Royal Irish Constabulary

Thomas Fennell provides an account, previously unpublished, of life in the Royal Irish Constabulary during the turbulent 30-year period, 1875-1905. His early accounts begin during the Land Wars, and continue up to the Irish War of Independence, although by that time he was no longer serving in the force himself. Fennell was always an ardent nationalist, conscious that the RIC was a conservative body, supporting the Ascendancy and the landowning class. He criticises the repressive behaviour of the large police force dispersed in the countryside in some of its day-to-day activities. Yet he retained a loyalty to the force and explains that during the Land War the population at large understood that the police were carrying out work which they often found distasteful.