.
19th century The Dublin city police had been subject to major reforms by the
Dublin Police Act 1786 and the
Dublin Police Magistrates Act 1808. Organised rural policing in Ireland began when
Robert Peel, then
Chief Secretary for Ireland, created the Peace Preservation Force under the
Unlawful Combinations (Ireland) Act 1814. 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 military forces. Peel went on to found the London Metropolitan Police. The
Irish Constabulary Act 1822 created four improved "county"
constabularies, whose organisation was based around the traditional
provinces of Ireland. 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. This was descended from the 18th century system of controlling parish
constables, and was a sop to the public's fears about the danger of a standing police force under government control.
Distinctions between DMP and RIC Unlike the armed and rural based
gendarmerie style RIC , but in common with civil police forces elsewhere in Great Britain, the DMP remained a force usually equipped only with batons. The RIC were located in small town or village "barracks", although these were often the family houses of individual constables. In contrast to the green uniformed RIC, the DMP wore dark blue with silver insignia. .
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. A total of three men were killed and seven injured in the Rising.
Edward Broy, who passed valuable intelligence to
Michael Collins throughout the conflict. In the 1996 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 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. After the creation of the
Irish Free State, the DMP became known as (
Police of Dublin) from 1922 to 1925, after which the force ceased to exist as a separate entity, being absorbed into the (
Guardians of the Peace). Its last Commissioner was
W.R.E. Murphy. "
Dublin Metropolitan" is today a geographic region of the 's command structure. ==Ranks==