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After seeing that most of Ireland supported Sinn Féin, the Unionist majority in Northern Ireland wanted the six north-eastern counties for themselves.

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The War of Independence  began on the 21st of January 1919.
This was also the same day that the first Dáil met in Dublin.
On this day, a group of IRA men led by Dan Breen and Sean Tracey attacked a police patrol in Soloheadbeg in County Tipperary. They killed two RIC men and took their weapons, as well as some explosives that they were guarding.

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Dáil Éireann had declared declared the Irish Volunteers to be the official army of the Irish Republic and named them the Irish Republican Army (IRA)

By 1920, heavily armed British forces outnumbered by at least four to one. But the IRA had some advantages over the British.

Many local people fed and hid IRA members in 'safe houses

Local people helped the IRA use guerrilla tactics very successfully. IRA fighters were organised

Micheal Collins directed IRA intelligence. He organised a spy network which penetrated into the heart of British Headquarters at Dublin Castle.

Micheal Collins also controlled a group of twelve men called the 'Squad', who assassinated British spies.

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The Black and Tans were ex-soldiers who fought in World War 1. The Auxiliaries were mostly British officers in World War 1. They killed and tortured suspected Ira members or sympathisers.

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Britain agreed to end the fighting on Irish terms. Their terms were that 26 counties were given to the Irish Free State and 6 counties in Ulster were to be kept by Great Britain