Would the war have been longer or shorter?
The Black and Tans were not recruited until the end of 1919 because of the opposition of the Inspector General of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), Sir Joseph Byrne. The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Field-Marshal Viscount French, had been pressing for the recruitment of recruits from Britain into the RIC for months against Byrne's dogged resistance. Byrne's opposition was not only on principle, but also because the likely recruits would be 'war veterans who might not be controllable by the RIC's disciplinary code.' (1)
Byrne was 'ordered to go on leave for the benefit of his health. (He was not keen to quit and demanded a colonial governship as the price of his departure.)' (1) The first British recruits to the RIC arrived early in January 1920.
(1) Quotations and information taken from the book The Republic: The Fight for Irish Independence, 1918-1923 , by Charles Townshend, London: Penguin Books, 2013.
The Black and Tans were not recruited until the end of 1919 because of the opposition of the Inspector General of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), Sir Joseph Byrne. The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Field-Marshal Viscount French, had been pressing for the recruitment of recruits from Britain into the RIC for months against Byrne's dogged resistance. Byrne's opposition was not only on principle, but also because the likely recruits would be 'war veterans who might not be controllable by the RIC's disciplinary code.' (1)
Byrne was 'ordered to go on leave for the benefit of his health. (He was not keen to quit and demanded a colonial governship as the price of his departure.)' (1) The first British recruits to the RIC arrived early in January 1920.
(1) Quotations and information taken from the book The Republic: The Fight for Irish Independence, 1918-1923 , by Charles Townshend, London: Penguin Books, 2013.