Christmas Raid

1939 Irish Republican Army raid in Ireland

The Christmas Raid was an attack on 23 December 1939 by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) against the Irish Army and the Phoenix Park Magazine Fort—Ireland's largest munitions dump. The attack resulted in the capture of the munitions dump by the IRA and the seizure of a huge quantity of weapons. Although the operation was initially successful, two of the raiders were captured shortly after the raid and, in the following days, most of the stolen military equipment was recovered and several IRA volunteers were arrested.

The Dublin Magazine Fort was built in 1735. The fort is in the west of the city, north of the River Liffey within Phoenix Park. The building is located in the south eastern part of the park, close by a wooded ridge, and has a commanding view of the surrounding area. It was occupied by the British Army during the period of British rule, and after independence was utilised by the Irish Army to store their stocks of arms and ammunition.

The IRA was still involved with the Sabotage Campaign at the time of the raid, with a lot of units either interned, on the run, in Britain, or recently deported from Britain. A number of members of the Army Council were also on the run, trying to evade capture by the Garda Síochána (Irish police). The stated reason for a raid on the Fort being ordered was that, although the IRA had many Thompson submachine guns (imported with the help of Clan na Gael over the preceding decade), the .45 ACP ammunition used in these guns was not easily available in continental Europe. It so happened that the Irish Army also used the Thompson and had large supplies of ammunition. Permission was sought to steal ammunition, either from the Magazine Fort or nearby Islandbridge Barracks. Acting Chief of Staff in Seán Russell's absence, Stephen Hayes, gave the order. A raid on the Fort was not a new idea—it had been floated initially in 1937, but IRA Chief of Staff Mick Fitzpatrick had dismissed the idea as unworkable, because there would be nowhere to store the stolen ammunition. Hayes, on hearing that the raid was possible, felt he should take the risk.

The raid had turned into another disaster for the IRA to contend with. The volume of material stolen, and the massive hunt to recover it that followed, turned up all the stolen ammunition and weapons plus more, along with the IRA volunteers attempting to store it.

Mark M. Hull, Irish Secrets. German Espionage in Wartime Ireland 1939–1945, Dublin:Irish Academic Press, 2003,
IRA volunteer Liam Brady's recollection of the Christmas Raid and the part he played in it, is archived here.