Come Out, Ye Black and Tans
Come Out, Ye Black and Tans is an Irish rebel song referring to the Black and Tans, or "special reserve constables", recruited in Great Britain and sent to Ireland from 1920, to reinforce the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) during the Irish War of Independence. The song was written by Dominic Behan as a tribute to his Irish Republican Army (IRA) father Stephen, who had fought in the War of Independence, and is concerned with political divisions in working-class Dublin of the 1920s.
A group of Black and Tans and Auxiliaries outside the London and North Western Hotel in Dublin following an IRA attack, April 1921
A green area of Killeshandra
The Black and Tans were constables recruited into the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) as reinforcements during the Irish War of Independence. Recruitment began in Great Britain in January 1920 and about 10,000 men enlisted during the conflict. The majority were unemployed former British soldiers from England who had fought in the First World War. Some sources count Irish recruits to the RIC from 1920 as 'Black and Tans'.
A member of the Auxiliary Division of the RIC in Dublin, smoking and carrying a Lewis gun, February 1921
A group of Black and Tans and Auxiliaries outside the London and North Western Hotel in Dublin following an attack by the IRA, April 1921
