A couple of Republicans interrupting defenders of soldiers' accommodation (8)
I believe the answer is:
barracks
'soldiers' accommodation' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'a couple of republicans interrupting defenders' is the wordplay.
'couple of' shows that letters should be duplicated.
'republicans' becomes 'r' (this could be a standard abbreviation I've not previously seen).
'interrupting' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'defenders' becomes 'backs' (I've seen this before).
'r' doubled is 'rr'.
'a'+'rr'='arr'
'arr' inserted within 'backs' is 'BARRACKS'.
'of' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for barracks that I've seen before include "men who fight in houses here" , "Military building(s)" , "Military encampment" , "Demonstrates hostility - army quarters" , "Large block" .)