The Irish Soldier in the British Army, 1680-1922

This academic conference will explore the history and legacy of Irish soldiers in the British Army from the 17th century.

Irish soldiers have served in the British Army for centuries and have acted as an integral element in campaigns across the globe. This academic conference will contextualise, explore and discuss their service and experiences.

Keynote addresses will be given by Dr Fionnuala Walsh (University College Dublin), Dr Timothy Bowman (University of Kent) and Dr Niamh Gallagher (St Catharine’s College, Cambridge).

Museum doors will be open from 9.45am to allow seating before the start of the conference at 10.00am. We ask all attendees to arrive promptly for this time.

Programme

10.00am - 11.00am

Keynote 1

• Dr Fionnuala Walsh (University College Dublin):
  'Irish Women, Families and the British Army'

11.00am - 11.15am

Coffee break

11.15am - 1.00pm

Panel 1: 17th, 18th and Early 19th Century

• Chair: Dr Catherine Wynne (University of Hull)
• Justin Saddington (National Army Museum):
  'The Journal of Major General Robert Stearne of the Royal Regiment of Ireland'
• Andrew Dorman (Dublin City University):
  'The Experience of Soldiering in 18th-Century Ireland'
• Dr Patrick Walsh (Trinity College Dublin):
  'Soldiers at Home? Stringy Sovereignty and the Geography of the 18th-Century Irish Garrison State'

11.15am - 1.00pm

Panel 2: Traditions of Service

• Chair: Dr Niamh Gallagher (St Catharine's College, Cambridge)
• Dr William Butler (The National Archives):
  'An Irish Catholic Amateur Military Tradition? The Irish Militia, 1793-1908'
• Dr George Hay (Commonwealth War Graves Commission):
  'A Tale of Two Yeomanries: Irish and British Experiences of an Amateur Military Movement'
• Nicholas Perry (University of Kent):
  'Irish Junkers? The Irish Landed Class and the British Army in the Late 18th and 19th Centuries'

1.00pm - 1.45pm

Lunch

1.45pm - 2.45pm

Keynote 2

• Dr Timothy Bowman (University of Kent):
  'The Irish Soldier and the First World War'

2.45pm - 4.15pm

Panel 3: 20th Century

• Chair: Dr Edward Madigan (Royal Holloway, University of London)
• Dr Mario Draper (University of Kent):
  'The Connaught Rangers and the Long First World War'
• Dr James McConnel (Northumbria University):
  'The Irish Guards, Lord Roberts and the Ulster Crisis in 1914'
• Professor Richard S Grayson (Goldsmiths, University of London):
  'The First World War Diary of Noël Drury, 6th Royal Dublin Fusiliers'
• Dr Pauline Gardiner (University of Ulster):
  'Charitable Action and Great War Veterans in the Irish Free State'

2.45pm - 4.15pm

Panel 4: Irish Soldiers Overseas in the 19th Century

• Chair: Joseph Quinn (Historian)
• Dr David Murphy (National University of Ireland, Maynooth):
  'Ireland and the Crimean War'
• James Deery (National University of Ireland, Maynooth):
  'The Irish Soldier in the British Army During the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars'
• Dr Catherine Wynne (University of Hull):
  'The Irish Soldier in Art and Literature from the Victorians to the First World War'

4.15pm - 4.30pm

Coffee break

4.30pm - 5.30pm

Keynote 3

• Dr Niamh Gallagher (St Catharine’s College, Cambridge):
  'Ireland and the Great War: Myth, Memory and History'

5.30pm - 5.40pm

Endnote

• Dr Timothy Bowman (University of Kent):
  'The Regiments Depart: The Disbandment of the Southern Irish Regiments, July 1922'