Commemoration of Burning the Custom House Last Symbol of British Civil Administration in Ireland

Last week in Dublin a commemoration was held to mark the centenary of burning the Custom House, the last symbol of British civil administration in Ireland. The Irish struggle for independence from English colonial rule has been long and hard and taken  many centuries. Albeit that a section in the northeast of the island of Ireland continues to remain under colonial rule. As Seán MacBride (26 January 1904 – 15 January 1988) recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1974 observed: ``The historical and contemporary existence of the Irish nation has never been in dispute. For centuries, Britain has sought to conquer, dominate and rule Ireland. For centuries, the Irish people have sought to free Ireland from British rule. Britain, a large, powerful and ruthless colonial power, was able to defeat the numerous and sustained efforts of the Irish people to liberate themselves. In the course of the 19th century, as a result of British oppression and famine, the population of Ireland was halved."

During the Irish War of Independence (1919 - 1921) a significant act that garnered international publicity for the Irish cause against British rule in Ireland was the burning of the Custom House on 25th May 1921. The Custom House was of great administrative significance to the British civil service in Ireland. It held all local government records, including tax files for the country as well as other government departments. Plans to burn it down had been made for three months prior to May 25th, when IRA volunteers stormed the central hall. The Custom House was viewed by many as the last symbol of British civil administration in Ireland. The aim of the Republicans was to make the country ungovernable. They had already successfully carried out attacks over the previous year on local tax offices in Ireland. So that the only copies of the Income Tax records were in one place, which was the Custom House. This attack on the British administration in Ireland made international headlines and drew attention to those not aware of it already, that the British days in Ireland were numbered. Although there continues to be controvesy about the cost in lives of the attack itself in which five Volunteers were killed along with four civilians in the gun battle.

Image: Ruins of the Custom house image courtesy of National Library of Ireland.