View source for Dublin Metropolitan Police

{{Short description|Dublin, Ireland police force 1836-1925}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox law enforcement agency
|agencyname       = Dublin Metropolitan Police
|nativename       = ''Póilíní Chathair Átha Cliath''
|nativenamea      = 
|nativenamer      = 
|commonname       = Peelers, bobbies
|abbreviation     = DMP
|motto            = 
|badge            = Dublin Metropolitan Police logo.jpg
|mottotranslated  = 
|mission          = 
|formed           = 1836
|preceding1       = Police of the City of Dublin, Peace Preservation Force, County Constabularies
|dissolved        = 1925
|superseding      = [[Garda Síochána]]
|employees        = 
|volunteers       = 
|budget           = 
|legalpersonality = Police force
|country          = United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
|countryabbr      = 
|national         = No
|subdivtype       = City Metropolitan District
|subdivname       = Dublin
|subdivdab        = 
|map              = DINGNAM(1891) p019 MAP OF DUBLIN.jpg
|mapcaption       = Map of Dublin city, 1891
|sizearea         = {{Convert|114.99|km2|abbr=on}}
|sizepopulation   = 233,726 (1841)<br/> 304,802 (1911)
|flag             = 
|police           = Yes
|local            = Yes
}}
The '''Dublin Metropolitan Police''' ('''DMP''') was the police force of [[Dublin]] in [[History of Ireland (1801–1923)|British-controlled Ireland]] from 1836 to 1922 and then the Irish Free State until 1925, when it was absorbed into the new state's [[Garda Síochána]].

==History==
[[File:DMP_burial_site,_Glasnevin.jpg|thumb|Burial site of many members of the DMP, [[Glasnevin Cemetery]].]]

===19th century===
The Dublin city police had been subject to major reforms in 1786 and 1808.<ref name="ODNBTD">Stanley H. Palmer, '[[Drummond, Thomas]] (1797–1840)', [[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]], Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008</ref> Organised rural policing in Ireland began when [[Robert Peel]], then [[Chief Secretary for Ireland]], created the Peace Preservation Force in 1814.<ref name="Tobias">{{cite book|last=Tobias|first=J.J.|title="Police and the Public in the United Kingdom" in "Police Forces in History"|year=1975|publisher=[[SAGE Publishing|Sage Publications]]|isbn=978-0-8039-9928-2}}</ref> This rudimentary paramilitary police force was designed to provide policing in rural Ireland, replacing the 18th century system of watchmen, baronial constables, revenue officers and [[British Army|British military forces]]. Peel went on to found the London Metropolitan Police.

In 1822, a new act{{which|date=January 2024}} created four improved "county" [[Constabulary|constabularies]], whose organisation was based around the traditional [[provinces of Ireland]].<ref name="Tobias"/>

====1836: reform{{anchor|Dublin Police Act 1836}}====
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Dublin Police Act 1836
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act for improving the Police in the District of Dublin Metropolis.
| year                  = 1836
| citation              = [[6 & 7 Will. 4]]. c. 29
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 4 July 1836
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = {{ubli|[[Statute Law Revision Act 1874]]|[[Statute Law Revision Act 1890]]}}
| repealing_legislation = [[Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2013]]
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = Repealed
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = 
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
In 1836, the county constabularies were merged into a new centralised [[Royal Irish Constabulary|Constabulary of Ireland]], and the Peace Preservation Force ceased to exist.<ref name="Tobias"/> At the same time separate non-paramilitary forces were set up in the largest cities: [[Dublin]], [[Belfast]], and [[Derry]]. A perceived lack of impartiality following rioting in the municipal police forces of Belfast and Derry saw both forces absorbed by the national force in 1865 and 1870 respectively, and only Dublin maintained its separate force.<ref name="Tobias"/> The DMP was established under the Dublin Police Act 1836 ([[6 & 7 Will. 4]]. c. 29) as an unarmed, uniformed force of one thousand day and night constables. The Castle-controlled organisation was more accountable than the untrained [[constable]]s and [[Security guard|night watchmen]] it replaced.<ref name="ODNBTD"/><ref name=lawcom>{{cite web|title=Statute Law Repeals: Consultation Paper – City of Dublin Repeal Proposals|url=http://www.justice.gov.uk/lawcommission/docs/slr_city_of_dublin.pdf|publisher=[[Law Commission]]|access-date=22 April 2011|archive-date=2 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110602093952/http://www.justice.gov.uk/lawcommission/docs/slr_city_of_dublin.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

The 1836 Act authorised the "chief governor of Ireland" to establish a police office in Dublin, supported by two salaried justices, to administer the police force which would be under the direction of the Chief Secretary for Ireland.<ref name=lawcom/> It also provided for the recruitment and appointment of policemen and the regulation of their conduct.<ref name=lawcom/> It also created powers of arrest and made arrangements for the financial affairs of the new force, including new taxation.<ref name=lawcom/>

The DMP was modelled closely on London's [[Metropolitan Police]]. Not only were the uniforms of the two forces almost indistinguishable, especially after the helmet and Bath Star were adopted, but the two forces also had a similar organisational structure; rather than a [[Chief Constable]], they were commanded by a [[Police commissioner|Commissioner]], who was not a police officer, but a [[magistrate]] holding a Commission of the Peace. The first Commissioner of the Dublin Metropolitan Police was John Lewis More O'Ferrall, brother of [[Richard More O'Ferrall]].<ref name="naber">{{cite web|last=Murphy|first=David|title=O'Ferrall, John Lewis More|url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/oferrall-john-lewis-more-a6743|url-status=live|website=Dictionary of Irish Biography|access-date=11 May 2021|archive-date=11 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511211915/https://www.dib.ie/biography/oferrall-john-lewis-more-a6743}}</ref> This was descended from the 18th century system of controlling parish [[constable]]s, and was a sop to the public's fears about the danger of a standing police force under government control.

[[File:In the eyes of the law... (11399520864).jpg|thumb|A policeman is about to check an approaching car near [[Phibsborough]].]]

====1880s: Land War====
The force came under considerable pressure in the 1880s during the [[Land War]], in which 500 policemen were injured. A series of protest meetings were held and strikes were threatened in 1882.<ref name=lawcom/>

===20th century===
[[Image:1913lockout.jpg|300px|thumb|right|During the Lock-out, the police break up a union rally on Dublin's [[O'Connell Street|Sackville Street]], August 1913]]

====1913–14: Dublin Lock-out====
Two men died and several hundred people were injured over the course of the five-month [[Dublin Lock-out]], including two hundred policemen. Although the police were involved in "frequent collisions" with union members and used tactics such as [[baton charge]]s against them, a vice-regal commission cleared them of wrongdoing after the events – though their reputation had suffered considerably.<ref name=lawcom/>

====1916 onwards====
As an unarmed urban force, the Dublin Metropolitan Police did not participate as actively in the [[Easter Rising]] of 1916 and [[Irish War of Independence|War of Independence]] as did the [[Royal Irish Constabulary|RIC]], and as such did not suffer the casualty rate of that force. Three men were killed and seven injured in the Rising.<ref name=lawcom/> One of their number [[David Neligan]] (who was an IRA agent) records in his book ''The Spy in the Castle'' that the majority of the DMP uniformed personnel observed a neutral role, restricted to traditional policing functions. The political [["G" Division]] did not come off so lightly, and selected "[[G-Man (slang)|G men]]" were first given warnings by the [[Irish Republican Army]] in April 1919. Five members of "G" Division were subsequently killed by the IRA, the first in July 1919. Several DMP officers actively assisted the IRA, most notably<ref>{{Cite book|title=Michael Collins: The Lost Leader|last=Forester|first=Margery|publisher=Gill & MacMillan, Limited.|year=2006|isbn=978-0717140145|location=Dublin and London|pages=Chapter 7 onward}}</ref> [[Edward Broy]], who passed valuable intelligence to [[Michael Collins (Irish leader)|Michael Collins]] throughout the conflict.

In the 1996 film ''[[Michael Collins (film)|Michael Collins]]'', Broy is discovered and subsequently tortured and killed by the British. In reality, he was not caught and went on to become the Commissioner of the {{lang|ga|[[Garda Síochána]]}} in the 1930s. His fate in the film is based on that of [[Dick McKee]], who, with Peadar Clancy and the civilian Conor Clune, was murdered after torture in Dublin Castle on "Bloody Sunday", 21 November 1920.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Michael Collins: The Lost Leader|last=Forester|first=Margery|publisher=Gill & MacMillan, Limited.|year=2006|isbn=978-0717140145|location=Dublin and London|pages=Chapter 11}}</ref>

After the creation of the [[Irish Free State]], the DMP became known as {{lang|ga|"Políní Átha Cliath"}} (''Police of Dublin'') from 1922 to 1925, after which the force ceased to exist as a separate entity, being absorbed into the {{lang|ga|Garda Síochána}} (''Guardians of the Peace'').<ref name=lawcom/> Its last Commissioner was [[W.R.E. Murphy]]. "[[Dublin Metropolitan Area|Dublin Metropolitan]]" is today a geographic region of the {{lang|ga|Garda Síochána}}'s command structure.

Unlike the RIC, but in common with police forces in Great Britain, the DMP was an unarmed force. In contrast to the green uniformed RIC, the DMP wore dark blue with silver insignia.

==Ranks==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
!rowspan=3|'''Ranks'''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://british-police-history.uk/f/dublin-metropolitan|title=Dublin Metropolitan Police 1836-1922|access-date=23 January 2021|archive-date=4 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204012902/https://british-police-history.uk/f/dublin-metropolitan/|url-status=live}}</ref><br/>circa 1893–1901
|-
|Chief Commissioner
|colspan=2|Commissioner
|Chief<br/>superintendent
|Superintendent
|Inspector
|Sub-Inspector
|Station<br/>Sergeant
|Staff Sergeant
|Sergeant
|Constable
|Supernumerary<br/>Constable
|-
|[[Image:blank.png|60px]]
|colspan=2|[[Image:blank.png|60px]]
|[[Image:blank.png|60px]]
|[[Image:blank.png|60px]]
|[[Image:blank.png|60px]]
|[[Image:blank.png|60px]]
|[[Image:blank.png|60px]]
|[[Image:blank.png|60px]]
|[[Image:blank.png|60px]]
|[[Image:blank.png|60px]]
|[[Image:blank.png|60px]]
|-
!rowspan=3|'''Ranks'''<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1918/53/pdfs/ukpga_19180053_en.pdf|title=Constabulary and Police (Ireland) Act, 1918|chapter=53|access-date=23 January 2021|archive-date=12 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112212741/https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1918/53/pdfs/ukpga_19180053_en.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://digital.ucd.ie/view/ucdlib:53467|title=Dublin Metropolitan Police general register 1837-07 – 1925-01|access-date=23 January 2021|archive-date=30 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130014542/http://digital.ucd.ie/view/ucdlib:53467|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irishmedals.ie/RIC-and-DMP.php|title=R.I.C and D.M.P. Uniform, Badges and Buttons|access-date=23 January 2021|archive-date=26 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126214206/http://irishmedals.ie/RIC-and-DMP.php|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1925/act/7/section/12/enacted/en/index.html|title=Police Forces Amalgamation Act, 1925|access-date=23 January 2021|archive-date=29 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129041729/http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1925/act/7/section/12/enacted/en/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irishmedals.ie/RIC-DMP-Killed-WOI.php|title=War of Independence R.I.C. and D.M.P. Killed|access-date=23 January 2021|archive-date=29 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129022338/http://www.irishmedals.ie/RIC-DMP-Killed-WOI.php|url-status=live}}</ref><br/>circa 1918–1924
|-
|Commissioner
|Divisional<br/>commissioner
|Assistant<br/>divisional commissioner
|Chief<br/>superintendent
|Superintendent
|colspan=2|Inspector
|Station<br/>Sergeant
|Staff Sergeant
|Sergeant
|Constable
|Supernumerary<br/>Constable
|-
|[[Image:blank.png|60px]]
|[[Image:blank.png|60px]]
|[[Image:blank.png|60px]]
|[[Image:blank.png|60px]]
|[[Image:blank.png|60px]]
|colspan=2|[[Image:blank.png|60px]]
|[[Image:blank.png|60px]]
|[[Image:blank.png|60px]]
|[[Image:blank.png|60px]]
|[[Image:blank.png|60px]]
|[[Image:blank.png|60px]]
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.policememorial.org.uk/index.php?page=dublin-metropolitan-police DMP Roll of Honour in the British National Police Officers Roll of Honour] (since this only covers UK forces, the DMP pages only cover up to 1922)
* [http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/forensic-force-dublin-s-ground-breaking-bobbies-1.1568358 Article about DMP on occasion of centenary of 1913 Lockout]
* [https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9781137555816 A History of the Dublin Metropolitan Police and Its Colonial Legacy]
* [https://dx.doi.org/10.7925/drs1.ucdlib_43945 Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP) Prisoners Books 1905-1918.] A UCD Digital Library Collection.
* [http://www.garda.ie/Controller.aspx?Page=8867&Lang=1 DMP Annual Reports 1875 to 1912] Garda Síochána website

{{Police forces in Ireland}}
{{History of Dublin}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Dublin Metropolitan Police| ]]
[[Category:1836 establishments in Ireland]]
[[Category:Defunct law enforcement agencies of Ireland]]
[[Category:Defunct police forces of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:History of Dublin (city)]]
[[Category:Garda Síochána units]]