Synopsis
The Irish Brigades, 1685-2006
Commissioned by The Military Heritage of Ireland Trust
and compiled by Dr David Murphy
Between 1685 and 2006, Irish soldiers have served in various armies across the world and they have fought in every major war of this period. The defeat of the Jacobite cause in Ireland forced many Irish soldiers to seek their fortunes abroad in the French, Spanish and Austrian armies and the armies of the Italian states. Irish soldiers fought in the numerous dynastic wars of the eighteenth century including the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-14) and the Seven Years War (1756-63).
The large-scale economic migrations of the nineteenth century forced generations of Irishmen abroad and thousands of them later served in armies in North America, Mexico, South America and South Africa, among others. Irish soldiers played a prominent part in the American Civil War in particular, serving both the Union and Confederate causes. It was one of the many tragedies of this war that Irish soldiers opposed each other at several battles including Fredericksburg (1862) and Gettysburg (1863).
Throughout this period, Irish soldiers served in the British army and campaigned across the world in Britain’s imperial wars of empire. The outbreak of war with Revolutionary France in 1793 saw the beginning of a new phase of Irish military activity in the British army as Irish Catholic soldiers were enlisted into a number of new battalions. These battalions would later evolve into regiments such as the Connaught Rangers, Royal Irish Rifles and the Royal Irish Fusiliers. During the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars they established a fearsome reputation on the battlefields of Portugal, Spain, France and Flanders.
Irish soldiers also formed a significant contingent in the British army in India and when the regiments of this army were reorganised in the late nineteenth century, some of the regiments that had been founded in India took on Irish titles. These included the Royal Munster Fusiliers and the Royal Dublin Fusiliers. Both World Wars saw the involvement of large Irish contingents within the British Army and they served on the battlefields of Europe, North Africa and the Far East.
On the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922 a new national army was developed, and in modern times Irish servicemen and women continued to serve in far-flung locations but on these later occasions in the service of the United Nations. The modern Irish Defence Forces have established an enviable record in the history of UN peace support operations, including UN approved NATO led missions. Since 1958 Irish soldiers have continuously served on UN missions. Somewhere there is an Irish soldier serving his country on peacekeeping duties every hour of every day from 1958 to present times. The continuing frequent and increasing requests from the international community for Irish soldiers to serve on peace support operations is evidence of the universal appreciation of the quality of this service delivered by Irish soldiers. Such service has included long-term missions such as the UNIFIL mission in Lebanon (1978 to present) and also emergency interventions such as the Congo mission (ONUC) of 1960-4. That service has not been without cost and over 100 Irish soldiers have lost their lives while on peacekeeping missions.
The Irish regiments have been the focus of many individual histories but their service has never been outlined in a single volume as previous histories have tended to focus on Irish soldiers in specific armies. The Military Heritage of Ireland Trust has commissioned this single volume gazetteer to encompass the histories of all Irish regiments, regardless of which country they served. It contains summarised histories of all regiments that were either raised in Ireland or bore a specific Irish title or regimental designation. It details the service of these regiments on various continents and examines their service in Europe, America, Africa, India, the Middle East, the Far East and other locations. In separate sections, the histories of the Irish regiments of the following services are summarised:
- the French service
- the Spanish service
- the service of the Italian states
- the British army (including the East India Company regiments)
- Irish regiments in the Americas, including regiments in Mexico, Brazil and North America.
- “colonial” units raised in South Africa, Australia etc.
It is intended that this gazetteer will complement A Guide to Irish Military Heritage (2004), compiled by Brian Hanley, an earlier project of the Military Heritage Trust of Ireland. The ultimate aim of this gazetteer is to illustrate the importance and diversity of the Irish military tradition over the last three centuries. This is an aspect of Irish history that has often been overlooked but it is increasingly apparent that it was a major factor in the Irish national experience.
The Publisher
The Irish Brigades 1685 – 2006 is published by The Fourcourts Press Ltd., 7 Malpas Street, Dublin 8, Ireland .
Hardback: 352pp ills. 2007 352pp ills. 2007
ISBN: 978-1-84682-080-9
Catalogue Price: €50 Web Price: €45
Email: info@four-courts-press.ie Website: http://www.four-courts-press.ie
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