Dublin Metropolitan Police

Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP). A uniformed, armed, and government‐controlled police force had been introduced in Dublin in 1786: the first of its kind in the British Isles. It was opposed by ratepayers, who considered it oppressive and expensive, and in 1795 a locally controlled unarmed force was restored. However, the government, dissatisfied with policing during the insurrection of 1798, reintroduced the centralized, armed force in 1799 and strengthened it in 1808.

In 1836 the Dublin Metropolitan Police was created, based on the model of the London Metropolitan Police set up by Peel in 1829. Unlike English borough forces, the DMP was under central not local control, but, unlike the Royal Irish Constabulary, it was not a paramilitary force. Constables were not armed; they could marry freely; and officers were promoted from the ranks. Recruitment took place largely in rural Ireland.

Mainly concerned with apprehending petty thieves, drunkards, and disorderly persons, the DMP also had a detective division, G Division, which played a significant role in investigating political crime. Reasonably popular, the force however incurred considerable hostility when it brutally suppressed workers' gatherings during the Dublin lockout.

The DMP was amalgamated with the Gárda Síochána in 1925.

Elizabeth Malcolm