The British military legacy is evident throughout Ireland, in terms of architecture, heritage and personal memories. These are some photos.
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Military Barracks in Dublin
There were military barracks all over the country. They were usually the main feature of a town, apart from churches. In Dublin, there were seven main barracks:
Beggar’s Bush, Cathal Brugha (formerly Portobello) barracks, Clancy (formerly Islandbridge) barracks, Collins (formerly Royal) barracks, Griffith (formerly Wellington) barracks, McKee (formerly Marlborough) barracks and Richmond barracks in Inchicore.
Beggars Bush and Clancy have been developed into impressive residential accommodation. Collins and Richmond are museums and community centres, Griffith barracks is now a college, while Cathal Brugha and McKee are still used by the Irish army.
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Beggars Bush Barracks
Opened in 1827, this familiar barracks is on the south of the city, close to Ballsbridge and Ringsend. Relatively small, it was used as a training depot and recruiting centre. It was the first barracks handed over to the new Irish State in 1922 and became headquarters of the new Irish army.
Today, the barracks contains apartments and public institutions such as the Geological Survey and the National Print Museum.
Above : Cannons from the Crimean War of 1853-56 serve as bollards
Above : The main gate from the inside
Above : The main square
Above : Gun slit and look out
Above : Gun embrasures offer maximum protection and vigilance
Above : Military stores
Above : the Chapel is now the National Print Museum
The back wall
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Cathal Brugha, formerly Portobello barracks
Portobello Barracks, in Rathmines, was named for the surrounding Portobello area, which itself was named after the town in Panama raided by naval legend Sir Francis Drake in 1596. Dublin is full of imperial history. Portobello, now Cathal Brugha, has been the main Irish army barracks in the city.
Above: Quarters gable end. Note the in-built post box
Above : Stores building
Above : Another Crimean War cannon…
Drill practise at Portobello, 1905
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Clancy Barracks, formerly Islandbridge Barracks
Built as an artillery barracks in 1800, the design and lay out of Islandbridge is particularly harmonious. So is the location: right by the River Liffey and Phoenix Park and beside the Royal Hospital Kilmainham. The Islandbridge Memorial Garden to the Great War is now also nearby.
Above : The old barracks have been converted into an impressive apartment complex by developers Kennedy Wilson
Clancy Quay | Apartments in Dublin 8, https://www.clancyquay.ie/
Above: Workshops and artillery stores have become apartments
Above : a chlldrens playground now adorns the main square
Above : Tooled calp limestone enhances the design
Above : Stable doors, which look like an owl in flight
Above : The Officers Mess has also become apartments
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Collins, formerly Royal barracks
This is regarded as the oldest purpose-built barracks in the world. Originally built in 1701, it stretches across five squares and faces the River Liffey.
Today, it is a popular museum on military history, as well as one for the decorative arts and crafts. Its Soldiers and Chiefs exhibition chronicles the Irish involvement in the British and European military, and more recently on United Nations peacekeeping duty.
Above : Children can dress as 19th century soldiers
Above : Or as 20th century ones…
Above : Quarters and supply stores
Above : Tunnel to Arbour Hill prison. Wolfe Tone was led through here
Above : Arbour Hill prison, formerly the barracks jail
Above : Outside wall of stables. The metal T’s are holding horse troughs
Above : Officers Mess on Cavalry Square
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Griffith, formerly Wellington, Barracks
On the South Circular road, this site was originally a prison, and then a barracks. It is now Griffith College.
The front of Wellington barracks, as it was.
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McKee, formerly Marlborough, Barracks
Marlborough Barracks, by Phoenix Park, was built later than other barracks, in the 1880s. It was primarily focused on cavalry, with the nearby park offering an ideal training space. Colourful parties of Lancers and Hussars from the battacks were a distinctive sight in the city.
The unusual architectural style gave rise to an urban myth that, somewhere in the War Department in London, plans for a barracks in Ireland got mixed up with those for one for India! And so we got this very colonial looking building with long chimneys and high pitched roofs. But it’s an unlikely story given the rigorous bureaucracy of the War Department.
Above : The barracks seen from Blackhorse Avenue
Above : As seen from Marlborough Road, across the railway line
Above : An entrance to the barracks from the Phoenix Park
Above: Inside the barracks, from Phoenix Park
Above : The distinctive ‘WD’ logo of the War Department, used on all its structures and buildings
Above : A now disused bridge across the railway
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Richmond Barracks
With the Napoleonic threat in 1800, Richmond was built as a further barracks. It was located in the Inchicore area and housed mainly English regiments. Later it became a local housing project called Keogh Square and was then mostly demolished. Today it is a cultural and community centre.
Changeover, 1922 – British troops march out (left) while Irish ones move in
Above : The Gymnasium, where the 1916 Rebels were taken
Above :The Gymnasium on the outside
Above : A typical soldier’s bunk has been recreated
Above : British flag from 1905, found when the building became a school
Above : An art project…
Above : The dome of the Gymnasium – looking up
Above : St Michael’s Estate is visible through Gymnasium windows
Above : The Officers Mess is used for events
Above : Model of original barracks. The Gymnasium is at the centre
Above : A green field where the main square was
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The Barracks which disappeared
Other smaller structures, which operated as short-lived barracks, have now disappeared. One was Marshalsea Barracks near Usher’s Quay (below). The area is now modern apartment blocks
Images here courtesy of the excellent Archiseek website, a valuable archive of Irish buildings, past and present.
Archiseek – Irish Architecture https://www.archiseek.com/
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World War One memorials – Dublin
There are memorials and plaques for World War One all over the country. These are some in Dublin, done in different materials.
Above : Plaque in Bronze, at Amiens Street railway station. Many rail workers in Ireland enlisted
Above : Plaque in Wood, at St Michan’s Church of Ireland, on Church Street. Working class Protestants were particularly involved.
Above. Memorial in Mosaic, at All Saints Church of Ireland, Grangegorman, in Phibsborough. Created by the An Tur Gloine studio. Wikipedia.org/wiki/An_T%C3%BAr_Gloine
Above : Memorial in Stone, at Blackquire bridge, North Circular Road
Since this is a memorial to the creation of the Irish Volunteers in 1913, it is technically, both a WW1 memorial and a 1916 Rising memorial given that the Volunteers later split and were in both events
Above : Memorial in Brass at Rathmichael Church of Ireland. Note the three Henley brothers – a devastating loss for one local family
Above : Memorial in Glass, in Tullow Church of Ireland, Foxrock. Again, three brothers are remembered – this time from the Wilson family. The window was donated by their father
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World War Two memorials – Dublin
An anchor memorial to the Irish merchant seamen killed when their vessels were attacked off Irish waters in the Second World War.
Such ships were attacked by both sides in the mistaken belief they were ‘supplying the enemy.’ This memorial is on City Quay in Dublin’s city centre.
Above: Another memorial to the merchant seamen, at Irishtown, by Sandymount Strand.
The roads in the nearby Sean Moore housing estate (behind the trees here) are named after Irish ships sunk in World War Two : Bremen, Clonlara, Cymric, Isolda, Kerlogue, Kyleclare, Levkos and Pine.
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Military Cemeteries
Arbour Hill
Arbour Hill famously holds the memorial plot of the 1916 leaders. But it is also an old British military cemetery, holding the graves of soldiers who died from about 1790 to 1860. There was also a parade ground and school buildings for the children of soldiers.
Above : View of the school house, with garrison chapel visible on the right
Above : the old school house, with tombstones against it
Above : Tombstones lined up like soldiers on parade
Above : The grave stones are well preserved despite their age
Above : Three Grenadier Guards, drowned in Dublin Bay
Above : Detail from a Guardsmans’ grave
Above :This Private fell from his horse in the Phoenix Park
Above: The Dublin City Artillery Militia was set up in 1854 and operated as a part timers reserve until 1908
Above: Doorway to the Irish UN veterans association. There is also a garden and memorial with the names of Irish soldiers killed on UN duty :a fitting continuity – and transformation – for this location.
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Royal Hospital Kilmainham
This impressive 17th century building was constructed in 1684 as a retirement home for soldiers, similar to the Chelsea Hospital in London and modelled on the beautiful Les Invalides in Paris. It has a formal facade, enclosed courtyard and sunken gardens.
For a time, the RHK was also the headquarters of the Commander of the Army and it has a number of cemeteries on its grounds.
Above : Entrance from Kilmainham gate. The cemeteries are on either side
Above: Tombstones of officers
Above : A 1987 photo of Queen Victoria, sitting in the central courtyard of the RHK. The statue had been removed from outside Leinster House on Kildare Street and was later sold off to Australia.
It was a sad departure for a fine sculpture by the distinguished Irish artist, John Henry Foley. Victoria’s beloved husband Prince Albert remains in Dublin, at the back of Leinster House.
Above : A smaller hidden graveyard in the RHK holds the graves of British soldiers killed in the 1916 Rising. Other British 1916 graves are in Glasnevin and Grangegorman cemeteries (see below).
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Grangegorman on Blackhorse Avenue
This is the main British military cemetery in the country, with the graves of many ex soldiers : veterans of famous campaigns but especially of World War One. From the tombstones, we get a history of the Empire and of the Irish involvement in its development.
Here are buried the victims of the sinking of the RMS Leinster torpedoed by Germans in October 1918 off Dun Laoghaire (then Kingstown). Here also lie the remains of Tommy Woodgate, from Kilkenny, the youngest recorded casualty of World War One – reputedly aged just 14 – as well as many graves of Australian and New Zealand soldiers (Anzacs).
Above: Left hand side of the cemetery
Above : The mortuary
Above : Memorial to the RMS Leinster, attacked on 20 October 1918. Appropriately, the cross is listing, like the ship itself which took less than an hour to sink. Many of the victims are buried here.
Above : A Coldstream Guardsman
Above : A Dublin Fusilier
Above : The sun falls on the fallen. The cemetery is popular with walkers.
Above: The North Circular Road (N. C. R) area was a common address for soldiers.
Above : The houses on nearby Quarry Road in Cabra were specially built for WW1 veterans. (See tours).
Above : Another Quarry Road resident.
Abive: J McCullough of the Royal Irish Rifles
Above : It wasn’t just the young who died. This man was 54.
Above: There are many Cabra people here.
Above : Leonard Morley from the ‘Buffs’. The Buffs – or the Royal East Kent Regiment – is a long standing regiment, dating back to campaigns in 16th century Holland.
More here :
The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) | National Army Museum https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/buffs-royal-east-kent-regiment
Above : Bandsman from the West Yorkshire regiment.
Above: Tombstone to an Unknown Soldier.
Above : A British grave from the 1916 Rising – a Sherwood Forester from Nottingham. Many Foresters were ambushed at Mount Street Bridge. Relatively unseasoned, they landed at Dun Laoghaire and ran into a new form of warfare for which they were completely unprepared.
Above : Guy Vickery Pinfield was killed at the start of the Rising while trying to secure Dublin Castle. His remains stayed there until 1963 when they were exhumed and moved to Grangegorman. Pinfield became quite well known in the UK as a fatality of the Rising and a gold locket dedicated to his memory was recently sold at auction.
More here : The golden locket, the hidden grave and the forgotten soldier https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/the-golden-locket-the-hidden-grave-and-the-forgotten-soldier-1.1402624
Above: Algernon Lucas was killed in a strange incident in the Rising in which a fellow soldier, Sgt Robert Flood, apparently mistook Lucas and another British soldier, Basil Henry Worswick, for rebels and shot them. Flood was tried for murder but acquitted.
Above : There are also many graves here from World War Two. This is for an Unknown Airman.
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Cemeteries in Dublin with a military interest
Mount Jerome
Mount Jerome at Harold’s Cross was the main Protestant cemetery in Dublin. It later, in Victorian times, became the burial ground for a growing Catholic middle class. As such, it became the graveyard for many who served in the British military and in the colonies.
Above : A coffin arrives.
Above : The graveyard seems a more sombre atmosphere than others.
Above : The daughter of a Royal Navy Captain
Above : Memorial stone to the Dublin Metropolitan Police.
Above : The attractive entrance lodge
Above : This fellow was ‘master gunner of the Dublin district’ for the Royal Artillery.
Above : Merchant shipman, Benjamin Massey, who died in 1947 of injuries he received in an attack on his ‘lend lease’ Liberty ship, the S. S. Samaye. These Liberty ships were produced quickly as part of the US war effort.
Benjamin (Jr) was the son of Benjamin and Margaret Finlay Massey from Fairview.
Above : The grave of Australian soldier, Philip Douglas Davis.
Davis, aged 19, was from Penquin, Tasmania and born at Westbury, Tasmania to Edith Ethel Davis and Arthur Henry Douglas. His death is recorded as from pneumonia.
There are Australian war graves all over Europe and impressive efforts are made by Australians to keep note of them. World War One was a significant ‘coming of age’ for the young country, and even more so for New Zealand.
Above : A funeral proceeds….
Glasnevin Cemetery
Glasnevin is the main cemetery in Dublin. It is known for its many Irish nationalist graves but it also has many of those who fought in the British army, including in World War One. In recent years, memorials have been erected to such soldiers and ceremonies of homage and reconciliation have been held.
Above : Cross in honour of of the WW1 dead. These are not actually graves, but memorial stones to various soldiers.
Above : Visible behind the WW1 memorial, is the dramatic gravestone of Charles Parnell, the Home Rule leader: a simple boulder. His successor John Redmond urged Irishmen to enlist to support Home Rule.
Above : There is an adjoining memorial to the soldiers who died in France
Above : French inscription on the helmet
Above : View from Parnell’s grave
Above : Plinth at the front of the memorial
Above : This grave has a nice spot among Autumn leaves.
Above : Behind this CWCG grave is another one in the distance
Above : W. Carroll of the Essex Regiment has a berth between older Victorian-era headstones.
Above : Upright like a soldier – a WW1 tombstone amidst the topsy turvy graves
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Commemoration ceremonies
In 1995, as a young diplomat, I attended the Irish Government’s first full commemoration ceremony at the World War One memorial Park in Islandbridge. I met these veterans – above. Afterwards we walked to a reception in the nearby Royal Hospital Kilmainham.
In 2018, I attended the centenary Remembrance Ceremony for the ending of the First World War, an ecumenical event held in All Saints Protestant Church and St Peter’s Catholic Church in Phibsborough.
The bells were pealed at exactly the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month – when the war ended – a spine-tingling moment.
Above: Children listening
Above : Afterwards, in St Peter’s Catholic Church, people lit candles for loved ones who had passed on.
Above : My son Alexander carried a candle for his grandfather and my late father.
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Colonial tussles
The Irish were extensively involved in the development of the Empire and in securing and fighting for it, for well over a century or more.
Above : This man was involved in the capture of Jhansi during the Indian revolt of 1857. The grave is in Glasnevin.
Above : This soldier was based at Murree where the rebellion spread to. The grave is in Mount Jerome.
Above: Veteran of the New Zealand wars of 1847 and 1860. As often happened in the colonial project, the British allied themselves with one tribe against another, in this among the Maoris. This grave is in Arbour Hill.
Above : First Military Governor of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). This grave is in Mount Jerome.
Above : Daughter of the Attorney General of the Bahamas. This grave is in Mount Jerome.
Above : Deansgrange Cemetery, on Dublin’s southside, also contains many colonial and military graves. Like Mount Jerome and Glasnevin cemeteries, it is a vast necropolis, covering many generations.
This fellow, above, had a career as illustrious as his tombstone, having fought in the Crimean War and at the Relief of Lucknow in India.
The monumental gravestone was erected by his widow, Margaret Vaughan. Her husband was on board the HMA Brittania in the attack on Sebastopol in Crimea.
Above : The sculpted cannon seems to have been deliberately ‘cracked’ to depict Vaughan’s heroics at Lucknow, as described.
Above : This Irish Dragoon Guardsman survived the Crimean War and died in Glenageary. He could well have been in the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava which featured the Irish Dragoons.
Above : It is unclear why Harran’s house was named Zolnok, a Hungarian city in which the 1848 revolt occurred.
Above : Harran’s Dragoon helmet has been expertly sculpted.
Above : Deansgrange also an attractive Entrance Lodge, similar to Mount Jerome
Above: The back of the Entrance Lodge looks like three startled faces. What have they seen?
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The Lion and the Shamrock 