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The
Tipperary Military Barracks, close to Tipperary Railway
Station, was one of the most ornate to be built in
Ireland during the British occupation. It was designed
between 1872 & 1874, built between 1874 & 1878
and cost £25,000. Constructed of limestone, it featured
high ceilings and many French windows giving a feeling of
light and space to the interior; and causing those who
occupied it to surmise that it would have been better
suited to the hot climate of India or The Far East
instead of the damp chilly climes of Ireland! It was lit
by gas, and had state-of-the-art facilities for the
troops and their families, including administration
offices, armoury, magazine, stable, workshops,
accomodation blocks, Officers' Mess, Sergeants' Mess,
cookhouse, canteen, chapel, hospital, school, laundry,
bath-house, latrines, band-room, guard room, detention
barracks, stores, and water tower. The Barracks had an
integral miniature rifle range, and a larger outdoor
range at Ballyglass, County Tipperary. At the start of
The Great War in 1914 the number of trrops stationed in
Tipperary Town rose above 4000 and rose as high as
10,000, as the Tipperary Barracks was used as a Posting
Area to muster and train new drafts of troops destined
for the war in France. |
In addition to the
facilities associated with the military functions of
Tipperary Barracks, sporting and recreational facilities
provided for the soldiers and their families included a
fives court, a skittle alley, a sports green tennis court
and a fully equipped gymnasium. During the First World
War, Tipperary Barracks was the Headquarters of the 1st.
Infantry Battalion, the 6th. & the 16th. (Irish)
Infantry Brigades. Today, only the water-tower and some
fragments of the ancillary buildings of the Tipperary
Barracks complex remain, including the arch which was the
entrance to the Officers' Mess. Part of the main mess
building is now a health and social welfare facility for
the people of Tipperary. |
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More of the history of the Tipperary Military
Barracks - including details of military graves in
Tipperary Town and plans of the Barracks - may be found
in an excellent book compiled and published in 1998 by
Walter S. O'Shea, called "A Short History of
Tipperary Military Barracks (Infantry) 1874-1922"
The following details of Battalions & Regiments
stationed in Tipperary Town 1840 to 1922 are quoted from
this excellent work with the author's permission. |
INFANTRY
REGIMENTS STATIONED INTIPPERARY TOWN, 1840 to 1878,
BEFORE "THE BARRACKS" WERE BUILT. |
1840 |
70th. Infantry Regiment |
known after 1881 as 2nd. Battalion, The East
Surrey Regiment |
1840 |
74th. Infantry Regiment |
known after 1881 as
2nd.Battalion, The Highland Light Infantry (HLI) |
1840 |
43rd. Infantry Regiment |
known after 1881 as 1st. Battalion, The
Oxfordshire Light Infantry |
1844 |
30th. Infantry Regiment |
known after 1881 as 1st. Battalion, The East
Lancashire Regiment |
1844 |
15th. Infantry Regiment |
known after 1881 as The East Yorkshire
Regiment |
1844 |
61st. Infantry Regiment |
known after 1881 as 2nd. Battalion, The
Gloucestershire Regiment |
1846 |
83rd. Infantry Regiment |
known after 1881 as 1st. Battalion, The Royal
Irish Rifles |
1846 |
5th. Infantry Regiment |
known after 1881 as The Northumberland
Fusiliers |
1846 |
70th. Infantry Regiment |
known after 1881 as 2nd. Battalion, The East
Surrey Regiment |
1847 |
64th. Infantry Regiment |
known after 1881 as 1st. Battalion, The North
Staffordhire Regiment |
1848 |
43rd. Infantry Regiment |
known after 1881 as 1st.
BattalionThe Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light
Infantry |
1848 |
47th. Infantry Regiment |
known after 1881 as 1st. Battalion, The Royal
North Lancashire Regiment |
1850 |
1st. Infantry Regiment |
known after 1881 as The Royal Scots (Lothian
Regiment) |
1857 |
36th. Infantry Regiment |
known after 1881 as 2nd. Battalion,The
Worcestershire Regiment |
1867 |
17th. Infantry Regiment |
known after 1881 as The Leicestershire
Regiment |
1868 |
48th. Infantry Regiment |
known after 1881 as 1st. Battalion, The
Northamptonshire Regiment |
1869 |
44th. Infantry Regiment |
known after 1881 as 1st. Battalion, The Essex
Regiment |
1870 |
87th. Infantry Regiment |
known after 1881 as 1st. Battalion, The Royal
Irish Fusiliers |
1872 |
20th. Infantry Regiment |
known after 1881 as The Lancashire Fusiliers |
1872 |
31st. Infantry Regiment |
known after 1881 as 1st. Battalion, The East
Surrey Regiment |
1877 |
|
The South Tipperary Militia |
1879 |
|
The South Tipperary Militia |
INFANTRY
REGIMENTS WHICH SERVED IN TIPPERARY BARRACKS 1879 - 1922 |
1879-1880 |
15th. Infantry Regiment |
known after 1881 as 1st.
Battalion The East Yorkshire Regiment |
1881-1883 |
48th. Infantry Regiment |
known after 1881 as 1st. Battalion, The
Northamptonshire Regiment |
1883-1885 |
76th. Infantry Regiment |
later known as 2nd. Battalion, The West
Riding Regiment (Yorkshire) |
1885-1887 |
6th. Infantry Regiment |
later known as 2nd. Battalion, The Royal
Warwickshire Regiment |
1887-1888 |
69th. Infantry Regiment |
later known as 2nd. Battalion, The Welsh
Regiment |
1888-1891 |
63rd. Infantry Regiment |
later known as 1st. Battalion,The Manchester
Regiment |
1891-1893 |
70th. Infantry Regiment |
later known as 2nd. Battalion, The East
Surrey Regiment |
1893-1894 |
72nd. Infantry Regiment |
later known as 1st. Battalion, The Seaforth
Highlanders |
1896-1897 |
100th. Infantry Regiment |
later known as 1st. Battalion, The Leinster
Regiment |
1897-1900 |
15th. Infantry Regiment |
later known as 2nd. Battalion, The East
Yorkshire Regiment |
1900-1903 |
3rd. Battalion Militia |
later known as The Shropshire Light Infantry
(SLI) |
1901-1903 |
3rd. Battalion Militia |
later known as The Royal Warwickshire
Regiment |
1903-1904 |
3rd. Battalion Militia |
later known as The Worcestershire Regiment |
1904-1906 |
4th. Battalion Militia |
later known as The Lancashire Fusiliers |
1908-1910 |
94th. Infantry Regiment |
later known as 2nd. Battalion, The Connaught
Rangers |
1910-1913 |
3rd. Battalion Militia |
later known as The Rifle Brigade |
1913-1914 |
53rd.Infantry Regiment |
later known as The Shropshire Light Infantry
(SLI) |
1914-1918 |
H.Q. 49th.Brigade, 16th. Irish Division |
7th. & 8th. Battalions, Royal Irish
Fusiliers |
1914-1918 |
H.Q. 49th.Brigade, 16th. Irish Division |
7th. & 8th. Battalions, Royal
Inniskilling Fusiliers |
1919-1920 |
96th. Infantry Regiment |
later known as 2nd. Battalion, The Manchester
Regiment |
1919-1922 |
19th. Infantry Regiment |
later known as 2nd. Battalion The Yorkshire
Regiment, also known as The Green Howards. |
1919-1922 |
10th. Infantry Regiment |
later known as 1st. Battalion, The
Lincolnshire Regiment |
1919-1922 |
52nd. Infantry Regiment |
later known as 2nd. Battalion, The Oxford
& Buckinghamshire Light Infantry |
1922 |
(2 weeks "relief duty") |
1st. Battalion, The Royal Warwickshire
Regiment |
1922 |
The last British military personnel to
evacuate Tipperary Town & Barracks |
1st. Battalion, The Lincolnshire Regiment
(10th. Infantry Regiment) |
More information on the Tipperary
Barracks may be found in Walter S. O'Shea's 118-page book
"A Short History of Tipperary Military Barracks
(Infantry) 1874-1922". This book includes annotated
architectural plans, photographs of the Barracks,
Regiments and Tipperary Town in the Nineteenth and early
Twentieth Centuries, the numbers of army graves in
Munster Province 1914-1922, details of military graves in
St. Mary's Churchyard, Tipperary and in St. John's
Cemetery (Tipperary Hills) 1880-1922, soldier's basic
rates of pay 1831-1922, extracts from St. Mary's Church
of Ireland Parish Records 1916-1926, extracts from
official regimental records 1895-1922 written in
Tipperary, a list of regiments stationed at the barracks,
the raising and training of the 16th.Irish Division,
which had its H.Q. inTipperary throughout World War 1,
events in and around Tipperary Town during the Easter
Rising of 1916 and the Irish Civil War from 1920 to the
leaving of British troops in 1922. The book is published
by the author, with typesetting and design by Phoenix
Publishing, Rosegreen, Cashel, County Tipperary. You may
e-mail the author at wsos50@hotmail.com |
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