About Us

 

Our Mission

The Military Heritage of Ireland Trust is concerned with the study and commemoration of Irish people who served in military forces on land, sea or in the air, wherever in the world and for whatever country, group of countries or cause. From earliest times, evidence can be found of Irish people serving under arms. This is reflected not only in the island's own history of conflict, but in the military history of almost every other part of the world. In some instances Irishmen served in explicitly Irish formations, whether as regulars or as mercenaries; in others they enlisted, fought and died individually in the armed services of states, empires, nationalist movements and private enterprises.

Britain's growing need for men in the era of colonial expansion was qualified, particularly at officer level, by the intertwined issues of religion and allegiance. This meant that in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Gaelic or Catholic military tradition was maintained, in an era when service in the British forces was impossible, by enlistment in continental armies such as the French, the Austrians, the Spanish, the Russian and even the Ottoman. From the end of the eighteenth century British apprehensions about drawing from the Catholic manpower were largely outweighed by the needs of empire, and in the 19th century British forces came to be disproportionately reliant on Irish recruits. F rom 1780 onwards, and particularly post-famine 1846-48, emigration resulted in a distinctive Irish contribution to the armed forces of the United States and of the emerging Central and South American nations. In the 20th century, the Irish military experience has been shaped by the Boer War, where Irish units fought on both sides, by the experience of Irishmen under British arms in the two world wars, and by the emergence after 1916 of a distinctive style of guerrilla warfare in Ireland itself which saw the eventual establishment of an independent twenty six county Irish state in 1921 and the formation of conventional Irish Defence Forces. Yet the tradition of enlistment in the British services remained strong within both of the major religious and political communities on both sides of the border, while the Irish Defence Forces have since the 1950's been extensively engaged in international peacekeeping in Europe and beyond.

Irish military history and experience consequently continues to reflect the involvement of Irish men and women in operations far beyond the shores on the island. The Military Heritage of Ireland Trust seeks to reflect and to promote the memory of the breadth and extent of that Irish service, wherever the place and whatever the flag.

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Our People

The Military Heritage of Ireland Trust Limited was incorporated as a Limited Company in June 2000. Its Directors are representative of the various traditions in Ireland, North and South, and are from a variety of backgrounds including business, public service and military. 

Directors of the Trust

Maj Gen P.F. Nowlan (Retd) - a retired Defence Forces Officer. He is Chairman and a founder member of the Trust.

Col R.H Bicker (Retd) - a businessman in Northern Ireland, a member of the Council of State and a founder member of the Trust.

Mr J. J Cullinane - Chairman of The Cullinane Group Inc. in Boston, and a founder member of the Trust.

Col W.H Gibson - a retired Defence Forces Officer.

Sir J. R Gorman - former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Northern Ireland, and a founder member of the Trust.

Senator Maurice Hayes - a Senator in Seanad Éireann.

Mr K. C. McGoran - Deputy Chairman of Fitzwilton plc and a founder member of the Trust.

Mr Frank Murray - former Secretary General to the Government.

Maj Gen David O'Morchoe – a retired British Army Officer. Titled ‘The O’Morchoe’ he is titular head of his clan and a founder member of the Trust.

Dr Patrick Wallace - Director of the National Museum of Ireland

Major General Dave Ashe - Deputy Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, and as such is an ex-officio member of the Trust.

Company Secretary

Lt Col Des Johnston – a retired Defence Forces Officer

 

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The trust acknowledges the support of:

The Department of Defence
The Defence Forces
The National Museum of Ireland
The Ireland Funds
Trinity College Dublin
Military Archives, Defence Forces Ireland

The Regimental Associations of:

The Royal Inniskillen Fusiliers, Enniskillen
The Royal Ulster Rifles, Belfast
The Royal Irish Fusiliers, Armagh
An Cosantóir (Defence Forces Magazine)