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1758-1921: Irish-born in British Army

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  • 19-08-2015 4:39pm
    #1
    gaiscioch
    Registered Users Posts: 1,530 ✭✭✭


    Does anybody have anything approaching a politics-free, respectable, generally-agreed figure for the number and percentage of Irish-born people in the British Army at various times during the above years? And a breakdown of their religion?

    I chose 1758 because that is when Irish Catholics were first allowed join, and I expect the numbers went up and down depending on different factors.

    I've just read somebody claim that in the 1860s the figure was 60%, but on closer reading they said "Irish-born or of Irish descent", which is a decidedly different thing. There was also no breakdown of ethnic or religious origin as the author clearly wanted to put a specific spin on it.

    Akenson says 40% of the Irish-born actually came from England and Scotland in "mid-Victorian enlistments", and it seems there was a huge number of British soldiers made unemployed after 1815. But figures range widely for what percentage of the British Army was Irish-born.

    There is also the point that many (percentage?) members of "Irish" regiments in British Army were not Irish at all, having merely joined the regiment located in the nearest barracks. Presumably, on the other hand, there were Irish-born members of non-"Irish" regiments?

    Can anybody point to a decent, comprehensive study of this issue rather than the usual politically-motivated selective analysis?


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    #2
    Manach
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 9,664 Mod ✭✭✭✭Manach


    Offhand, I remember reading a figure of 30 to 40 % Irish make-up in the British service during the Peninsular War - this would the secondary source material from Richard Holmes in his book Redcoat.


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