LAW ENFORCEMENT IN
IRELAND BEFORE THE
GARDA SÍOCHÁNA
Part 2
Sir Robert Peel (Chief Secretary in Ireland
1812-1818) attempted to improve the situation with the creation of the "Peace Preservation Force" in 1814. The PPF and could be sent to
any part of Ireland to control areas in a "state of disturbance". Without set uniforms many of the PPF, many of whom were ex-militia or
ex-soldiers after returning from the Napoleonic Wars, donned the uniforms of their former military units while performing their policing
duties. This practice of wearing their military uniforms for policing duties continued until 1828 when a standard uniform was issued to
the County Constabulary.  The military influence on police
uniforms of the day can be seen from the illustration of the elegant Dublin Horse Police uniform of the 1820s which resembled that worn
by the Light Dragoons.  The Constabulary Act of 1822 created
four provincial police forces, known as the County Constabulary, with depots in North (Armagh), East (Daingean), Ballinrobe (West) and
Ballincollig (South). The F. Glenn Thompson illustration of a County Constabulary Cadet is based on a miniature painting of Louis Anderson
who was appointed as a Cadet to the mounted branch of the County Constabulary in 1822. The uniform contains certain Light Cavalry
characteristics in the pickers and chain worn on the pouch belt. The County Constabulary were issued a standard uniform in 1828.
The Constabulary (Ireland) Act, 1836, introduced by Thomas Drummond, Under
Secretary for Ireland, centralised the police forces (with about 5,000 men) under the direct control of a Inspector-General in Dublin
Castle with a standard code of regulations and became known as the 'The Constabulary of Ireland'.
A year later the first "Irish
Constabulary Code" was published with a comprehensive code of discipline and regulations and decreed that the standard colour of the
uniform would be rifle green. The new force did not have jurisdiction in Dublin, Belfast and Derry, who had their own police forces.
Following serious sectarian violence the Belfast Borough Police (Belfast Bulkies) was abolished in 1865 and replaced by the Irish
Constabulary. The Londonderry Borough Police ("Horney Dicks" perhaps due to the bone reinforcements in their top hats) were disbanded
in 1869 and replaced by the Royal Irish Constabulary following an inquiry into the deaths of two Apprentice Boys who were killed in
riots during the visit of Prince Arthur. The Revenue Police was formed in 1832 to enforce the unpopular excise laws.
The R.I.C. was later given the Revenue Police's unpopular work when the two forces were amalgamated with the R.I.C in 1857.
A Royal Irish Constabulary officer, G. Garrow Green, described his first taste of poitín, "In the Irish Constabulary"
(Hogges, Figgis & Co. Ltd.) as; - "What an aromatic peaty flavour it had and a consistency almost like a liqueur not thin like the legal
article. It was the brew of the purest and slightly over proof, as I had abundant proof of next morning, not being addicted to strong
waters". In 1839 a Reserve Force of 200 men was created for assignment by the Inspector General to assist the
Irish Constabulary in any part of Ireland. The Depot at the Phoenix Park was built to house the Reserve Force and as a training centre
for the Irish Constabulary replacing the four provincial training centres. The Depot also later housed a riding school and the Irish
Constabulary Band (1861).
The Force grew to over 8,600 men in 1841 and gradually began to have its effect on law and order with
the quashing of William Smith O'Brien's Young Ireland rebellion of 1848 without military support.
In 1867 the Irish Constabulary were granted the title of 'Royal' by Queen Victoria for their
part in suppressing the 1867 Fenian Rising, and so became the first "Royal" police force in the British Empire. Queen Victoria also
granted the "Royal Irish Constabulary" the harp, crown and shamrocks of "The Most Illustrious Order of St. Patrick".
-> CONTINUED ->
These illustrations are reproduced here by kind permission of the artist F. Glenn Thompson.
and Brendan Colvert (Editor of the IPA Journal) in whose magazine these illustrations first appeared.
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