A militant Republican army which split from the Official IRA in 1969 because of their refusal of violence. Started off mostly as a defence group but soon began attacks on British military personell. Primarily a green Republican group but from the mid 70s adopted a Marxist-Leninist outlook. Members have been trained in Libya and by the PLO and have maintained links with them and various other groups, including ETA and FARC.
Groups that continue to use the name and have not given into British imperialism are the CIRA, RIRA and INLA.
Groups that continue to use the name and have not given into British imperialism are the CIRA, RIRA and INLA.
The Irish Republican Army originated in the 1800s and even before that, though not widely organized.
by SilentRhapsody February 8, 2004
Get the IRAmug. The name of a girl with fire in her heart. She always knows what she wants and takes it instead of waiting around. An Ira is beautiful and intelligent but often doesn't know it. She is an amazing friend, anyone would be lucky to know an Its.
by Snow_Scrawler June 3, 2017
Get the Iramug. Dirty scumbag murderers who shat emselves and ran back down south when the SAS Came to northern Ireland.
IRA Are terrorists.
by Matty77777 June 18, 2020
Get the IRAmug. Irish Republican Army. Formed in 1969 as the clandestine armed wing of the political movement Sinn Fein, the IRA is devoted both to removing British forces from Northern Ireland and to unifying Ireland. The IRA conducted attacks until its cease-fire in 1997 and agreed to disarm as a part of the 1998 Belfast Agreement, which established the basis for peace in Northern Ireland. Dissension within the IRA over support for the Northern Ireland peace process resulted in the formation of two more radical splinter groups: Continuity IRA (CIRA), and the Real IRA (RIRA) in mid to late 1990s. The IRA, sometimes referred to as the PIRA to distinguish it from RIRA and CIRA, is organized into small, tightly-knit cells under the leadership of the Army Council.
Traditional IRA activities have included bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, punishment beatings, extortion, smuggling, and robberies. Before the cease-fire in 1997, the group had conducted bombing campaigns on various targets in Northern Ireland and Great Britain, including senior British Government officials, civilians, police, and British military targets. The groups refusal in late 2004 to allow photographic documentation of its decommissioning process was an obstacle to progress in implementing the Belfast Agreement and stalled talks. The group previously had disposed of light, medium, and heavy weapons, ammunition, and explosives in three rounds of decommissioning. However, the IRA is believed to retain the ability to conduct paramilitary operations. The groups extensive criminal activities reportedly provide the IRA and the political party Sinn Fein with millions of dollars each year; the IRA was implicated in two significant robberies in 2004, one involving almost $50 million.
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ August 17, 2011
Get the IRAmug. The IRA's war is a thousand years old and more, it was started by those who would take as their privilage what could only be got and held by the decimation of a race.
by Irishman1 October 5, 2005
Get the IRAmug. 
Irish Republican Army, people who faught againts english opression and taxes dating back to the earliest years of english occupation of the fatherland. But never got fully organized untill the 1900s. Claimed responsibility for numerous attacks on english towns in northern ireland.
by playa del seville August 25, 2005
Get the IRAmug.