Irish Citizen Army

The Irish Citizen Army, or ICA, was a small paramilitary group of trained trade union volunteers from the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union established in Dublin for the defence of workers' demonstrations from the police. It was formed by James Larkin, James Connolly and Jack White on 23 November 1913. Other prominent members included Seán O'Casey, Constance Markievicz, Francis Sheehy-Skeffington, P. T. Daly and Kit Poole. In 1916, it took part in the Easter Rising—an armed insurrection aimed at ending British rule in Ireland . Despite the relatively small size of the army, it was much more organised than the larger Irish Volunteers, with its members receiving far superior training and being largely unaffected by factional and ideological division. The ICA became involved in the War of Independence taking command of part of the city of Dublin and aiding the Irish Republican Army in various operations.