21st January 1919
War of Independence begins
Two policemen in Co. Tipperary were shot by the Irish Republican Army (IRA), a military organisation formed from the remnants of the Irish Volunteers. This act has come to be seen as the start of the Irish War of Independence, fought between the IRA and the British forces in Ireland.
The war lasted for over two years and consisted of ambushes by the IRA on the police and British troops, with reprisals from the British.
