 After the defeat of the anti-Treaty Irish Republican Army (IRA) in the Civil War, McNamara was released on 23 December 1923.He became secretary of the Limerick branch for the Irish Republican Prisoners' Dependents Fund (IRPDF) from 1924 to 1925, which assisted Republican Prisoners families.He was forced to emigrate to New York City in both 1925 and 1930 by Free State sympathisers, and took no further part in any more IRA activities.