Irish Republican Police membership card, Limerick, 1921

Irish Republican Police membership card, Limerick, 1921

This Irish Republican Police membership card is a blank example of the type issued to the area under the East Limerick Brigade, IRA, in 1921. The Irish Republican Police was established by Richard Mulcahy, then Chief of Staff of the IRA in April 1920, and was to have been set up in every Brigade area. Its primary functions were to support Dáil Éireann and the Dáil Courts, and as such were part of the system to undermine British authority in Ireland.