Black and Tans

Nickname of a special auxiliary force of the Royal Irish Constabulary formed from British ex-soldiers on 2 January 1920 and in action in Ireland March 1920–December 1921. They were employed by the British government to combat the killing of policemen by the Irish Republican Army (IRA), the military wing of the Irish nationalist Sinn Fein government, during the Anglo-Irish War, or War of Independence (1919–21). The name derives from the colours of their improvised khaki and black uniforms, and was also the name of a famous pack of hounds.

The Black and Tans acquired a reputation for violent reprisals against the civilian population after IRA attacks. The peak of Black and Tan retribution is traditionally Bloody Sunday, 1920. On 21 November, after the IRA assassinated 13 men in Dublin, mainly British intelligence officers, the Black and Tans fired on a crowd at a Gaelic football match in Croke Park, killing 12 onlookers.