With an antecedence reaching back to 1688, the regiment was formed in 1992. The creation followed the Options for Change proposals which recommended through the amalgamation of the Royal Irish Rangers and the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR). Most of the membership of the new regiment came from the UDR. This produced a regiment with eleven battalions:
7th (City of Belfast) Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment
8th (County Tyrone) Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment
9th (County Antrim) Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment
The Home Service battalions, permanently based in Northern Ireland, filled the role formerly occupied by the UDR, conducting counter-terrorism operations in Northern Ireland under Operation BANNER. The 1st and 2nd Battalions could serve worldwide as general service battalions.
Because of its size, the regiment was removed from the King's Division and existed outside the divisions of infantry. In 1993, the two regular battalions were amalgamated as 1 R IRISH. In 2001, the number of Home Service battalions reduced to three:
2nd Battalion — amalgamation of 7th and 9th Battalions
3rd Battalion — amalgamation of 3rd and 8th Battalions[3]
4th Battalion — amalgamation of 4th and 5th Battalions
Current organisation[]
In 2005, the government announced the end of Operation BANNER, and with it the disbandment of the Home Service battalions. These were declared non-operational in October 2006, and disbanded in July 2007. At the same time, the Royal Irish Rangers, then serving as the TA battalion, was renamed as 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment. Today, the operational command of the Royal Irish Regiment encompasses:
Regimental Headquarters was, until Summer 2007, at St Patrick's Barracks, Ballymena, and is now at Palace Barracks, Holywood, Belfast.
Restructuring[]
In 2004, a major restructuring of the infantry was announced. It recommended, inter alia, that all the remaining single battalion infantry regiments would be amalgamated. Under normal circumstances, this would have put the Royal Irish Regiment at risk but because of its unique status providing the home defence for Northern Ireland, and as the only remaining Irish line infantry regiment, it was decided to leave the Royal Irish Regiment as it was. This allowed a 'line infantry footprint' to remain in Northern Ireland.
In Northern Ireland the Regiment recruits from all sections of the community and both sides of the sectarian divide. In common with other line infantry regiments it has recruited many non-UK personnel, particularly from across the border in the Republic of Ireland, which permits its citizens to enlist in the British forces, but forbids active recruiting[citation needed].
The regiment also recruits from overseas countries such as South Africa, Zimbabwe, Fiji and from around the Caribbean.
Current structure[]
1st Battalion[]
The 1st Battalion, as part of the restructuring of the infantry, has assumed a fixed role as a light role battalion, rotating with two other line infantry/rifles battalions in the air assault role as part of 16 Air Assault Brigade. As part of this the battalion moved from Fort George, Inverness to Tern Hill in 2007. In September 2008 the battalion completed a tour in the Operational Mentoring and Liaison role in Afghanistan (Op HERRICK VIII) and returned to Shropshire, following which it became the first unit in the Army to receive three Conspicuous Gallantry Crosses (CGC) in a single operation. The Battalion has since deployed again to Afghanistan with 16 Air Assault in HERRICK XIII.[4][5][6] Under Army 2020, the battalion will remain at Tern Hill but it will not remain as part of 16 AA BDE.[7] Instead, it is given a light protected mobility role.[8]
The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) announced an end to its armed campaign in the summer of 2005. In response the United Kingdom government announced military cuts which included the Royal Irish Regiment. Having played a significant role in creating the environment for normalisation the Home Service Battalions of the Regiment were told that they would be disbanded. In March 2006, a redundancy package was announced and they ceased to be operational in October that year. On 1 August 2007 Operation BANNER, the military support to the civilian police (the Police Service of Northern Ireland, PSNI) in Northern Ireland ended, and the three HS battalions were disbanded.[9]
We will never forget that over 200 Royal Irish home service/UDR personnel have made the ultimate sacrifice while serving in Northern Ireland. I know that the day of disbandment will be a sad one for the battalion and for each and every member of the home service, but we should take the opportunity and look at how far we have come.
”
Regimental Colonel Mark Campbell said 'The end of Operation BANNER (the military operation in support of the Police Service of Northern Ireland) reflects the success of the home service whose men and women have played a significant role in bringing Northern Ireland to the far more peaceful circumstances it enjoys today.'
The home service battalions were awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross (CGC) by HM The Queen in Belfast, on 6 October 2006.[10] It is the first time the gallantry decoration, second in precedence only to the Victoria Cross, has been awarded to a military unit rather than to an individual member of the armed forces.
The 1st Battalion, other than accepting transfers of willing Home Service soldiers into its Order of battle, was unaffected by these disbandments. As part of the reduction of Army strength in Northern Ireland to a conventional garrison, the RHQ in Ballymena was designated for closure. It closed in the Summer of 2008, with Royal Irish RHQ moving to Palace Barracks in Belfast. The Royal Irish band, the largest musical ensemble in the British Army, has been transferred to the Territorial Army.
The 2nd Battalion (previously The Rangers)[]
Individual members of the Rangers served on operations in Op TELIC in Iraq. They served with 1 R IRISH during the ground war in 2003 and, inter alia, the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (PWRR) in Al Amarrah and in other areas of Iraq with 1 R IRISH and The London Regiment. With 1 R IRISH now back as part of 16 Air Assault Brigade, the newly titled 2nd Battalion are now trained for a more operational role commitment, in support of their regular counterparts as Air Assault Infantry. A formed company (Imjin Company) of 2 R IRISH was part of the R IRISH Battlegroup (BG) in Helmand in HERRICK VIII while over 80 members of 2 R IRISH served with 1 R IRISH in HERRICK XIII in 2010-11. As of 4 April 2012, 2 R IRISH has now been assigned a fixed role with 16 Air Assault Brigade, the UK's Worldwide Rapid Reaction Brigade, supporting 1 R IRISH.
Under Army 2020, it will be an Army Reserve light infantry battalion under 7th Infantry Brigade and not under 16th Air Assault.[11]
The 1st Battalion is currently part of 16 Air Assault Brigade. This Brigade is one of two British light brigades, designed to be capable of rapidly deploying to trouble spots around the world.
In 2000 in Sierra Leone, while deployed to train government troops, eleven Royal Irish soldiers and their local army liaison officer, were kidnapped by the West Side Boys insurgents. Five hostages were later released and the remaining six were freed by the Special Air Service and The Parachute Regiment during Operation BARRAS, with the West Side Boys suffering severe casualties in the action.[12]
1 R IRISH returned from six months in Iraq on Op TELIC 6/7 where they served in the Shaibah Logistics Base near Basra. Although the majority of the Battalion was deployed around the MND(SE) area a single Company was deployed to Baghdad.
Three platoons of 1 R IRISH (Barrosa, Somme and Ranger Platoons) deployed to Afghanistan in 2006, as part of 16 Air Assault Brigade and supported 3rd Parachute Regiment, the later forming 9 Platoon, C Coy, 3 PARA. They were involved in some of the heaviest fighting during HERRICK IV. Lance Corporal Paul Muirhead, Lance Corporal Luke McCulloch and Ranger Anare Draiva lost their lives to enemy fire during HERRICK IV.
1 R IRISH and 2 R IRISH deployed to Afghanistan in 2008, as part of 16 Air Assault Brigade. 1 R IRISH provided Operational mentoring and Liaison Teams (OMLT) to assist in training the Afgahn National Army (ANA) and Afghan National Police (ANP), and 2 R IRISH were the first Territorial Army company strength grouping to provide OMLT training from NATO forces. They were also the first TA Company to fully man Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) within the green zone. One Company of the 1st Battalion, attached to 2 PARA, named Ranger Company, undertook offensive operations in the Sangin area of Helmand Province. 1 R IRISH lost Ranger Justin Cupples to an improvised explosive device (IED) during HERRICK VIII.
1 and 2 R IRISH again deployed with 16 Air Assault Brigade to Afghanistan on HERRICK XIII from September 2010. Based in the southern part of Helmand, they lost three soldiers during their operational tour. 1 R IRISH lost Lance Corporal Stephen McKee, Ranger Aaron McCormick and Ranger David Dalzell during HERRICK XIII.
Up to May 2010, 32 Elizabeth Cross and Memorial Scrolls have been issued to the families of Royal Irish personnel.[24]
Other information[]
In memory of a conflict, in 2006, involving the regiment in a battle in the town of Musa Qala in Afghanistan, a new Regimental March, composed by Chris Attrill and commissioned by Larne Borough Council, was given to the regiment on Saturday 1 November 2008 in Larne, County Antrim during an event in which the regiment was also presented with the 'Freedom of the Borough'. This gives the regiment the right to march through the town with 'flags flying, bands playing and bayonets fixed'. The March was named, 'Musa Qala'.[25]
United Kingdom
Canada - The Princess Louise Fusiliers
