Certain amount of talk on the 'Belfast Pogrom' lately - that is violence, disproportionately ag. Catholics there from 1920-22. Most intense period was spring 1922. Want to tweet a little about southern reaction to this violence in early 1922.

For violence in Belfast itself, see @DrNightdub 's The Dead of the Belfast Pogrom https://www.theirishstory.com/2020/10/27/the-dead-of-the-belfast-pogrom-counting-the-cost-of-the-revolutionary-period-1920-22/comment-page-1/#.YImxpdVKjIU

Most sections of southern nationalist opinion, though split over the Treaty, were intensely antagonised by the violence against Catholics in Belfast. This was also a view put forward in the mainstream southern press.

The Freeman’s Journal called the Special Powers Act introduced in Northern Ireland in March 1922, ‘an attempt to legalise a sectarian vendetta’ and doubted ‘that it will exercise any restrain on the Orange Murder gang’.

The Irish Independent for its part denounced the ‘barbarism’ and ‘terror’ in Belfast’ and reported that 20,000 Catholics had fled that city by June 1922.

John McCoy, an IRA officer from Armagh recalled in BMH, ‘all the border towns in the 26 county area were packed with refugees, and the flood overflowed into Dublin and other centres'

In Dublin, anti-Treaty IRA, who'd just occupied the Four Courts, took over a series of unionist-owned properties incl the Freemason’s Hall on Molesworth Street and the YMCA building on O’Connell Street, Orange Hall on Parnell Square to house Belfast refugees.

IRA officer Sean Prendergast; called ‘Fowler [Orange] 'the haunt, the very nerve centre of the Orange Order in Dublin, on the premises of the would-be pogrom collaborators’. Four Courts garrison also organised boycott of/smashed up on occasion, any business trading with Belfast

The Provisional Govt, meanwhile organised its own accomodation for Belfast refugees at Marlboro Hall in Glasnevin. So competition over who was the real friend of beleaguered northern nationalists fed into the Treaty split.

In fact spark for Civil War was actually arrest by pro-Treaty forces of Leo Henderson of 4 Cts garrison for seizing cars bound for Belfast from a garage.

But the wider question is; did anger over Belfast feed into sectarianism ag. southern Protestants in early 1922? In Dublin, not so much, seizure of unionist property, yes, but not harassment of Protestants in general.

As I've alluded to in another thread, I believe the killing of 13 local Protestants in west Cork over April 26-28 1922 owed something to the atmosphere surrounding outrage at the Belfast pogrom, even if the immediate sparks for the event were probably local.

There was also a great deal of crime in this period that sometimes had sectarian overtones; RIC had been disbanded, British forces withdrawn and IRA split into two hostile factions. But hard to sep. crime & political motivation in house breaking of wealthy Protestants

But we can discuss community relations, e.g. in Co Monaghan, along new border, where IRA and Ulster Special Constabulary were basically engaged in undeclared war already. The following is based on repts of local paper Anglo Celt

E.g. on May 9 Monaghan County Council discusses the shooting of Protestants in Cork (Dunmanway incident), & the ongoing killings in Belfast.
Chairman Toal ‘Condemns both murders in Belfast and Cork. ‘Everyone has the right to express their views according to their conscience.'

Samuel Nixon (unionist), Found ‘remarks very timely’. ‘Abhor all murders no matter by whom committed.
Ward, ‘regrettable’ events in Cork but ‘down to Belfast events. ‘People will get out of hand’. ‘Unionists must condemn Belfast murders’.

Mr Knight unionist, ’I condemn all murder including the horrid system of reprisals in Belfast’ but points out that Drumully Parish School [Protestant] ‘burned to the ground’ near Clones.

Carrickmacross; Warnings posted April 29; ‘To every Orangeman of the district, For every Catholic murdered in Belfast 2 Orangemen will be killed in Monaghan’

So what you're seeing is; mutual attempts south of the border to keep the communal peace, but sometimes in spit of IRA efforts, quite a few low level attacks on local Protestants in response to events in Belfast.

E.g. Monagahn April 1922: Republican Police investigating reports that party of 20 armed men forcibly expelled Protestant family John Eakin from farm in favour of McMahon family who had been evicted from the property 65 years ago.

E.g. Cavan, June 1922: 3 men including Pat McGovern ‘refugee from Belfast’ charged at Ballyconnell with intimidation of Protestant Robert Crawford of Slieverussell, told him to go to the 6 counties.

You also have incidents such as the rape of Prot. woman Eileen Biggs near Nenagh Co Tipperary in June 1922 by anti-Treaty IRA men during robbery. Again, as with other crimes in 1922, hard to know what part sectarianism played. @Linda__Connolly has more https://www.westcorkhistoryfestival.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Sexual-violence-in-the-Irish-Civil-War-a-forgotten-war-crime_.pdf

So, to sum up, there was generalised nationalist anger in south about Belfast 'pogrom'. Anti-Treaty faction certainly directed this anger against unionist/loyalist property, esp in Dublin. There was also low level & in Cork lethal, violence ag. Protestants in 26 cos

There are caveats though. Much of such violence, esp. criminal violence was as much about breakdown of order following collapse of organised policing in early 1922 as sectarian. That and the perennial land hunger in rural areas

Both pro and anti Treaty IRA factions generally attempted to stop violence against Protestants, as did Provisional Govt. Perpetrators where caught, e.g. IRA men who raped Mrs Biggs, were tried and convicted. Also, southern Protestants generally also condemned violence in Belfast

Protestant civilians were not generally targeted in Civil War that broke out in late June (contrary to what is sometimes asserted, w. exception of Senators Big House owners). High point of risk to southern Protestants was rather during 'Pogrom'/border war of early 1922.

In fact southern civil war between nationalist factions generally helped defuse sectarian tension. END