Key statistics

1969
First Recorded Activity
1993
First Attack

Profile Last Updated

How to Cite

Crenshaw, M., & Robinson, K. (2025). Mapping Militants Project. Rice University. https://doi.org/10.25613/G0K4-WF70
Mapping Militants Project. “Provisional Irish Republican Army.” Last modified . https://mappingmilitants.org/node/491/

Profile Contents

Narrative

Narrative of the Organization's History

Organization

Leadership, Name Changes, Size Estimates, Resources, Geographic Locations

Strategy

Ideology, Aims, Political Activities, Targets, and Tactics

Interactions

Foreign Designations and Listings, Community Relations, Relations with Other Groups, State Sponsors and External Influences

Maps

Mapping relationships with other militant groups over time in regional maps

Main Tabs Group

Overview
Formed: 
January 1, 1969
Disbanded: 
January 1, 2005

The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) was the main republican paramilitary organization in Northern Ireland. It sought to force the withdrawal of the British and establish a unified Ireland. The PIRA formed in 1969 after a split in the Irish Republican Army, a paramilitary organization that had fought for the establishment of the Republic of Ireland in the south. In Northern Ireland, the Provisionals split from the core of the Irish Republican Army, which came to be known as the Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA), accusing its leadership of neglecting the military aspect of the Irish struggle in favor of a failing political strategy. PIRA targeted British security forces [...]

Organization

Vertical Tabs

Strategy

Vertical Tabs

Interactions

Vertical Tabs