Royal Irish Regiment (1684-1922)
Encyclopedia
The Royal Irish Regiment, until 1881 the 18th Regiment of Foot, was an infantry
regiment
of the line in the British Army
, first raised in 1684. Also known as the 18th (Royal Irish) Regiment of Foot and the 18th (The Royal Irish) Regiment of Foot, it was one of eight Irish regiments raised largely in Ireland
, its home depot in Clonmel
. It saw service for two and a half centuries before being disbanded with the Partition of Ireland
following establishment of the independent Irish Free State
in 1922 when the five regiments that had their traditional recruiting grounds in the counties of the new state were disbanded.
from independent companies
in Ireland
. In 1695, the regiment became known as the Royal Regiment of Ireland due to its performance at Namur
under the direction of King William III
. The regiment also won the right to display the King's arms on their colours along with the harp and crown. The regiment served throughout the turn of the 18th century in continental battles before being sent to Gibraltar
. In 1751, the regiment was officially ranked as the 18th Regiment of Foot - although it was older than all but six other line regiments, it had not been placed on the English establishment until 1689, lowering its precedence.
in early 1768 and remained in Illinois until April 1772 when Fort Chartres was abandoned. A small detachment under Captain Hugh Lord, remained at Ft. Gage (Kaskaskia), Illinois until May 1776 when it was ordered to Detroit in anticipation of an American attack. The rest of the regiment was present in Boston
, where the grenadier company participated in the Battle of Lexington and Battle of Concord and Bunker Hill
, its first formal combat in more than 50 years. The regiment was drafted into other regiments in Boston in December 1775 and at Detroit in July 1776. According to the regimental History the losses at Lexington/Concord were 2 killed/4 wounded {.p. 48} and at Bunker Hill 3 rank & file killed while Lt Richardson and seven rank & file were wounded {.p. 49} Lord's Detachment was drafted into the 8th (King's) Regiment in July 1776.
in 1793.
won the V.C. when he rescued wounded soldiers during a skirmish at Nukumaru near Wanganui. The battalion was the last Imperial Army unit to leave New Zealand in February 1870.
the regiment became the Royal Irish Regiment, and served as the county regiment of Tipperary
, Waterford
, Wexford
and Kilkenny
. Its garrison depot was at Clonmel
. Militarily, the whole of Ireland was administered as a separate command within the United Kingdom
with Command Headquarters at Parkgate (Phoenix Park
) Dublin, directly under the War Office
in London.
The Fifth (Service) Battalion and the regular army First Bn and were part of the 10th (Irish) Division.
The 6th (Service) Battalion, volunteers following Kitcheners New Army
appeal, was part of the 16th (Irish) Division.
The regiment was one of the five disbanded under the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty
after the establishment of the Irish Free State
in 1922.
in Dublin. Eight of the Royal Irish Regiment were killed and sixteen more wounded. Some of these are buried in Grangegorman Military Cemetery
. The majority of civilian casualties during the Rising were caused by the British. A Royal Irish Regiment officer reported that "they regarded, not unreasonably, everyone they saw as an enemy, and fired at anything that moved".
:
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
regiment
Regiment
A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...
of the line in the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
, first raised in 1684. Also known as the 18th (Royal Irish) Regiment of Foot and the 18th (The Royal Irish) Regiment of Foot, it was one of eight Irish regiments raised largely in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, its home depot in Clonmel
Clonmel
Clonmel is the county town of South Tipperary in Ireland. It is the largest town in the county. While the borough had a population of 15,482 in 2006, another 17,008 people were in the rural hinterland. The town is noted in Irish history for its resistance to the Cromwellian army which sacked both...
. It saw service for two and a half centuries before being disbanded with the Partition of Ireland
Partition of Ireland
The partition of Ireland was the division of the island of Ireland into two distinct territories, now Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland . Partition occurred when the British Parliament passed the Government of Ireland Act 1920...
following establishment of the independent Irish Free State
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
in 1922 when the five regiments that had their traditional recruiting grounds in the counties of the new state were disbanded.
Formation
The regiment was formed in 1684 by the Earl of GranardEarl of Granard
Earl of Granard is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1684 for Arthur Forbes, 1st Viscount Granard. He was a Lieutenant-General in the army and served as Marshal of the Army in Ireland after The Restoration and was later Lord Justice of Ireland...
from independent companies
Company (military unit)
A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 80–225 soldiers and usually commanded by a Captain, Major or Commandant. Most companies are formed of three to five platoons although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure...
in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. In 1695, the regiment became known as the Royal Regiment of Ireland due to its performance at Namur
Namur (city)
Namur is a city and municipality in Wallonia, in southern Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia....
under the direction of King William III
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
. The regiment also won the right to display the King's arms on their colours along with the harp and crown. The regiment served throughout the turn of the 18th century in continental battles before being sent to Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
. In 1751, the regiment was officially ranked as the 18th Regiment of Foot - although it was older than all but six other line regiments, it had not been placed on the English establishment until 1689, lowering its precedence.
Seven Years War and American Revolution
The regiment was in Ireland during the majority of the Seven Years War and was ordered to America on 1 January 1767. The regiment arrived at Philadelphia on 11 July 1767 under the command of Lieutenant Colonel John Wilkins. The regiment remained at Philadelphia, although a small detachment was sent to Ft. Pitt later that summer. The majority of the regiment under Wilkins was ordered to IllinoisIllinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
in early 1768 and remained in Illinois until April 1772 when Fort Chartres was abandoned. A small detachment under Captain Hugh Lord, remained at Ft. Gage (Kaskaskia), Illinois until May 1776 when it was ordered to Detroit in anticipation of an American attack. The rest of the regiment was present in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, where the grenadier company participated in the Battle of Lexington and Battle of Concord and Bunker Hill
Battle of Bunker Hill
The Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17, 1775, mostly on and around Breed's Hill, during the Siege of Boston early in the American Revolutionary War...
, its first formal combat in more than 50 years. The regiment was drafted into other regiments in Boston in December 1775 and at Detroit in July 1776. According to the regimental History the losses at Lexington/Concord were 2 killed/4 wounded {.p. 48} and at Bunker Hill 3 rank & file killed while Lt Richardson and seven rank & file were wounded {.p. 49} Lord's Detachment was drafted into the 8th (King's) Regiment in July 1776.
French Revolutionary Wars
The Royal Irish returned to Gibraltar in 1783, where they remained until the Siege of ToulonSiege of Toulon
The Siege of Toulon was an early Republican victory over a Royalist rebellion in the Southern French city of Toulon. It is also often known as the Fall of Toulon.-Context:...
in 1793.
New Zealand Wars
The regiment's second battalion, formed mainly from volunteers from the Irish Militia, began to arrive in New Zealand from 4 July 1863. It served in the Waikato and Taranaki Campaigns. Captain Hugh ShawHugh Shaw
Major General Hugh Shaw VC, CB He was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces...
won the V.C. when he rescued wounded soldiers during a skirmish at Nukumaru near Wanganui. The battalion was the last Imperial Army unit to leave New Zealand in February 1870.
Renaming
In 1881 as part of the Childers ReformsChilders Reforms
The Childers Reforms restructured the infantry regiments of the British army. The reforms were undertaken by Secretary of State for War Hugh Childers in 1881, and were a continuation of the earlier Cardwell reforms....
the regiment became the Royal Irish Regiment, and served as the county regiment of Tipperary
County Tipperary
County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...
, Waterford
County Waterford
*Abbeyside, Affane, Aglish, Annestown, An Rinn, Ardmore*Ballinacourty, Ballinameela, Ballinamult, Ballinroad, Ballybeg, Ballybricken, Ballyduff Lower, Ballyduff Upper, Ballydurn, Ballygunner, Ballylaneen, Ballymacarbry, Ballymacart, Ballynaneashagh, Ballysaggart, Ballytruckle, Bilberry, Bunmahon,...
, Wexford
County Wexford
County Wexford is a county in Ireland. It is part of the South-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Wexford. In pre-Norman times it was part of the Kingdom of Uí Cheinnselaig, whose capital was at Ferns. Wexford County Council is the local...
and Kilkenny
County Kilkenny
County Kilkenny is a county in Ireland. It is part of the South-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. The territory of the county was the core part of the ancient Irish Kingdom of Osraige which in turn was the core of the Diocese of...
. Its garrison depot was at Clonmel
Clonmel
Clonmel is the county town of South Tipperary in Ireland. It is the largest town in the county. While the borough had a population of 15,482 in 2006, another 17,008 people were in the rural hinterland. The town is noted in Irish history for its resistance to the Cromwellian army which sacked both...
. Militarily, the whole of Ireland was administered as a separate command within the United Kingdom
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
with Command Headquarters at Parkgate (Phoenix Park
Phoenix Park
Phoenix Park is an urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying 2–4 km west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its 16 km perimeter wall encloses , one of the largest walled city parks in Europe. It includes large areas of grassland and tree-lined avenues, and since the seventeenth...
) Dublin, directly under the War Office
War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
in London.
Boer War
The regiment participated in the Boer War.First World War
In the First World War, 7 further battalions were raised 5th (Service) Battalion [1914-1919]; three including a mounted unit, the 7th (South Irish Horse) Battalion, for the front and three Garrison Battalions.The Fifth (Service) Battalion and the regular army First Bn and were part of the 10th (Irish) Division.
The 6th (Service) Battalion, volunteers following Kitcheners New Army
Kitchener's Army
The New Army, often referred to as Kitchener's Army or, disparagingly, Kitchener's Mob, was an all-volunteer army formed in the United Kingdom following the outbreak of hostilities in the First World War...
appeal, was part of the 16th (Irish) Division.
The regiment was one of the five disbanded under the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty
Anglo-Irish Treaty
The Anglo-Irish Treaty , officially called the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was a treaty between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and representatives of the secessionist Irish Republic that concluded the Irish War of...
after the establishment of the Irish Free State
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
in 1922.
Easter Rising 1916
The Royal Irish Regiment, made up in the vast majority of local Dubliners and were the first British army troops to attack the Irish rebels during the 1916 Easter Rising who were fighting to end British rule in Ireland and to establish the Irish RepublicIrish Republic
The Irish Republic was a revolutionary state that declared its independence from Great Britain in January 1919. It established a legislature , a government , a court system and a police force...
in Dublin. Eight of the Royal Irish Regiment were killed and sixteen more wounded. Some of these are buried in Grangegorman Military Cemetery
Grangegorman Military Cemetery
Grangegorman Military Cemetery is a British military cemetery in Dublin, Ireland.It is located on Blackhorse Avenue, off the Navan Road and beside the Phoenix Park.-History and Background:...
. The majority of civilian casualties during the Rising were caused by the British. A Royal Irish Regiment officer reported that "they regarded, not unreasonably, everyone they saw as an enemy, and fired at anything that moved".
Battle honours
- Namur 1695, BlenheimBattle of BlenheimThe Battle of Blenheim , fought on 13 August 1704, was a major battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. Louis XIV of France sought to knock Emperor Leopold out of the war by seizing Vienna, the Habsburg capital, and gain a favourable peace settlement...
, Ramillies, OudenardeBattle of OudenardeThe Battle of Oudenaarde was a key battle in the War of the Spanish Succession fought on 11 July 1708 between the forces of Great Britain, the Dutch Republic and the Holy Roman Empire on the one side and the French on the other...
, Malplaquet, Egypt, China, Pegu, Sevastopol, New Zealand, Afghanistan (1879–80), Tel-el-Kebir, Egypt 1882, Nile (1884–85), South Africa (1900–02) - The Great War: Mons, Le Cateau, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914, La Bassée 1914, Ypres 1915 '17 '18, Gravenstafel, St Julien, Frezenberg, Bellewaarde, SommeBattle of the Somme (1916)The Battle of the Somme , also known as the Somme Offensive, took place during the First World War between 1 July and 14 November 1916 in the Somme department of France, on both banks of the river of the same name...
1916 '18, Albert 1916 '18, Bazentin, Delville Wood, Guillemont, Ginchy, Messines 1917, Pilckem, Langemarck 1917, St. Quentin, Rosières, Arras 1918, Drocourt-Quéant, Hindenburg Line, Canal du Nord, St Quentin Canal, Beaurevoir, Cambrai 1918, Courtrai, France and Flanders 1914-18, Struma, Macedonia 1915-17, Suvla, Landing at Suvla, GallipoliBattle of GallipoliThe Gallipoli Campaign, also known as the Dardanelles Campaign or the Battle of Gallipoli, took place at the peninsula of Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire between 25 April 1915 and 9 January 1916, during the First World War...
1915, GazaBattle of GazaBattle of Gaza may refer to:* Battle of Gaza , fought between Ptolemy I of Egypt and Demetrius I of Macedon* Battle of Raphia, also known as Battle of Gaza, fought between Ptolemy IV of Egypt and Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom in 217 BC* Three World War I battles between British...
, Jerusalem, Tell 'Asur, Megiddo, Nablus, Palestine 1917-18
Victoria Crosses
The following members of the Regiment were awarded the Victoria CrossVictoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
:
- Private John BarryJohn Barry (VC)John Barry VC born St Mary's parish, Kilkenny, Ireland, was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.Barry was 27 years old, and a private in the 1st Battalion,...
, Second Boer WarSecond Boer WarThe Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State... - Private (Acting Lance-Corporal) Frederick George RoomFrederick George RoomFrederick George Room VC was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.-Details:...
, Great War
Great War Memorials
- Irish National War Memorial GardensIrish National War Memorial GardensThe Irish National War Memorial Gardens is an Irish war memorial in Islandbridge, Dublin dedicated "to the memory of the 49,400 Irish soldiers who gave their lives in the Great War, 1914–1918", out of over 300,000 Irishmen who served in all armies....
, Dublin. - Island of Ireland Peace ParkIsland of Ireland Peace ParkThe Island of Ireland Peace Park and its surrounding park , also called the Irish Peace Park or Irish Peace Tower in Messines, near Ypres in Flanders, Belgium, is a war memorial to the soldiers of the island of Ireland who died, were wounded or are missing from World War I, during Ireland's...
Messines, Belgium. - Ulster Tower MemorialUlster Tower ThiepvalThe Ulster Tower is a memorial to the men of the 36th Division. The memorial was officially opened on November 19, 1921 and is a very close copy of Helen's Tower which stands in the grounds of the Clandeboye Estate, near Bangor, County Down in Northern Ireland...
Thiepval, France. - Menin Gate Memorial Ypres, Belgium.
Colonels
- 1762 to 1794 Sir James Saunders Sebright
- 1794 to 1811 Sir James Pulteney, 7th BtSir James Murray-Pulteney, 7th BaronetGeneral Sir James Murray Pulteney, 7th Baronet PC was a Scottish soldier and British politician.-Background and education:...