The 2nd Battalion Royal Ulster Rifles And

  REGIMENTAL BATTLE HONOURS

Namur 1695, Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, Malplaquet, Egypt, China, Pegu, Sevastopol,

New Zealand, Afghanistan 1879- 80 , Tel-el-Kebir, Egypt 1882, Nile 1884-85, South Africa 1900-02

  FIRST WORLD WAR BATTLE HONOURS ( 10 battalions )

Mons, Le Cateau, Retreat From Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914, La Bassee 1914, Ypres 1915 - 1917-1918, Gravenstafel,

St Julien, Frezenberg, Bellewaarde, Somme 1916-1918, Albert 1916-1918, Bazentine, Deville Wood, Guillemont, Ginchy, Messines 1917, Pilckem, Langemarck 1917, St. Quentin, Rosieres, Arras 1918, Drocourt- Queant, Hindenburg Line, Canal du Nord,

St. Quentin Canal, Beaurevoir, Cambrai, France and Flanders 1914-1918. Struma, Macedonia 1915 1917, Suvla, Gallipoli 1915,

Gaza, Jerusalem, Tell' Asur, Megiddo, Nablus, Palestine 1917-1918

Charles the II raised the Royal Irish Regiment on the 1st of April 1684.This was a period during the seventeenth century before the first Irish Regiments formally became part of the British Army, when reorganizing the military forces of Ireland into regiments.

These regiments until now consisted of a regiment of Irish Foot Guards raised in England in 1662, and independent troops of cavalry and companies of Infantry that had garrisoned important places throughout the island.Many Officers by this time had served on the Continent and many in the ranks were descendants of Cromwells veterans so that when Arthur Forbes, Viscount Granard was granted the colonelcy of one of these newly raised regiments to be known as Granard's regiment, all ranks were experienced soldiers. Arthur was the eldest son of Sir Arthur Forbes , Bart , of Castle Forbes, County Longford and had been a cavalry officer in the Royal Army during the rebellion in the reign of Charles I .

James II followed his brother Charles II to the throne of England in February 1685, a zealous catholic in a protestant nation, James tried to put through a policey of genuine civic and religious equality for all his Christian subjects, openly however, favouring Roan Catholics, who were in fact restrained from holding office under a wide range of penal laws. He defied Parliament useing his royal prerogatives and alarmingly introduced catholic Officers into the Standing Army. In March 1685 James ordered that two Catholic officers, Colonels Richard Talbot and Justin MacCarthy, be given regiments, which meant that the statutory requirements for taking the oath of supremacy were being dispensed with. Within months Jame's ploicy amounted to turning a protestant army into a predominantly Catholic army.That summer Talbot was ordered to Ireland and began re-modelling James's army, admitting many Catholics. James soon raised him to the peerage as the earl of Tyrconnell and in 1686, when he was appointed Lord General of the army he ruthlessly carried out a religious purge dismissing from many regiments all the Protestants in ranks replacing them with Catholics. Two of Lord Granard's Captains , John St Ledger and Frederick hamilton were disbanded soley because of their religious beliefs. In Protest Granard resigned his commission in favour of his son Arthur, Lord Forbes. A bold and daring man, Forbes had learnt his trade of war first with the army of France and later in a campaign against the Turks in Hungary.Through political influence and in defiance of Tyrconnell, he retained in his regiment ' more good officers, sergeants and old soldiers than any other colonel.

In 1687, when the domineering Tyrconnell was appointed Viceroy of Ireland alarm among the Irish Protestants spread rapidly.

At the same time throughout England was a growing dissatisfaction with James's method of rule and his continual pressuring for the inclusion of Roman Catholics everywhere.Further alarm spread when a legitimate son was born to James a Catholic heir who could break the succession to the British throne, that of the protestant Princess Mary, daughter of James and wife of the Dutch Prince of Orange who had expected her to inherit the British Crown. A small group of influential statemen and peers invited Prince William to come to England to save the nation from Catholic ' Tyranny '.As a Protestant heading the Augsburg League of Protestant nations against Catholic France Williiam was already committed to bringing England into his ongoing struggle against Loius XIV and to prevent James from forming an alliance with France. William accepted . It was this political European background that drew Ireland into the subsequent war. Lord Forbes's Foot ( the 18th ) was one of the regiments ordered to England from Ireland by James to meet an invasion threat by William of Orangein 1688. The regiment marched to salisbury where James was gathering his army to meet Williams force which had landed at Torbay in Devon in November. James's world was collapsing, his popularity was such that even his own daughter Anne deserted him. James abandoned his army and fled to France to the protection of the French King. Most of James's army submitted to William but not all were welcome. William ordered Lord Forbes to disband the Roman catholics of his regiment and some five hundred officers and men were were disarmed and sent to the Isle of Wight.

There was much confusion at this time but Forbes ably kept together some officers, many non commissioned officers and about one hundred and thirty privates to remain with the colours. For the age William was not intolerant of Catholics in ecclesiastical affairs, but he did not welcome them into his army. As for Lord Forbes, he resigned his commission during the winter of 1688-89 on the grounds that having sworn allegiance to James II, he could bear arms for no other king. The Honourable Edward Brabazon, Earl of Meath, followed as Colonel in May 1689, when William re-officered the now enlarged regiment and meath's was numbered 18th of the Infantry of the line to become the oldest Irish Regiment ( In 1751, the regiment was officially ranked as the 18th Regiment of Foot- although it was older than all but six other line regiments, it had not been placed on the English establishment until 1689, lowering its precedence ) James was finally defeated by William at the Battle of the Boyne in Ireland ( July 1st 1690 ) but the war dragged on until the signing of the Treaty of Limerick on the 3rd of October 1691, which formally brought williams Irish campaign to an end. At the standing down of Williams irish force the 18th Regiment of Foot was unique because it was the only regiment originally from James's Irish Army to be taken into the British Army by William, possibly it was said because of the many protestants in its ranks.

The 18th Foot began to establish a tradition for valour when the regiment greatly distinguished itself in the siege of Namur, a fortress King Willam recaptured from the French in his first successful campaign on the continent in 1695. In the storming of the Terra Nova breach under their able General, the much loved Lord Cutts, nickmaned ' Salamander ' for his fiery bravery, the 18th foot gallantly charged suffering terrible losses and the attack was a costly failure. After they were forced to retire the 18th foot formed the ' Forlorn hope ' to lead the breakthrough attack and assist the Bavarians at another breach. William was so impressed by the regiment's heroics at the Terra Nova, that he formally conferred upon it the title of the ' Royal Regiment of Foot of Ireland ' with the badge of the Lion of Nassau and the motto " Virtutis Namurcensis Praemium " .

The regiment went back to Ireland soon after 1695. The regiment went to the Low Countries again in 1701 and served with much distinction throughout Marlborough's campaigns at: The Sphynx, Schellenburg, Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, Malpaquet, at the sieges of Liege, Lisle,Tournay, Aire, Bouchain, etc. It remained in Flanders until 1715 when it returned home.From 1718 to 1742 it was stationed in Minorca and during that time sent a detachment to aid the defence of Gibralter against the Spaniards in 1727. The regiment went to Flanders after the battle of Fontenoy in 1745, but returned again to England on account of the troubles in the North. It marched into Edinburgh as the guns were firing to announce the victor at Culloden, and for some years after that date was employed road making in the Highlands.

The regiment was at home most of the time in Ireland- during the seven years war ( 1756-1763) It went to America in 1767 and was at Boston at the outbreak of the war of Independence. It was present at the Battle of Bunker Hill, on the Charlestown Heights on the 17th june 1775, but left Boston For Nova Scotia soon after, and returned home in July 1776. During the rest of the war, the regiment was in England and the Channel Islands and rendered good service in suppressing a dangerous mutiny in a newly formed corps in Guernsey in 1783. It went to Gibralter with the reliefs sent there at the conclusion of the famous siege in 1783, and was still on the Rock at the commencement of the French Revolutionary War.

Above, the Battle of Bunker Hill, although a victory for the British, it was also very costly as can be seen from the lines of dead and wounded. From the 2,200 involved 1,034 became casualties.

The 18th had a highly varied time during that war. it was at the siege of Toulon in 1793, and at the reduction of Corsica in 1794. It was in Elba, in 1796 when that island was held half by the English and half by the French force.it was next employed in Tuscany in 1797 and in the same year a detachment served as marines in the great battle off Cape St Vincent.After this the Regiment was at Gibralter, at Minorca in the demonstrations against Genoa and Cadiz, and ultimately it joined the expeditionary force under Sir Ralph Abercromby, with which it proceeded to Egypt. It fought in the several actions before Alexandria and accompanied the force that ascended the Nile and captured Cairo, returning thence in time to witness the surrender of Alexandria. In October 1801, the regiment moved from Alexandria to malta, and at the peace of Amiens went again to Ireland.At the renewal of the war in 1803, a second battalion was formed at Newry out of the army of reserve in Ireland. After a few years home service the two battalions, each 1,100 strong, went out to the West Indies. the first battalion was part of the reinforcements sent to Jamaica in 1805, before Trafalgar had dissipitated the dangers menacing Britains West indian possessions. It served in the expedition to San Doningo in 1809, afterwards returning to Jamaica. It came home in 1817, having incredible as it now appears, buried 50 officers and 3,000 men belonging to the Battalion during its twelve years sojourn. The 2nd Battalion went to Curacoa in 1807 and returned home in a skeleton state in 1810. It was disbanded in 1814.The regiment now a single battalion corps, served in Malta and the Ionian Islands from 1821 to 1832, and in 1837 proceeded to Ceylon, and afterwards to Madras. It bore a prominent and distingushed part in the first Chinese War of 1840 - 42, its services in which are commemorated by the Dragon badge, which side by side with the Sphinx figured among the battle honours on the colour's. From China the regiment went to India, but was sent back to China, and took part in the operations on the Canton River in 1847, after which it was again in India. The regiment served through the Burmese War of 1851-52.Returning home on the outbreak of the Russian War, the 18th was speedily in the field once more. It joined the army in the Crimea in December 1854and was present at the siege of savastopol, including the attack on the Cemetary on the 18th June 1855. It returned from the Crimea in July and afterwards again served in India from November 1857 to july 1866.

A 2nd Battalion was again formed in 1858, maninly of volunteers from the Irish Militia. It was sent to New Zealand in 1863, and went through the Maori Wars of 1863-66, not the least remarkable among among the many striking episodes in the long, varied and distinguished history of the regiment. It returned home from Australia in 1871.In 1881 the Regiment became the

' Royal Irish Rifles ' The 2nd Battalion went to Egypt and served in the Egyptian Campaign of 1882., including the affairs of Kasassin and the battle of Tel-el-Kebir. The 2nd Battalion in 1885 proceeded to Malta, and subsequently to India. It took part in the Hazara campaign of 1888 and also in the trying operations of the North West Frontier, under Sir William Lockhart in 1897.

The 1st Battalion proceede to Egypt and took part in the Nile Expedition ( To Save Gordon of Khartoum ) where its services in the boats won Lord Wolseley's prize of £100.

In World War 1, the Royal Irish Regiment raised a total od 10 battalions from the pre-war two regular and two reserve battalions.

The additional battalions included two services battalions in Kitchener's First and Second Armies , a battalion formed in 1917 from the dismounted South Irish Horse, a further service battalion and two Garrison Battalions. The regiment won 42 battle honours and one Victoria cross, but lost 2,780 men as casualties. The Regiments Battle Honours tell their story..

In 1922 on the creation of the Irish Free State, the Royal Irish Regiment was disbanded, although their memory lives on with the new Royal Irish Regiment of today.