Burning of the Custom House

Burning of the Custom House
Part of the Irish War of Independence
The Custom House in flames
Date 25 May 1921 Location Custom House, central Dublin Result IRA destroy Custom House but many are captured
Belligerents
Irish Republican Army	Royal Irish Constabulary (Auxiliary Division), British Army
Commanders and leaders
Tom Ennis
Strength
c.120	c.120 Auxiliaries at first; members of Wiltshire Regiment arrived later
Casualties and losses
5 killed 3 wounded 70–80 captured	4 wounded
3 civilians killed, 7 wounded

On 25 May 1921, during the Irish War of Independence, the Custom House in Dublin was occupied and then burnt in an operation by the Irish Republican Army (IRA). The Custom House was the headquarters of the Local Government Board for Ireland, an agency of the British administration in Ireland, against which the IRA was fighting in the name of the self-proclaimed Irish Republic. The operation, involving over 100 IRA volunteers, was a propaganda coup for the republicans but a military disaster for the IRA in the Irish capital. A force of British Auxiliaries quickly arrived and a gun battle erupted. Five IRA volunteers were killed (John Doyle, Edward Dorins, Daniel Head, Captain Patrick & Lieutenant Stephen O'Reilly),^[1] along with three civilians, and about 80 volunteers were captured.^[2]

The operation was the largest action in Dublin by rebels since the Easter Rising.^[3]