Irish units have served in the British Army since its inception. Throughout the centuries individual Irish and units alike became famous due to heroic exploits and strategic prowess. Around Ireland today memorials and place names remember the service of the Irish from as far back as the Williamite period, through to the Napoleonic Wars, Crimea, the Anglo-Boer Wars, and the Great War, to name a few. Following the established of the Irish Free State in 1922 the southern Irish regiments were disbanded.
On Monday 12 June 1922, King George V received the Colours of the British Army regiments from the south of Ireland at a special ceremony at St. George’s Hall, Windsor Castle. The Colours were to be kept forever in his care. The six regiments were The Royal Irish Regiment, the Connaught Rangers, the Prince of Wales’s Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians), the Royal Munster Fusiliers, the Royal Dublin Fusiliers and the South Irish Horse. All had served with distinction around the globe, and all had served in the Great War 1914-18. They had long and proud traditions, The Royal Irish Regiment for example, could trace its heritage back 250 years. For the Irish regiments in 1922 we can only imagine how they felt. The Colours not only represented the history and traditions of the units, but the memory of those who had served and paid the ultimate sacrifice. Only less than four years earlier the guns fell silent along the trenches of the Great War. Over 200,000 Irish had served in that conflict with the British forces alone; an estimated 49,000 died while serving in that war.
Addressing the representatives of each regiment, King George V said:
"We are here today in circumstances which cannot fail to strike a note of sadness in our hearts. No Regiment parts with their Colours without feelings of sorrow. A knight in days gone by bore on his shield his coat-of-arms, tokens of valour and worth. Only to death did he surrender them.
Your Colours are the records of valorous deeds in war and of the glorious traditions thereby created. You are called upon to part with them today for reasons beyond your control and resistance. By you and your predecessors these Colours have been reverenced and guarded as a sacred trust - which trust you now confide in me.
As your King I am proud to accept this trust. But I fully realise with what grief you relinquish these dearly-prized emblems; and I pledge my word that within these ancient and historic walls your Colours will be treasured, honoured, and protected as hallowed memorials of the glorious deeds of brave and loyal regiments” (The London Times)
Outside the Hall the band played the regimental slow marches: Oft in the Stilly Night, The Harp That Once Through Tara's Halls, Let Erin Remember. Inside the Hall, to this evocative music, each Colour party marched forward in succession, led by its commanding officer, and handed their Colours to the King.
To mark the centenary on 12 June 2022, the Combined Irish Regiments Association held a ceremony at the Cenotaph in London. With their kind permission we were there to record the event.
Led by the London Irish Rifles Pipes and Drums, friends, relatives and descendants from those who served in the Irish regiments over 100 years ago and retired and serving members of The Royal Irish Regiment, British Armed Forces, and the Irish Defence Forces, remembered the disbanded Irish regiments and remembered those who had paid the ultimate sacrifice.
The Association hold an annual parade in June. They welcomes all those who have served right across the Irish Regimental family to join then.
You can find out more about the Combined Irish Regiments Association at: www.ciroca.org.uk
Facebook: Combined Irish Regiments Association
Twitter: @CirAssn
Or by writing to: webmaster@ciroca.org.uk
This video was facilitated by the Community Foundation Ireland.
This video is a production of The Irish Military Heritage Foundation CLG: (RCN) 20203159.
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3 май 2024
