| Royal Irish Regiment | |
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Badge of the Royal Irish Regiment |
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| Active | 1684–1922 |
| Country | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |
| Branch | British Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Role | Line Infantry |
| Size | 2 Regular Battalions 3 Militia and Special Reserve Battalions |
| Garrison/HQ | Clonmel |
| Nickname | The Namurs, Paddy's Blackguards |
| Motto | Virtutis Namurcensis Praemium (Reward for Valour at Namur) |
| March | Quick: Garry Owen |
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.[1] 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.[2]
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The regiment was formed in 1684 by the Earl of Granard 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.
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 Illinois 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.
The Royal Irish returned to Gibraltar in 1783, where they remained until the Siege of Toulon in 1793.
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 Shaw 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.
In 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms 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.[3]
The regiment participated in the Boer 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 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.
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 Republic in Dublin.[4] Eight of the Royal Irish Regiment were killed and sixteen more wounded.[5] Some of these are buried in Grangegorman Military Cemetery. The majority of civilian casualties during the Rising were caused by the British.[6] A Royal Irish Regiment officer reported that "they regarded, not unreasonably, everyone they saw as an enemy, and fired at anything that moved".[7]
The following members of the Regiment were awarded the Victoria Cross:
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