History Glossary
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Infantry
foot soldiers in an army.
Informer
a person who gives information about an organisation (usually secret and illegal) to the government because he/she disapproves of that organisation, or gets money for doing it. Also, the IRA between 1920 and 1921 had informers in British government service who told Michael Collins what was being planned.
Insurgent
a rebel, someone who takes up arms against the government.
Insurrection
another word for a rebellion.
Internment
imprisonment without trial. In 1916 those who had taken part in the Easter Rising, and other suspects, were interned in a camp in north Wales and elsewhere. The Northern Ireland government interned IRA suspects in 1922, during the IRA ‘fifties’ campaign (1956-62) and again in 1971. Dublin governments interned suspects during the Civil War (1922-3), during the Second World War (1939-45) and during the IRA ‘fifties’ campaign.
IRA
the Irish Republican Army, formed in 1920, to fight British security forces. The movement split in 1922 over the 1921 Treaty. After the Civil War (1922-3) most in the IRA gave up the armed struggle but a smaller organisation remained active. In 1956-62 the IRA launched a campaign along the border. In 1969-70 the IRA split into the Provisional IRA and the Official IRA.
IRB
the Irish Republican Brotherhood formed in Dublin in 1858. Better known as the Fenians, members organised a rebellion in 1867. The IRB revived in the early 20th century (financed by its sister American body, Clan na Gael) and its leadership (called the Supreme Council) was mainly responsible for organising the 1916 rebellion.
Irish Citizen Army
formed by workers during a great strike in Dublin in 1913-4, to protect strikers from the batons of the Dublin Metropolitan Police. Led at first by Captain Jack White of Ballymena, it was taken over by James Connolly who joined the IRB and Irish Volunteers in the 1916 Easter Rising.