Question: The Protestant Action Group or Loyalist Action Group was a secret loyalist vigilante group active in County Cork during the Irish War of Independence, the group helped British forces by gathering intelligence on the Irish Republican Army (IRA), is any of several armed movements in Ireland in the 20th and 21st centuries dedicated to Irish republicanism, the belief that all of which country, should be an independent republic?

Context articles: Irish Republican Army (1922–69)
Irish Republican Army (1919–1922)
Ulster Defence Association
Protestant Action Group
Irish Republican Army (disambiguation)
Cairo Gang
Crossbarry Ambush
Irish Republican Army
Burning of Cork
Joe Cahill

The original Irish Republican Army (IRA) fought a guerrilla war against British rule in Ireland in the Irish War of Independence between 1919 and 1921.
 Following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty on 6 December 1921, the IRA in the 26 counties that were to become the Irish Free State split between supporters and opponents of the Treaty.
 The anti-Treatyites, sometimes referred to by Free State forces as Irregulars, continued to use the name Irish Republican Army (IRA) or in Irish Óglaigh na hÉireann, as did the organisation in Northern Ireland which originally supported the pro-Treaty side (if not the Treaty). "
Óglaigh na hÉireann" was also adopted as the name of the pro-Treaty National Army, and remains the official legal title of the Irish Defence Forces.
 This article deals with the anti-Treaty IRA that fought against the Irish Free State in the Irish Civil War, and with its successors up to 1969, when the IRA split again.
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) (Irish: "Óglaigh na hÉireann" ) was an Irish republican revolutionary paramilitary organisation.
 The ancestor to many groups also known as the Irish Republican Army, it was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916.
 In 1919, the Irish Republic that had been proclaimed during the Easter Rising was formally established by an elected assembly (Dáil Éireann), and the Irish Volunteers were recognised by Dáil Éireann as its legitimate army.
 Thereafter, the IRA waged a guerrilla campaign against the British occupation of Ireland in the 1919–21 Irish War of Independence.
The Ulster Defence Association (abbreviated UDA) is the largest Ulster loyalist paramilitary and vigilante group in Northern Ireland.
 It was formed in September 1971 and undertook a campaign of almost twenty-four years during the Troubles.
 For most of this time it was a legal organisation.
 Its declared goal was to defend Ulster Protestant loyalist areas and to combat Irish republicanism, particularly the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA).
 In the 1970s, uniformed UDA members openly patrolled these areas armed with batons and held large marches and rallies.
 Within the UDA was a group tasked with launching paramilitary attacks; it used the covername Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) so that the UDA would not be outlawed.
 The British government outlawed the "UFF" in November 1973, but the UDA itself was not proscribed as a terrorist group until August 1992.
The Protestant Action Group or Loyalist Action Group was a secret loyalist vigilante group active in County Cork during the Irish War of Independence.
 It was made up of local Protestant unionists who opposed Irish republicanism.
 The group helped British forces by gathering intelligence on the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and local republicans.
 It is also alleged to have been involved in the killing of several republicans, most notably the Coffey brothers, who were shot in their home in Enniskean in February 1921.
 That year, the IRA found intelligence documents belonging to the British Auxiliary Division in Dunmanway, which apparently confirmed the existence of the group, and included a list of names of informers.
 This resulted in many informers being granted safe passage and protection in England by the British government.
 During the conflict, the local IRA brigade executed 15 informers, six of whom were Protestants.
 In April 1922, after a truce had come into effect, IRA members shot dead 13 Protestants in the Dunmanway area.
 It was claimed they were members of the Action Group, but this is disputed.
The Irish Republican Army is any of several armed movements dedicated to Irish republicanism.
The Cairo Gang was a group of British intelligence agents who were sent to Dublin during the Irish War of Independence to conduct intelligence operations against prominent members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) – according to Irish intelligence with the intention of assassinating them.
 Twelve men including British Army officers, Royal Irish Constabulary officers and a civilian informant were killed on the morning of 21 November 1920 by the Irish Republican Army in a planned series of simultaneous early-morning strikes engineered by Michael Collins.
 The events were the first killings of Bloody Sunday.
The Crossbarry Ambush occurred on 19 March 1921 and was one of the largest engagements of the Irish War of Independence.
 It took place at the rural crossroads of Crossbarry in County Cork, about 20 km south-west of Cork city.
 About a hundred Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteers escaped an attempt by more than 1,300 British troops to encircle them.
 During the hour-long battle, between 10 and 40 British troops and three to six IRA volunteers were killed.
 The ambush is one of the few rare large battles during the war where the British forces, rather than the IRA, initiated the engagement.
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is any of several armed movements in Ireland in the 20th and 21st centuries dedicated to Irish republicanism, the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic.
 It was also characterised by the belief that political violence was necessary to achieve that goal.
The Burning of Cork by British forces took place on the night of 11–12 December 1920.
 Set during the Irish War of Independence, it followed an Irish Republican Army (IRA) ambush of a British Auxiliary patrol in the city, which wounded twelve men, one fatally.
 In retaliation, the Auxiliaries, Black and Tans and British soldiers looted and burnt numerous buildings in the city centre.
 Many civilians reported being beaten, shot at, and robbed by British forces.
 Firefighters testified that British forces hindered their attempts to tackle the blazes through intimidation, cutting their hoses and firing bullets at them.
Joe Cahill (Irish: Seosamh Ó Cathail ; 19 May 1920 – 23 July 2004) was a prominent figure in the Irish Republican movement in Northern Ireland and former chief of staff of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA).
 He joined a junior-republican movement, Na Fianna Eireann, in 1937 and the following year, joined the Irish Republican Army.
 In 1969, Cahill was a key figure in the founding of the Provisional Irish Republican Army.
 During his time in the Provisional IRA, Cahill helped import weapons and raise financial support.
 He served as the chief of staff in 1972, but was arrested the following year when a ship importing weapons was intercepted.
 After his release, he continued to serve on the IRA Army Council and lead all financial dealings for Sinn Féin.
 In the 1990s, the IRA and Sinn Féin began to work on seeking peace.
 Cahill served on the council that called a cessation on 21 July 1996.
 Cahill attended several of the talks that finally led to the Good Friday Agreement on 10 April 1998.
 Shortly after the agreement was made, Cahill resigned as treasurer of Sinn Féin.
 To honour his service, he was made honorary Sinn Féin Vice-President for life.