The Black and Tans () were constables recruited into the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) as reinforcements during the Irish War of Independence.Improving the law Enforcement-Intelligence Community Relationship . National Defense Intelligence College, Washington, D.C. June 2007. p. 120 Recruitment began in Great Britain in January 1920, and about 10,000 men enlisted during the conflict. The majority were unemployed former British soldiers from England, Scotland, and Wales who had fought in the First World War. Some sources count Irish recruits to the RIC from 1920 as "Black and Tans".Padraig Og O Ruairc, Blood on the Banner, The Republican Struggle in Clare, pp. 332–333;
The Black and Tans had a reputation for brutality; they committed murder, arson, and looting and became notorious for reprisal attacks on civilians and civilian property. Their actions further swayed Irish public opinion against British rule and drew condemnation in Britain. The Black and Tans were sometimes confused with the Auxiliary Division, a counterinsurgency unit of the RIC, also recruited during the conflict and made up of former British officers.O'Connell, T. Interrogation and Treatment of republican suspects by the British Auxiliary Forces, 'Black and Tans', January 1921, Irish Historical Documents since 1800, edited by Alan O'Day. Gill and MacMillan. p. 169. At the time, "Black and Tans" was sometimes used for both groups. Another force, the Ulster Special Constabulary (commonly called the "B-Specials"), was founded in 1920 to reinforce the RIC in Northern Ireland.
The British administration in Ireland promoted the idea of bolstering the RIC with British recruits. They were to help the overstretched RIC maintain control and suppress the Irish Republican Army (IRA), although they were less well trained in ordinary police methods. The nickname "Black and Tans" arose from the colours of the improvised uniforms they initially wore, a mixture of dark green RIC (which appeared black) and khaki British Army. They served in all parts of Ireland, but most were sent to southern and western regions where fighting was heaviest. By 1921, for example, the Black and Tans made up almost half of the RIC in County Tipperary.
Name The nickname "Black and Tans" arose from the improvised uniforms they initially wore. Due to a shortage of RIC uniforms, the new recruits were issued with a mixture of dark RIC tunics and caps and khaki army trousers. Local Irish republican Dan Breen said that the nickname was born in the Knocklong area of south Tipperary and east Limerick, where a famous hound pack called the "Black and Tans" had existed for many years. A contributor to the Limerick Echo of 25 March 1920 wrote that meeting a group of recruits on a train at Limerick Junction, the attire of one reminded him of the Scarteen Hunt, whose "Black and Tans" nickname derived from the colours of its Kerry Beagles. A Clare comedian elaborated the joke in Limerick's Theatre Royal and the nickname soon took hold, persisting even after the men received full RIC uniforms.
Some modern sources refer to the Black and Tans as the "RIC Special Reserve"."The burning of Cork, December 1920: the fire service response" . History Ireland, November/December 2015 issue.Reynolds, John. Divided loyalties: the Royal Irish Constabulary in county Tipperary, 1919–22. University of Limerick, 2013. p. 83 However, historians agree that they were not a separate reserve forceD. M. Leeson, The Black and Tans: British Police and Auxiliaries in the Irish War of Independence, 1920–1 (Oxford University Press, 2011) p. 26 but "recruits to the regular RIC"Richard Abbot, Police casualties in Ireland 1919–1921 (2019), p. 81 and "enlisted as regular constabulary".Charles Townshend, The Republic, The Fight for Irish Independence (2013) p. 102 The name "special reserve" has not been found in any historical documents.D. M. Leeson, "Phantom Force: The 'Royal Irish Constabulary Special Reserve,' History Ireland, vol. 30, no. 5 (Sep/Oct 2022):14–15 Canadian historian D. M. Leeson partially blames Wikipedia for promoting this misnomer.
The Irish name for the Black and Tans is na Dúchrónaigh, deriving from dubhchrónach, the Irish word for twilight, which itself derives ultimately from dubh ("black") and crón ("dark yellow/tan"). It is a neologism and was not used in traditional spoken Irish. Definition
As "Black and Tans" was not the official name of any RIC formation, there is some disagreement over which RIC men it should apply to. Some historians, such as David Leeson, Tom Toomey and Jim Herlihy, define "Black and Tans" as only those RIC recruits from Britain during the War of Independence. Leeson argues that British-recruited police received less training, which took place at Gormanston Camp rather than the RIC depot in Phoenix Park. Herlihy says the British-recruited personnel were recruited differently and trained for a shorter time and considers them to have formed a "Special Reserve". Others, such as William Lowe and Seán William Gannon, also count those recruited in Ireland during the conflict as Black and Tans. Gannon argues that records do not show a large difference in training time between British and Irish-recruited personnel, that both wore the black-and-tan uniform, and that they performed identical duties.
Auxiliary Division During the Irish War of Independence (on 27 July 1921), the British government founded the Auxiliary Division of the RIC (ADRIC), which was set up as a mobile strike force to support the RIC. The ADRIC or “Auxies” are sometimes conflated with the "Black and Tans". British politicians also occasionally conflated them at the time. However, while the "Black and Tans" were regular constables, the Auxiliary Division was a paramilitary counterinsurgency force which was operationally independent and composed of former British military officers.Leeson, The Black and Tans, p. 30 Thus, academic sources generally distinguish the Auxiliaries from the "Black and Tans". At least some of the crimes attributed to the Black and Tans were actually the work of the Auxiliaries.
Foundation The early 20th century in Ireland was dominated by Irish nationalists' pursuit of Home Rule from the United Kingdom. The issue of Home Rule was shelved with the outbreak of World War I, and in 1916 Irish republicans staged the Easter Rising against British rule in an attempt to establish an independent republic. Growing support amongst the Irish populace for the republican Sinn Féin party saw it win a majority of Irish seats in the 1918 general election. On 21 January 1919, Sinn Féin followed through on its manifesto and founded an independent Irish parliament (Dáil Éireann), which then declared an independent Irish Republic. The Dáil called on the public to boycott the RIC, while the Irish Republican Army (IRA) began attacking police barracks and ambushing police patrols. In September 1919 David Lloyd George, the British Prime Minister, outlawed the Dáil and augmented the British Army presence in Ireland.In Search of Ireland's Heroes Carmel McCaffrey. Ivan R. Dee. p. 231
After the First World War, there were many unemployed ex-servicemen in Britain. British Unionist leader Walter Long had suggested recruiting these men into the RIC in a May 1919 letter to John French, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.Leeson, The Black and Tans, p. 24 The idea was promoted by French as well as by Frederick Shaw, Commander of the British Army in Ireland. The RIC's Inspector General, Joseph Byrne, was against it. He resisted the militarisation of the police and believed ex-soldiers could not be controlled by police discipline. In December 1919, Byrne was replaced by his deputy T. J. Smith, an Orangeman. On 27 December, Smith issued an order authorising recruitment in Britain. The advertisements appeared in major cities calling for men willing to "face a rough and dangerous task". The first British recruits joined the RIC six days later, on 2 January 1920. By June 1920 the RIC was considered to be under strength while being increasingly threatened. Many RIC members were older men who were forced into living in a state of constant vigilance. The newly appointed 'Police Adviser' to the Dublin Castle administration in Ireland Lieutenant-General Hugh Tudor called for the adding of 4,000 men to the RIC.Riddell, George (1934), Lord Riddell's Intimate Diary of the Peace Conference and After, Reynal & Hitchcock, New York, pg 202.
Recruits
About 10,000 were recruited between January 1920 and the end of the conflict.Coleman, Marie. The Irish Revolution, 1916–1923. Routledge, 2013. p. 70Walsh, Oonagh. Ireland's Independence: 1880–1923. Routledge, 2003. p. 67"RIC and DMP policemen to be commemorated for first time by State" . Irish Times, 1 January 2020. About 100 were recruited each month from January to June 1920. The recruitment rate rose from July, when the RIC was given a large pay raise.Leeson, The Black and Tans, p. 68 The RIC began losing men at a high rate in the summer of 1920, due to the IRA campaign. On an average week, about 100 men resigned or retired while only 76 recruits enlisted to replace them. More police were needed, but enough replacements could not be found in Ireland; on average, the RIC recruited only seven Irishmen per week.Leeson, The Black and Tans, pp. 22–23 The intake of British recruits steadily rose and then surged from late September, following the widely publicised Sack of Balbriggan.
This sudden influx of men led to a shortage of RIC uniforms, and the new recruits were issued with a mixture of dark RIC tunics and caps, and khaki army trousers. These uniforms differentiated them from both the regular RIC and the British Army, and gave rise to their nickname: "Black and Tans".
The new recruits were trained at Gormanstown Camp near Dublin, most spending two or three weeks there before being sent to RIC barracks around the country. In general, the recruits were poorly trained for police duties and received much less training than the existing Irish RIC constables.Leeson, The Black and Tans, pp. 78–79
The vast majority of Black and Tans were unemployed First World War veterans in their twenties, most of whom joined for economic reasons. The RIC offered men good wages, a chance for promotion, and the prospect of a pension.Leeson, The Black and Tans, p. 77 According to historian David Leeson, "The typical Black and Tan was in his early twenties and relatively short in stature. He was an unmarried Protestant from London or the Home Counties who had fought in the British Army [...] He was a working-class man with few skills". The popular Irish claim made at the time that most Black and Tans had criminal records and had been recruited straight from British prisons is incorrect, as a criminal record would disqualify one from working as a policeman.Augusteijn, Joost Review of The Black and Tans: British Police and Auxiliaries in the Irish War of Independence, 1920–1921 by D. M. Leeson pp. 938–940 from The Journal of Modern History, Volume 85, Issue # 4, December 2013 p. 939.
According to Jim Herlihy, author of The Royal Irish Constabulary – A Short History and Genealogical Guide, 10,936 Black and Tans were recruited; the vast majority were born in Britain, while 883 (8%) were "Irish-born". Based on RIC recruitment data stored in the British Public Record Office at Kew, William Lowe, extrapolating from a sample of 2745 (about one quarter), estimates that 20% of Black and Tans were Irish, with just over half of these giving their religion as Catholic.
Deployment and violence