Post-Treaty withdrawal: 51,000 British troops begin to leave

After a presence that had lasted for centuries, the British military withdrawal from the 26 counties that became the Free State was effectively over in months, writes John Gibney

British troops buying fruit from local women while waiting to board a ship. Picture: Independent News And Media/Getty Images

In January 1922, the British military began its final withdrawal from the 26 counties of ‘Southern Ireland’ that would, in time, become the Irish Free State. 

The very real significance of this was not lost on contemporaries. During the acrimonious debate on the Anglo-Irish Treaty in December 1921, Arthur Griffith held up the withdrawal of the British garrison as concrete proof of the value of the Treaty he had signed. The British were alert to this as well.