These groups each claim to be the sole legitimist modern successors to the original Irish Volunteers and Irish Republican Army, and they have refused to recognise the authority of (variously) the Defence Forces, Northern Ireland and the Ireland; as such, each of these groups claims the sole right to use the name Óglaigh na hÉireann.
[13] Some IRA splinter groups have used Oglaigh na hÉireann in English-language contexts, abandoning the label Irish Republican Army.
and Oglaigh [sic] na hÉireann)" was to be considered an unlawful organisation within the context of the act.
[16] In 1922, the Anglo-Irish Treaty created the Irish Free State, and its Provisional Government formed the National Army.
To establish itself as carrying on the tradition of the pre-independence movement, the Army adopted Óglaigh na hÉireann as its Irish language name,[17] and also adopted the cap badge and buttons of the Irish Volunteers; the badge incorporates the title in its design.