Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army

Several people are reported to have served as Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army () in the organisations bearing that name. Due to the clandestine nature of these organisations, this list is not definitive.

Chiefs of Staff of the Irish Republican Army (1917–1922)

ImageName Assumed positionLeft positionSourceCathal Brugha27 October 191723 March 1918Aengus Ó Snodaigh, "IRA Convention meets", An Phoblacht/Republican News, 11 May 2000.Richard Mulcahy23 March 191815 January 1922Maryann Gialanella V, Portrait of a Revolutionary. General Richard Mulcahy and the Founding of the Irish Free State, Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1992. Eoin O'Duffy15 January 1922July 1922 From this point on, this lineage diverts to Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces

a. Chairman of the Resident Executive

Chiefs of Staff of the (anti-Treaty) Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)

ImageName Assumed positionLeft positionSourceLiam Lynch (1st time)26 March 192218 June 1922Meda Ryan, The Real Chief: Liam Lynch, Cork: Mercier, 2005. Joe McKelvey18 June 192230 June 1922Paul V. Walsh, The Irish Civil War, 1922-1923 Liam Lynch (2nd time)30 June 192210 April 1923Frank Aiken20 April 192312 November 1925Henry Boylan, A Dictionary of Irish Biography, Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 1998.Andrew Cooney12 November 1925July 1926"Student Radicals ", in: High Ball, February 2002.Maurice (Moss) Twomey1926 (acting)1927 (official)June 1936Brian Hanley, The IRA: 1926-36, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2002. Seán MacBrideJune 19361937Dictionary of irish BiographySeán MacBride That Day's Struggle. A Memoir, ed. Caitríona Lawlor, Dublin: Currach Press, 2005. Tom Barry19371937Mick Fitzpatrick19371938 Seán Russell1938April 1939Stephen HayesApril 193930 June 1941Dáil Debates , 7 July 1943.Pearse Kelly (aka Paul Kelso)194127 November 1941Seán HarringtonAft. November 194110 February 1942 The Irish Press, 07 March 1942Seán McCool10 February 1942 14 August 1942Thorne, Pg. 279Eoin McNamee March 1942 May 1942Tim Pat Coogan, The IRA A History, Niwot: Roberts Rinehart Publishers, 1993. Hugh McAteer19 July 194212 October 1942Thorne, Pgs. 297-298Charlie KerinsOctober 194216 June 1944Thorne, Pgs. 301-302Position vacant for some months16 June 19441944Harry White19441945Thorne, Pgs.319-320Patrick Fleming1 March 19451947?J. Bowyer Bell, The Secret Army: The IRA, Somerset: Transaction Publishers, 1997. Willie McGuinness19471948?J. Bowyer Bell, The Secret Army: The IRA, Somerset: Transaction Publishers, 1997. . See also "Bodenstown: IRA GHQ reorganised", Saoirse, June 1997.Tony Magan (1st time)November 19486 July 1957J. Bowyer Bell, The Secret Army: The IRA, Somerset: Transaction Publishers, 1997.Richard BurkeJanuary 1957May 1957"Arrests, Collaboration, Victimisation" , in Saoirse, May 2007, p. 16Tony Magan (2nd time)May 19576 July 1957 J. Bowyer Bell, The Secret Army: The IRA, Somerset: Transaction Publishers, 1997. Magan's tenure ended with his arrest in Dublin. The IRA adjutant-general as well as members of the Army Council were also arrested. See Dáil Debates , 6 November 1957.Seán Cronin (1st time)July 1957 (acting)11 November 1957 (official) October 1958Robert W. White, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh: The Life and Politics of an Irish Revolutionary, Bloomington/Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2006, , pp. 85–6.John Joe McGirlOctober 195824 October 1958Named as such by prominent republican, Owen Carron, in a letter entitled Deireadh Seachtaine John Joe McGirl, An Phoblacht/Republican News, 31 July 1997. See also: J. Bowyer Bell, The Secret Army: The IRA, Somerset: Transaction Publishers, 1997, p. 322.Ruairí Ó Brádaigh (1st time)24 October 1958Late May 1959By his own admission, see Saoirse interview Revolt in the North 1956-62 . See also: Robert W. White, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh: The Life and Politics of an Irish Revolutionary, Bloomington/Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2006, , p. 89.Seán Cronin (2nd time)Late May 1959June 1960Robert W. White, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh: The Life and Politics of an Irish Revolutionary, Bloomington/Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2006, , p. 98.]Ruairí Ó Brádaigh (2nd time)Summer 19607 September 1962Robert W. White, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh: The Life and Politics of an Irish Revolutionary, Bloomington/Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2006, , pp. 98–9, 114.]Cathal Goulding7 September 1962December 1969Robert W. White, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh: The Life and Politics of an Irish Revolutionary, Bloomington/Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2006, , pp. 114.]

At an IRA General Army Convention held at Knockvicar House in Boyle, County Roscommon in December 1969, the IRA split into two factions, the majority Official IRA and the minority Provisional IRA.

Chiefs of Staff of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (1969–2005)

ImageName Assumed positionLeft positionSourceSeán Mac StíofáinDecember 196919 November 1972Confirmed by Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, see "Outstanding IRA leader and giant of a man in the Republican Movement", and "Seán Mac Stíofáin -- a tribute", Saoirse, June 2001. See also: Ed Moloney, A Secret History of the IRA, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2003. Joe CahillNovember 1972March 1973Ed Moloney, A Secret History of the IRA, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2003. Seamus Twomey (1st time)March 1973June 1973Éamonn O'DohertyJune 1973June/July 1974Ed Moloney, A Secret History of the IRA, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2003. . Confirmed in obituary, Saoirse, December 1999. Seamus Twomey (2nd time)June/July 1974December 1977Gerry Adams3 December 197718 February 1978Ed Moloney, A Secret History of the IRA, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2003. . Adams denies he was Chief of Staff at any time. "IRA Expert Ed Moloney to Speak On Campus Nov. 20" , Boston Chronicle, 14 November 2002. Martin McGuinness1978Autumn 1982Ivor BellAutumn 1982September 1983Kevin McKennaSeptember 1983October 1997Thomas "Slab" MurphyOctober 19971998Brian Keenan19982002 or May 2008Sean “Spike” MurrayMay 2008Incumbent a. Some noted Irish and British historians, including Ed Moloney, author of A Secret History of the IRA, have claimed that Gerry Adams has been part of the IRA leadership. Adams has always denied IRA membership, let alone being chief of staff."IRA Expert Ed Moloney to Speak On Campus Nov. 20" , Boston Chronicle, 14 November 2002.

b. Although he admitted in his lifetime to IRA membership, he denied ever being Chief of Staff

Chiefs of Staff of the Official Irish Republican Army (1969–present)

ImageName Assumed PositionLeft PositionSourceCathal GouldingDecember 1969Summer 1976Sean GarlandSummer 1976

a. Hanley and Millar (2010) wrote: Goulding was "replaced by Garland after an Army Council vote in summer 1976. Long dismissive of the IRA's titles and formal military structure, Garland was reluctant to adopt the title of Chief of Staff; but he was now undoubtedly in charge".

Chiefs of Staff of the Continuity Irish Republican Army (1986–present)

ImageName Assumed PositionLeft PositionSourceDáithí Ó Conaill19861991"CIRA bomb adds to growing crisis in the peace process ", Irish Examiner, 7 July 2000.

Chiefs of Staff of the Real Irish Republican Army (1997–present)

ImageName Assumed PositionLeft PositionSourceMichael McKevitt19982002Aidan O'Driscoll

See also Irish Republican Army IRA Quartermaster General IRA Director of Intelligence

References