The War for Independence was fought both politically and militarily. The English were losing the international propaganda war especially in the US. A newly created illegal Irish government was created in Dublin. It was lead by the American born Emanon DeVelera. DeVelera took part in the 1916 Rising and was sentenced to death. However, his life was spared because he was a US national of Irish and Spanish ancestry. The British gave him a reprieve because of the fear of further anti British backlash especially from the US.
In 1922 Ireland was partitioned. Instead of all nine provinces of Ulster, the British took six and created Northern Ireland. The British had to resort to manipulation to keep a toehold in Ireland. This posturing became known as gerrymandering. If they were to include all of Ulster, they would have most likely lost the election.
In the two years leading up to the creation of the Irish Free State 400 Catholics were murdered and 1,200 were injured by loyalists. Not one loyalist was prosecuted. David Lloyd George, then Prime Minister of Britain, brought this publicly to the attention of the British parliament. However, the Parliament gave total control to the Protestants along with a huge well-armed police force. There was wide spread discrimination against Catholics in all matters. Catholics were not allowed to own a gun; they were discriminated against in both civil and private employment. Moreover, they were discriminated in areas of housing, public appointment, and local authority. The Protestants made sure that the Catholics remained weak and under represented by gerrymandering elections. However, this would not last for long. The Catholics in the North were no longer willing to permit themselves to be treated like second-class citizens in their own country.
