Curragh Camp
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Curragh Camp is an army base and military college located in The Curragh, County Kildare, Ireland. It is the main training centre for the Irish Army.
Historically a military assembly area (being chosen by Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnel as a muster point for the cause of James II in the Glorious Revolution) it is so named as it had been used for soldiers to camp on under canvas tents for centuries.
The first permanent military structures were built in 1855 by British soldiers preparing for the Crimean War.
In the following decade Queen Victoria visited to inspect troops, and as her son (Edward VII the then Prince of Wales) was serving at the camp.
In 1879 the first of the "modern" barracks (Beresford Barracks) was built at the camp, and seven new barracks were subsequently constructed through the turn of the century.
[edit] Wartime internment
The camp was the location of the Curragh incident in 1914. It was also used as a military detention centre where civil war prisoners and, later, members and suspected members of the Irish Republican Army were interned on various occasions between the 1920s and the 1950s. It was also used to intern Allied and Axis personnel who had found themselves in Ireland during World War II. British Personnel were interned at the Curragh, whereas US personnel were repatriated due to an agreement between the Irish and US governments. The "Internees" at the Curragh were not always strictly contained, and many were allowed to attend social events outside the detention camp, own bicyles and travel into Dublin under supervision. Some of those interned at the Curragh eventually married into the area and remained in Ireland after the war, while others return frequently to maintain local contact.
[edit] Modern times
The Curragh Camp is now home to the Defence Forces Training Centre of the Irish Defence Forces, housing the Command and Staff School, the Cadet School, the Infantry School, the Artillery School and the United Nations School.
The Curragh Camp has seen extensive modernisation in recent years. Billet blocks are being refurbished and dining and messing facilities have been radically upgraded for all ranks. Other developments include a new workshop complex and a massive garage for the new Mowag APCs.
The tallest building in the Curragh is the Fire Station, where the Army maintain a modern fire fighting service. The area is no longer occupied solely by the military, and many of those living in the environs of the Camp have no connection to the Army. Many personnel in fact choose to live in nearby Newbridge.
Although the Camp has its own small-arms ranges adjacent to the Hospital, the nearest tactical area is in the Glen of Imaal Co Wicklow.
