Researching Irish Soldiers

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IRISH ARMY

The army only came into official existence in 1922, but those who fought during the guerrilla campaign from 1916 to 1921 were retrospectively treated as if they had been members. They are recorded in the military service pension and medal applications held by the Military Archives and online at militaryarchives.ie. The applications can run up to 400 pages and contain a wealth of incidental detail. The Military Archives also have an Irish Army census for 12th-13th November 1922 at census.militaryarchives.ie and a database of medals awarded for service between 1916 and 1921. The Bureau of Military History (bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie) records the oral history of participants in the nationalist struggle between 1913 and 1921.
 

Personnel records of deceased soldiers are currently available to direct next of kin only. Records for those who left the Defence Forces more than thirty years ago are held at the Military Archives in Dublin. Correspondence should be addressed to the Officer in Command Officer in Charge, Military Archives, Cathal Brugha Bks, Rathmines, Dublin 6 or militaryarchives@defenceforces.ie. A brief guide is at www.curragh.info.

The 'Historical articles' section of www.curragh.info includes a complete list of soldiers and their wives who occupied married quarters in the Curragh camp and Magee barracks in Kildare town up to the 1980s, as well as headstone transcripts from the Curragh military cemetery.