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Irish Free State troops
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Irish Free State troops
Irish Free State troops " taking over" from the British soldiers in Southern Ireland: the change of the sentries at Viceregal Lodge, Dublin. Date: 1922
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Media ID 14410081
© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans
Dublin Free Lodge Oct16 Sentries Viceregal 1922
EDITORS COMMENTS
This evocative photograph captures the symbolic moment of the transfer of power from British to Irish Free State troops during the historic change of sentries at Viceregal Lodge in Dublin on October 16, 1922. The Viceregal Lodge, formerly the residence of the British Governor-General, had become the seat of the new Irish Free State government following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in December 1921. In the image, a determined Irish Free State officer takes the place of a British soldier, marking the formal handover of responsibility for the security of the Viceregal Lodge and the city of Dublin. The British soldier, clad in his distinctive red coat and bearskin hat, looks on with a mixture of resignation and relief, as his Irish counterpart, dressed in the green tunic and peaked cap of the Irish National Army, assumes his position. The scene is a poignant reminder of the tumultuous political transition that was taking place in Southern Ireland at the time. The Irish War of Independence, which had raged from 1919 to 1921, had culminated in the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, which granted Ireland limited self-governance while maintaining the British monarchy's dominion over certain matters. The establishment of the Irish Free State marked the end of British rule in Southern Ireland and the beginning of a new era of Irish independence. Despite the significance of the moment, the change of sentries at Viceregal Lodge passed relatively peacefully, with few incidents reported. The photograph stands as a testament to the complex and often fraught history of Ireland's struggle for self-determination and the eventual achievement of independence.
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