The Royal Irish Regiment

The Royal Irish Rangers (27th Inniskilling, 83rd and 87th), had itself been created exactly 24 years earlier on July 1, 1968, by the amalgamation of three famous Irish Line Infantry regiments. These were The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, The

Royal Ulster Rifles and The Royal Irish Fusiliers: Each had distinguished records stretching back to the 17th century with Battle Honours from almost every corner of the world.

The oldest Irish regiment from which The Royal Irish Regiment traces its heritage was The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. Irregular companies first assembled in December 1688 for the defence of Enniskillen against the army of James II. These were placed under the command of Colonel Zachariah Tiffin on June 20, 1689 and were placed on the English Establishment in 1690 as Tiffin’s Regiment of Foot (later becoming 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot).

The Territorial Army (TA) was not organised in Northern Ireland until 1947. The TA infantry battalions created in Northern Ireland in 1947 were 5th Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, 6th Royal Ulster Rifles and 5th Royal Irish Fusiliers. On 1 April 1967 a reduction in the TA saw each battalion, plus the London Irish Rifles, reduced to company strength and amalgamated as The North Irish Militia which eventually became 4th (Volunteer) Battalion The Royal Irish Rangers (27th (Inniskilling) 83rd and 87th) (North Irish Militia) on 18 April 1978.

Cadre battalions of Inniskillings, Rifles and Faughs continued in being until 1971 when the Rifles’ and Faughs’ cadres became the nucleus of 5th (Volunteer) Battalion, The Royal Irish Rangers; 5th Inniskillings continued as a separate cadre battalion until final disbandment in 1975. Both TA battalions of The Royal Irish Rangers were assigned British Army on the Rhine (BAOR) tasks.

The end of the Cold War brought Options for Change and further reductions in the Army including the amalgamation of The Royal Irish Rangers and The Ulster Defence Regiment to form The Royal Irish Regiment (27th Inniskilling, 83rd, 87th & UDR). The new Regiment was born at midnight on June 30 to July 1, 1992, with two General Service battalions, six Home Service battalions and two TA battalions. On 1 April 1993 the two General Service battalions amalgamated to form a single General Service battalion, 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment, or 1 R IRISH. Similarly on 1 April 1993 the two TA battalions amalgamated to form the 4th/5th Battalion The Royal Irish Rangers (Volunteers), or 4/5 RANGERS. 4/5 RANGERS saw the first operational deployment of the TA since WWII in 1994 when 35 personnel deployed with 1 R IRISH as part of the resident infantry company in the Falkland Islands.

This deployment laid the foundation for subsequent deployments of Territorials, and for a platoon from the Battalion to deploy to Bosnia in 1996 as part of the Implementation Force (IFOR), a NATO-led multinational peacekeeping force in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

On July 1, 1999, the Battalion was re-designated The Royal Irish Rangers, or Rangers, as a result of a Strategic Defence Review, and reduced to two rifle companies with the North Irish Horse squadron being attached for several years. Between 1997 and 2003 the Battalion conducted Short Term Training Team tasks and a ‘Partnership for Peace’ task in Lithuania and Ukraine, respectively.

The decision was made, by the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, that the general support of the military was no longer necessary. Accordingly Operation Banner, the military code name for the operation in Northern Ireland, was drawn to a close and, because they were raised and existed solely for the purpose of supporting the police the remaining Home Service battalions of The Royal Irish Regiment (2nd, 3rd and 4th) were disbanded.

This disbandment was marked by a parade at the Kings Hall in Belfast on October 6, 2006, at which the Queen presented The Royal Irish Regiment with the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross “…so that the extraordinary record of the UIster Defence Regiment and the Home Service battalions will always be remembered…”.

Operation Banner ended on July 31, 2007, and the Rangers were renamed 2nd Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment, or 2 R IRISH, on September 1, 2007. In 2008 the Battalion regained its third rifle company.

The 1st Battalion of the Regiment, 1 R IRISH, mandated for service world-wide, has been engaged in most of the UK’s military deployments in the later part of the 20th and early 21st Centuries.

Most significantly of late 1 R IRISH deployed to Iraq in 2003 for the 2nd Gulf War, supported by the Regiment’s TA Battalion, at that time titled Rangers. The Rangers also deployed TA personnel to Iraq in support of other units in 2004 and 2005. 2006 saw the Regiment’s first significant Afghanistan tour as part of the 3 PARA Battlegroup, marked by a dogged defence of Musa-Qal’eh against sustained Taliban attacks.

The Rangers also deployed TA soldiers to Afghanistan in 2007 in support of 2 Merican. The next Afghan tour was 2008. 1 R IRISH deployed, reinforced by a formed Company from the TA Battalion, and now re-titled 2 R IRISH, in a mentoring role with responsibility for training the Afghan National Army and then accompanying them on operations. The Regiment’s quite exceptional performance was recognised with the award of 3 Conspicuous Gallantry Crosses, 3 Military Crosses and numerous other bravery awards.

In 2010 1 R Irish, again reinforced with TA soldiers and officers from 2 R Irish, deployed on their third Afghanistan tour. The battlegroup was based in the Nad Ali area of Helmand Province and once again saw heavy fighting in their area of operations. Soldiers from 2 R Irish were fully integrated alongside their regular counterparts in a variety of roles including communications, patrolling and the mentoring of Afghan Army and Police units. In addition to supporting the 1 R Irish tours, 2 R Irish has mobilised personnel as individual replacements to deploy in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2011. In early 2014 the Territorial Army’s name was changed to the Army Reserve.