Irish Civil War - 1922/23

[RedCoat]

My wifes grandfather left Belfast May12, 1923, just a few weeks before the civil war ended.  He had only recently returned from WW1 and was a Presbyterian as well as a mason.  We are wondering why he never spoke of his life in Ireland and why he had no desire to go back.  We have a photo of him where he was wearing a dark green military shirt with epaulets.  I am wondering if perhaps he may have belonged to the dreaded "blacks & tans".  Do any of you historians know how bad it was for a person like him in those days?  Trying to understand why he left his family never to return....
thanks

[blinddog]

you must be an american from the tone of your letter.
The black and tans were not involved in the irish civil war.
they were involved in the war of independance between the irish and british.
on the whole they were decent x soldiers from the first world war.who had no jobs to return to after the end of the war.
they were called black and tans because when they were quickly formed they had no proper uniforms available so their uniforms were a mixture of two army uniforms
they were feared but only by the ira who were murdering people left right and centre.
the black and tans were ruthless when engaged with the ira and seldom took prisoners.ordinary people had nothing to fear from them,on the contrary they saw them as their protectors. The rest is all ira propaganda.if he was a prod and a mason he would have had nothing to fear in belfast. he most likely left because of the economic slump at that time that effected everyone, prod and catholic alike

[JAP]

blinddog going to war with RedCoat (an ancient post from RedCoat) on RootsChat about Black & Tans ...

Not a good idea - whether it's how you view it, what your origins are, or whatever.

RedCoat (if you haven't already) perhaps Googling is the way to get plenty of the very very many different perspectives (political and personal) which might help with your wonderings?

This doesn't seem to be a debate which is suited to RootsChat?

Judy

[blinddog]

going to war nothing. redcoat obviously has no idea about the irish civil war or the fight for independance that he thinks his ancestor was involved in since he is historically mixing two different time eras, locations etc.
it was a very brief snip of irish history for his benefit that could be used to assist his search and point him in the rite direction, so please dont mischief make.

[RedCoat]

Sorry blind dog, I am not an American.  Just simply a person that asked a question and hoped to receive a civil answer.  Since that post some time ago, I have done some research and obtained a number of books from the library.  First off, it is difficult to get an unbiased account of Irish history.  There are plenty of accounts of the "black & tans" prior to, and during the Irish civil war.  I did the google thing and there are hundreds of responses.  Here is one: http://www.usna.edu/EnglishDept/ilv/civilwar.htm
Just wondering what exactly I said to offend you?
Redcoat - Canada