Trust News Issue November 2005
In this Issue:
A Guide to Irish Military Heritage
A guide to Irish Military Heritage
BRIAN HANLEY
This guide is designed to help those conducting research in to all aspects of Irish military history. Commissioned by the Military Heritage of Ireland Trust, which was established in 2000 to foster knowledge of this heritage, it lists the institutions, archives, public bodies and organizations that specifically hold relevant information on military heritage, relating from the earliest times to the present day.
Also included is a listing of fortifications, battle sites and places in Ireland relevant to military events in its broadest sense. Where possible, email, website and telephone details are also included, as are museum and archival depositories opening times.
The guide is completed with an extensive bibliography listing books and articles that have been published on military history, particularly those in the last twenty years.
To read about Directory of Irish archives 4th edition click here
Brian Hanley is Government of Ireland Research Fellow at NUI Maynooth. He is the author of the critically acclaimed The IRA, 1926-1936 (Four Courts Press, 2002).
1-85182-788-9 |
Price: |
€30/£25/$35 hbk |
ISBN: |
1-85182-789-7 |
Publication
‘The Rifles are There’
The Royal Ulster Rifles Regimental Association announces the publication of ‘The Rifles are There’ by David Orr and David Truesdale – the story of the 1 st and 2 nd Battalions of Regiment during the second world war.
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The book tells how at the outbreak of the war the 1st Battalion was garrisoned in India and the 2nd went to France with the BEF. Later, in Normandy, the 1 st landed by glider and the 2nd from the sea at SWORD beach. The work goes on to describe both Battalions manoeuvres across North Western Europe, in particular their engagements at the Ardennes and in crossing the Rhine. |
The Foreword is by Major General Corran Purdon, and the book retails at £19.99, with an introductory price of £18 at the
Royal Ulster Rifles Museum,
5 Waring St.,
Belfast BT1 2EW
Tel: 028 9023 2086 or
E-mail rurmuseum@yahoo.co.uk .
National appeal for Military History Material
National Museum of Ireland
The National Museum of Ireland is currently organising a major new exhibition, due to open at Collins Barracks in May 2005. This will tell the stories of Irish soldiers, their families and Irish civilians affected by war, across 450 years of history, from the Elizabethan Wars of the 16 th Century to the Irish UN departure from the Lebanon in 1997.
While the National Museum holds what is probably the finest collection of Irish-related military items in the world, forming an outstanding repository of our country’s martial heritage, we are seeking the donation of items to add still further to the depth and character of our Collections. If you are interested in donating military material to the National Museum, there are a number of ways in which you can help:
The Social & Economic impact of Military Life in Ireland
Items associated with the social interactions between civilians and the military in nineteenth-century Ireland (e.g. artefacts and photos relating to sporting events and to the weddings of army men to local women); objects made locally for sale to soldiers' wives and children; samplers with military themes; and other objects showing the economic and social impact of the British garrison in Ireland, and how it was viewed by the local population.
Soldiering
Objects associated with the Irish Regiments of the British Army that were disbanded in 1922, particularly musical instruments; everyday objects related to World War I soldiering in the trenches such as camp kettles, petrol cans, entrenching tools, helmets, gas masks and material related to gas protection, medical supplies, ID tags. Also, personal objects, letters and photographs used in war that have a link to a particular individual who served between 1550 and 1945.
Uniforms
The Museum holds a large uniform Collection, which we would like to supplement with Wild Geese uniforms (Irish Regiments in the French and Spanish armies), World War One Service uniforms and trench coats, officer’s uniforms from the Volunteer Force (c. 1936), firemen’s protective suits from the Emergency period, uniforms of the Local Security Force, Local Defence Force (Emergency period), and. Emergency period de-mobilisation suits (1940s).
Civilian objects
We are also seeking objects that illustrate how civilians coped with the constraints of the Emergency (1939- 1945), particularly the lack of imported goods, fuel and transportation. Examples might include civilian clothing adapted from old military uniforms, turf-burning stoves, special recipes, ration books and so on. As well as this we are interested in objects connected with the German and British internees in the Curragh during the Emergency, and artefacts connected with World War One munitions factories and workers.
If you feel you have material you would like to donate, please contact us at: The Military Collections,
Arts & Industrial Division,
National Museum of Ireland,
Collins Barracks,
Benburb St., Dublin 7.
Tel: (01) 648 6487/8
Alternatively email spierce@museum.ie or .
NOTE
Please note that donations to the National Museum of Ireland involve a full transfer of ownership, including copyright. In exceptional circumstances we may accept material on a loan basis for a minimum of ten years. We cannot guarantee that donated objects will be placed on exhibition, however they will become part of the national collection of Irish military material, available for research and preserved for future generations.
Current & Future Events
Double Event
National Day of Commemoration
Two commemorative events were held on the 10 th of July this year in Dublin. The annual National Day of Commemoration ceremonies were held in the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham. The commemoration is held annually to honour Irish men and women who died in past wars or in service with the United Nations and is open to the public. The President of Ireland, Mrs. Mary McAleese, and the Taoiseach, Mr. Ahern, led the commemoration, and were accompanied by members of Government and the Opposition, the Diplomatic Corps, and senior members of the Judiciary, Defence Forces and Gardaí. The worldwide extent of Irish military traditions was evident in the great variety of medals worn by the many Irish present who had served in armies at home and abroad in foreign wars and on UN service.
Mr Ahern, who opened the ceremony, stated "It is fitting that we remember here today all those Irish men and Irish women who died in past wars or on service with the United Nations." An inter-denominational prayer service was held at the beginning of the ceremony, with prayers from Dr. Yaakov Pearlman, Chief Rabbi of Ireland, the Most Reverend Dr Diarmuid Martin, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, the Reverend Alan Boal, Presbyterian Church of Ireland, the Most Reverend Dr John Neill, Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, the Reverend Fr. Athanasius George of the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Reverend Donaldson R. Rogers, District Secretary of the Dublin Methodist Synod and Dr. Ali Qirbi from the Islamic Cultural Centre. The prayer service was followed by a dignified military ceremony with Cadets from the Military College, Curragh Camp and the No.1 Army Band, with pipers from other units of the Defence Forces.
Col. Robert Fitzgerald, Lt. Col. Desmond Johnston retd. (Secretary MHIT), Lt. Gen. James Sreenan (Chief of Staff) and Col. Feardorcha Lee retd.
at the National Commemoration Day ceremony
Anniversary of the end of WW2
The second event was held later that afternoon when Royal British Legion in the Republic of Ireland held an ecumenical service at the magnificent setting of the Irish National War Memorial at Island Bridge in Dublin. The service and the accompanying ceremonies, open to the public and well attended, were in commemoration of the 60 th anniversary of the end of World War Two. All branches of the Legion in Ireland were represented and paraded their Standards. Wreaths were laid on behalf of the President and the Government, and by many others representing the participants in that war, including the Military Attachés from the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The Band of the Eastern Command, accompanied by Defence Forces Pipers, also took part in the ceremonies.
Maj. Gen. Patrick F. Nowlan (Chairman M.H.I.T.), Mr. Frank Murray, Lt. Gen. David, The O'Morchoe (Chairman, Royal British Legion Ireland)and Mr. Michael McDowell, Minister for Justice pictured at the Irish War Memorial, Islandbridge, Dublin.
Home and Away: Irish soldiers of the First World War remembered .
The Heritage Room in the Irish Museum of Modern Art at the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, now contains an exhibition about the Royal Dublin Fusiliers who participated in the Gallipoli campaign ninety years ago. Over 3,400 Irish soldiers died in that failed attempt to capture Istanbul and overcome the stalemate on the Western Front. Most lie in unmarked graves. The Gallipoli peninsula is redolent with links to Ireland and Dublin in particular. It is worth recalling those links in the context of the current debate on Turkey's application to join the EU. The display is designed for those who are not familiar with the topic but will also be of interest to the specialist. Admission is free.
The Band of the Eastern Brigade, under the baton of Comdt. Mark Armstrong, at the ceremony at the Irish War Memorial, Islandbridge, Dublin on 10th July.
Sean Taheny, Sligo. Veteran of US army in Korean War 1952-3.
He Served with HQ I-R pln, 45 Inf , 179 Regt.
John Clarke, Dublin. Private 1st Bn. Roral Welch Fusiliers In Korea 1951-52
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