| Dates of operation | 1913 onwards |
| Split from | National Volunteers, 1914 |
| Headquarters | Dublin |
| Active regions | Ireland |
| Ideology | Irish nationalism |
| Size | 180,000 (pre-split) 15,000 (post-split) |
| Allies | Irish Citizen Army[1] |
| Opponents | British Army Royal Irish Constabulary[2] |
| Battles and wars | Easter Rising, Irish War of Independence |
| Badge variant |  |
The Irish Volunteers (Irish: Óglaigh na hÉireann), also known as the Irish Volunteer Force or the Irish Volunteer Army,[3][4][5] was a paramilitary organisation established in 1913 by nationalists and republicans in Ireland.[6][7][8] It was ostensibly formed in response to the formation of its Irish unionist/loyalist counterpart 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".[9] Its ranks included members of the Conradh na Gaeilge, Ancient Order of Hibernians, Sinn Féin and the Irish Republican Brotherhood.[10] Increasing rapidly to a strength of nearly 200,000 by mid-1914, it split in September of that year over John Redmond's support for the British war effort during World War I, with the smaller group opposed to Redmond's decision retaining the name "Irish Volunteers".
- ^ "The Irish Citizen Army". BBC.co.uk. Archived from the original on 13 November 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
- ^ "Manuscripts & Archives Research Library - Ashbourne 1916 Memorial". Ireland and the Easter Rising. Trinity College Dublin. 25 August 2015. Archived from the original on 15 December 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
- ^ Gerry White and Brendan O'Shea. Irish Volunteer Soldier 1913-23. Osprey Publishing, 2013. p.10. Quote: "Those wishing to enlist then had to sign the following enrolment form: I, the undersigned, desire to be enrolled for service in Ireland as a member of the Irish Volunteer Force...".
- ^ Doerries, Reinhard. Prelude to the Easter Rising: Sir Roger Casement in Imperial Germany. Routledge, 2014. p.20. Quote: "The message came from Count George Noble Plunkett 'as the delegate sent by the President and Supreme Council of the Irish Volunteer Army'".
- ^ The Irish Volunteer Force/Irish Republican Army (IRA) Archived 3 December 2019 at the Wayback Machine. BBC History.
- ^ Coleman, Marie. The Irish Revolution, 1916-1923. Routledge, 2013. pp. viii, ix, xix, 9
- ^ McCaffrey, Lawrence John. The Irish Question: Two Centuries of Conflict. University Press of Kentucky, 1995. p.129
- ^ Bureau of Military History. Witness Statement 741: Michael J Kehoe, Member Irish Brigade, Germany, 1916 Archived 23 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine. pp. 18, 23, 40, 47, 57, 62
- ^ Foy, Michael; Barton, Brian (2004). The Easter Rising. Sutton Publishing. pp. 7–8. ISBN 0-7509-3433-6.
- ^ William O'Brien and Desmond Ryan (eds.), Devoy's Post Bag, vol. 2, pp. 439-41 (letter from Patrick Pearse to John Devoy, 12 May 1914). Reproduced in National Library of Ireland, The 1916 Rising: Personalities and Perspectives Archived 29 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine, online exhibition, accessed 12 September 2015.