Blueshirts
Irish Free State paramilitary organisation / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Army Comrades Association (ACA), later the National Guard, then Young Ireland[lower-alpha 1] and finally League of Youth, but best known by the nickname the Blueshirts (Irish: Na Léinte Gorma), was a paramilitary organisation in the Irish Free State, founded as the Army Comrades Association in Dublin on 9 February 1932.[7] The group provided physical protection for political groups such as Cumann na nGaedheal from intimidation and attacks by the IRA.[8] Some former members went on to fight for the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War after the group had been dissolved.
Army Comrades Association | |
---|---|
Also known as | Blueshirts |
Leader | Ned Cronin[1] Eoin O'Duffy[2] Thomas F. O'Higgins Ernest Blythe |
Foundation | 9 February 1932; 92 years ago (9 February 1932) |
Dissolved | 1935; 89 years ago (1935) |
Merged into | Fine Gael (pro-Cronin faction) |
Country | Irish Free State |
Newspaper | The Nation |
Ideology | Irish nationalism Integral nationalism Corporate statism[3] National Catholicism[4] |
Political position | Far-right[5] |
Size | 8,337 (October 1932) 38,000 (March 1934) 48,000 (peak; August 1934) 4,000 (September 1935)[6] |
Flag | |
Most of the political parties whose meetings the Blueshirts protected would merge to become Fine Gael, and members of that party are still sometimes nicknamed "Blueshirts".[9] There has been considerable debate in Irish historiography over whether or not it is accurate to describe the Blueshirts as fascists.[9]