The Bureau of Military History

  On the great insights into life during the Irish War of Independence is the amazing collection of documents which were compiled by the Bureau of Military History in the 1940s and the 1950s. This witness testimonies– a collection of 1,773 witness statements, and which comprises other ancillary documents sheds light on the War in almost every part of Ireland. The archives can be full searched on https://bmh.militaryarchives.ie/

Dipping back into the pages of the Irish Newspaper Archive we can see stories of the origins and demise of the bureau and many stories around it. In July 1948 the Irish Press newspaper provided some news on what to expect from the Bureau:

Some people are apparently under the impression that the Bureau of Military History, 1913-1921, is engaged in the writing of a history, says a statement issued by the Government Information Bureau, which adds that this is not correct.

As explained in the informative leaflet issued by the Bureau, the statement continues, the purpose of the Bureau is not to write the military history of the period; that is a task for historians. Its function is merely to assemble and collate in an objective manner the material from which that history can be written to ensure that that material is as accurate and as comprehensive as possible." A copy of the leaflet will be sent on request to anyone who is interested in this work on application to the Bureau of Military History, 1913-21, 26 Westland Row, Dublin.

These appeals for assistance obviously worked but fast forward some eight years and the Irish Independent in September 1956 carried news the Bureau was to be wound down:

The Bureau of Military Information, which was set up in January, 1947, to assemble and collate material for a history of the Movement lor Independence in Ireland from the formation of the Irish Volunteers in November. 1013, to July 11, 1921, is to be wound up in March by direction of the Government. Since its formation the Bureau has gathered a great amount of material on which the history of the period will be written, and it is expected that an effort will be made to complete the work still to be done before the Bureau closes.

That it most certainly did and from the early 2000s these pages were made available to the general public. What other stories of the Bureau does the INA hold?

For more information search the pages of the Irish Newspaper Archive (www.irishnewsarchive.com )