Seamus Woods

Seamus Woods was born in Belfast and prior to becoming active in Irish Republicanism was trained in accounting.McDermott, Jim, (2001), Northern Divisions The Old IRA and the Belfast Porgroms1920-22, BTP Publications, Belfast, pg 28, ISBN 1-900960-11-7 Woods became a senior member of the Belfast Brigade of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) during the Irish War of Independence (1919–1922), commanded a IRA Division during a critical period of warfare and rose to a senior Commander position in the newly formed Irish Free State Army. In 1920 Seamus Woods was already in a leadership role as a Captain in the "radical" B Company of the Belfast Brigade.Lynch, Robert, (2006), The Northern IRA and the Early Years of Partition, Irish Academic Press, Portland, pg 70, ISBN 0-7165-3378-2 
Seamus Woods claimed to have taken part in a number of attacks against the Crown forces that resulted in the deaths of seven policemen in 1921. In 1921 Woods and Roger McCorley were leaders of a very active IRA Active Service Unit in Belfast (consisted of 32 men) which targeted the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) - Auxiliaries and Black and Tans.Lynch pg 74. In March 1922 Seamus Woods was appointed Officer Commanding (O/C) of the Third Northern Division of the IRA, which saw much action in Belfast and east Ulster.Lynch, pg 21. Woods had replaced Joe McKelvey who had been removed from his leadership position by the IRAs General Headquarters (GHQ) due to his opposition to the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 (McKelvey was executed by Free State forces on December 8, 1922). In March 1922 the O/C of the IRAs Second Northern Division Charlie Daly (who was also anti Treaty) was also dismissed by the GHQ.Pheonix, Eamon, (1994), Northern Nationalists, Ulster Historical Foundation, Belfast, pg 218, Daly was also executed by Free State forces (14 March 1923).
==Officer Commanding IRA Third Northern Division==
Seamus Woods commanded the IRAs Third Northern Division (which had up to 1,000 members) during a period of intense intercommunal violence. Woods friend and fellow northern IRA leader Roger McCorley described him as"...worthy of the greatest admiration. He was by nature highly strung but very cool in action. Never, on any occasion, did he try to avoid any operation." Lynch pg 71. Woods claimed he had the "sympathy and support" of the Nationalist minority within Belfast: "...not so much for their national aspirations, and our fight for national freedom, but more on account of the part the army (I.R.A.) had played in defending the minority against organized attacks by uniformed and non-uniformed Crown Forces." Pheonix pg 229. Under Woods and McCorley (and in coordination with members of the Belfast Brigade), the Third Northern Division conducted numerous attacks on RIC barracks. One of the boldest attacks was against the RIC Belfast Headquarters (Musgrave Street Barracks) on May 18, 1922. O/C Woods was quoted on this attack: "The whole Loyalist population is at a loss to know how such a raid could be attempted during curfew hours..."Lynch, pg 144. Multiple IRA attacks also took place in the rural areas of Counties Down and Antrim and when the Northern IRA assassinated a member of the new Northern Parliament (W.J. Twaddell - May 22, 1922) large scale arrests of Irish Republicans occurred. Within hours of Twaddell's assassination, approximately 350 prisoners were taken and internment was introduced with only 12 of the internees being Protestants.Lynch pg 181.Cottrell, Peter, (2008),The Irish Civil War 1922-23, Osprey Pub, Oxford, pg 92, ISBN 139781846032707
==Collapse of Northern IRA, Arrest and move to Leadership Roles in the Free State Army== 
The death of Michael Collins (22 August 1922) dealt a severe blow to the northern IRA. Collins had taken a active interest in reversing the Partition of Ireland and with his death, many northern IRA men felt that their cause was unwinnable. Roger McCorley stated "When Collins was killed the northern element (of the IRA) gave up all hope."McDermott, pg. 266. In November 1923 Woods was arrested and charged with the murder of W.J. Twaddell. While awaiting trial he was interned under brutal conditions on the Prison Ship HMS Argenta in Belfast Lough. The prisoners on the Argenta were often forced to use broken toilets, which overflowed frequently into their communal area. Deprived of tables, the already weakened men ate off the floor, frequently succumbing to disease and illness as a result. There were several hunger strikes, including a major strike involving upwards of 150 men in the winter of 1923.Kleinrichert, Denise, (2001), Republican internment and the prison ship Argenta 1922, Irish Academic Press, pg. 76, ISBN 978-0-7165-2683-4 
Woods was found innocent of the Twaddell murder charge and upon release, he joined McCorley in the newly formed Free State Army where Woods served as a Colonel on GHQ Staff and as the Assistant Chief of Staff. Both Woods and McCorley were severe critics of the newly formed Provisional Governments policy towards the north of Ireland.McDermott, pg 273.As a result of partition being made permanent and the violence of the Irish Civil War, Woods resigned from the Free State Army in 1926 and made a successful career for himself as a businessman in Dublin.McDermott, pg 273.
Category:Irish Republican Army (1919–1922) members
Category:National Army (Ireland) officers
Category:People of the Irish Civil War (Pro-Treaty side)