[2] The Irish Volunteers were formed in 1913, in reaction to the formation of the Ulster Volunteer Force earlier that year, to protect the interests of Irish nationalists during the Home Rule Crisis.
[7][8][9][10] The County Antrim Memorial in Milltown Cemetery in Belfast lists IRA members who died at various times between 1916 and the period of the Troubles in the late 20th century.
[13] Joe McCann, an Official IRA member killed in 1972, was referred to in commemorations as a "Staff Captain" but also as a "Volunteer".
[14] On the other hand, Joe Cahill, the commander of the Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade in 1971, said in a press conference after the introduction of internment that year, that British forces had only succeeded in arresting two officers of the Provisional IRA.
[16][17] The grave of Martin McGuinness, who was adjutant (second in command) of the Derry Brigade of the IRA in the early 1970s and who subsequently became deputy First Minister in the Northern Ireland Executive, a post he held until just before his death in 2017, calls him "Óglach Martin McGuinness".