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Óglaigh na hÉireann ([ˈoːɡɫ̪iː n̪ˠə ˈheːɾʲən̪ˠ]), abbreviated ÓÉ, is an Irish-language idiom that can be translated variously as soldiers of Ireland, warriors of Ireland, volunteers of Ireland or Irish volunteers. In traditional Gaelic script, it is written Óglaıġ na hÉıreann.
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Origins, Irish Volunteers
Óglach, the singular of óglaigh, comes from the Old Irish word óclach, meaning a young male. The phrase Óglaigh na hÉireann was coined as an Irish-language title for the Irish Volunteers of 1913, and it was retained when the Volunteers became known in English as the Irish Republican Army (IRA) during the War of Independence of 1919–1922.
National Army
In 1922, the Anglo-Irish Treaty created the Irish Free State, and its Provisional Government formed the National Army. To establish itself as carrying on the tradition of the pre-independence movement, the Army adopted Óglaigh na hÉireann as its Irish language name, and also adopted the cap badge and buttons of the Irish Volunteers; the badge incorporates the title in its design.
Defence Forces
Since 1924, Óglaigh na hÉireann has remained the official Irish-language title for the Defence Forces, which are recognised by the Irish Government as the only legitimate armed forces of the independent state on the island of Ireland.
Irish Republican Army
The name has also been used by several other paramilitary groups calling themselves the Irish Republican Army since 1922. These groups each claim to be the sole legitimist modern successors to the original Irish Volunteers and Irish Republican Army, and they have refused to recognise the authority of (variously) the Defence Forces, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland; as such, each of these groups claims the sole right to use the name Óglaigh na hÉireann. Such groups have included the Provisional IRA, the Continuity IRA and the Real IRA.
Since the 2000s, some dissident republican groups have begun using Óglaigh na hÉireann as their primary title in both Irish- and English-language contexts. These include a Continuity IRA splinter group, first reported on by the Independent Monitoring Commission in 2006, and a Real IRA splinter group which began claiming responsibility for attacks in 2009.
A suppression order made by the Irish state in June 1939 under the Offences Against the State Act 1939 stated that "the organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army (also the I.R.A. and Oglaigh [sic] na hÉireann)" was to be considered an unlawful organisation within the context of the Act.