Eight infantry regiments of the British Army recruited in Ireland, each of which maintained a peacetime complement of two ‘active’ battalions and at least one battalion of reservists. The exception to this rule was the London-based Irish Guards regiment, which only retained a single battalion of choice troops. As the fundamental tactical unit of the … Read more
The focal point of the Battle of Mons (23 August 1914) was a loop in the canal that attracted fierce German assaults. Therein, a machine-gun section commanded by Lt Maurice Dease from Westmeath defended the crucial Nimy Bridge. Within hours, most of Dease’s comrades lay dead or injured. Despite suffering from multiple wounds himself, Dease … Read more
When the Allies reached the Aisne in mid-September, they found that the Germans had dug in on high ground overlooking the river. Having successfully crossed a shaky pontoon bridge under deadly shellfire, the Irish Rifles suffered badly in front of these positions. Recklessly continuing their advance across open ground, two companies, including a number of … Read more
The First World War was the most pivotal event in modern Irish history. Arguably few other European nations were as fundamentally transformed by the war as Ireland was, and the island as we know it today was formed to a great extent by the conflict. Well over 200,000 Irishmen served in the British forces during … Read more
Sir,—Dr Brian Hanley’s ‘“The forgotten massacre”: responses to the Dublin and Monaghan bombings’ (HI 22.3, May/June 2014) provides a very full account of both the political and media responses in the aftermath of the bombings. For those reading these responses for the first time, they will have found some of the reactions quite unexpected in … Read more