The establishment of the Irish Free State, following the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921 and the demand for cuts in the British army in the light of the worsening economic situation, led to the disbandment of the Southern Irish Regiments in 1922. The Royal Irish Regiment, Connaught Rangers, Leinster Regiment, Royal Munster Fusiliers and Royal Dublin Fusiliers were formally disbanded in June 1922. Many of the soldiers of these regiments transferred to other units within the British army. The reduction of the size of the army also affected two of the 'Northern' Regiments; the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and Royal Irish Fusiliers both of which had recruiting areas which took in counties in both Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State. This talk will consider the disbandments of 1922, along with continuing Irish recruitment to the British army in the inter-war period.
Dr Timothy Bowman is Reader in Military History at the University of Kent. His book, The Disparity of Sacrifice: Irish recruitment to the British Armed Forces, 1914-18, co-authored with William Butler and Michael Wheatley, has just been published in paperback by Liverpool University Press.
This talk is being held with PRONI.
Link to Register for the talk: https://bit.ly/40PMO4t
Link is sent out an hour before the event.