Military Records video

Military Records

The Bureau of Military History is the oral history of participants in the nationalist struggle between 1913 and 1921.

Witness Statement, Louise Gavan Duffy, 1916

Image: The National Archives of Ireland

The 1770 statements were made between 1948 and 1954. They comprise 35,000 pages of typescript, now fully searchable for free online. There are also ca. 600 photographs, 12 voice recordings, and offline, a wealth of contemporary documents donated to the Bureau. You can search for people and places familiar to you to get a vibrant picture of what was going on during the revolutionary period. The records can be found at bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie.

The Military Service Pensions Project exists to catalogue and digitise ca. 285,000 files dealing with applications for pensions from those active on the nationalist side between 1916 and 1923. They are extraordinarily detailed records of events at the time, requiring a high standard of verification, and are accompanied by a wealth of ancillary material gathered by the assessors to aid them in their deliberations, including detailed maps of battle sites.

The first tranche of these files, released in 2013, comprised all of the 1916 claimants. The files are searchable by people, places and key words. The records can be found on the military archives pensions collection.

Tasks

Bureau of Military History

1.a

Louise Gavan Duffy was one of the founders of Cumann na mBan. What was the first thing she said to Patrick Pearse when she went to the GPO on Easter Monday?

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"The Rebellion is a frightful mistake".

Advice: Examine her witness statement at the Bureau of Military History site, www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie.

1.b

According to John McDonagh (brother of Thomas), at what time precisely did the Volunteers set out from Liberty Hall to occupy Jacob's factory?

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"At twelve exactly". (page 9).

Advice: Examine his witness statement at the Bureau of Military History site, www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie.

1.c

Where was Leslie Price (Mrs Tom Barry) when Pearse read the Proclamation in the GPO?

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In the Post Office.

Advice: Examine her witness statement at the Bureau of Military History site, www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie.

Military Service (1916-1923) Pensions Collection

Pension file for Grace Plunkett (nee Grace Gifford), claiming a military service pension for activities and imprisonment during the period 1916 -23.

Grace Plunkett was the widow of Joseph Mary Plunkett, one of the signatories of the 1916 Proclamation, whom she married in Kilmainham Jail the night before his execution. She was a talented cartoonist, who published in The Shanachie, Irish Life, Meadowstreet and The Irish Review. After Plunkett's death, she continued as a Republican activist and cartoonist. She never remarried, and died in 1955.

2.a

What does Grace Plunkett say she was doing between July 1921 and June 1922?

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Production of political cartoons and collecting for Republican cause. Attended to wounded at Tara Hall, Gloucester St., Dublin week commencing 28th June 1922.

Hint: p.7 of her application form.

2.b

Where does Grace Plunkett say she was from February to August 1923?

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Kilmainham Jail and North Dublin Union.

Hint: p.8 of her application form.

2.c

Grace was seeking a pension in her own right. What was she paid as the widow of Joseph Plunkett?

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£180 per year.

Advice: p.15 of her application form.

2.d

She gives Mrs. Austin Stack as one of her referees for this period. Who was she and who was her husband?

Advice: Dictionary of Irish Biography: available online to all schools.

2.e

What reason does she give for an increase in that amount? Whose wife and children does she mention as getting much more than she is?

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Arthur Griffith's wife and children.

Advice: p.16 of her application form.

Major General Ennis (with Thompson gun) and Comdt. McCreagh disembarking from the Lady Wicklow at Passage West. 1922

Photo: Courtesy of the National Library of Ireland

British Army Records

The British Army has been in existence for more than three centuries and over much of that time Irishmen comprised a large proportion of its recruits. One estimate for the mid-nineteenth century is that 40% of the men serving in the military were born in Ireland.

All armies are notoriously bureaucratic and the British Army is the mother of them all. There are mountains of records, listing millions of men. Almost all the originals are held at the British National Archives in Kew. Many Irishmen served in the regiments that specialised in recruitment in Ireland or had their regimental depots here, the 'Irish regiments', but they also could be found throughout the army. The best guide to the (disbanded) British Army Irish regiments is on the Irish Military Archives website.

Officers

The biggest distinction in all of the records is between commissioned officers and 'other ranks'. Officers are very well served. Annual printed army lists recording all officers exist from 1740 and are downloadable from the British National Archives website. Many of the other records they left are summarised in the Archive's online catalogue, discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk.

Enlisted Men

The most complete accessible records are those recording army discharges. Before 1883, these only record men who were to receive a pension. After that year, they record everyone discharged and often include details of place of enlistment and next of kin.

Each regiment made a quarterly return of all personnel from the early eighteenth century to 1878. From the 1860s, these also included details of wives and children living in married quarters. It is necessary to know the regiment before using these records, which can be a serious obstacle.

The index to regimental registers of births, 1761-1924, gives the regiment and place of birth of children born to the wives of serving soldiers, if they were attached to the regiment. There are online subscription-only copies on FindMyPast.co.uk and thegenealogist.co.uk.

The biggest distinction in all of the records is between commissioned officers and 'other ranks'. Officers are very well served.

British soldiers searching trains on Kerry line for republicans. 1921

Photo: Courtesy of the National Library of Ireland

World War One

The best overview of service records relating to World War One is on thegreatwar.co.uk.

What's online for World War One

The British National Archives has done deals with FindMyPast.co.uk and Ancestry.co.uk to digitise their military records. In general, records before 1915 are on FindMyPast and those after 1915 on Ancestry, meaning that the majority of (surviving) service records are on Ancestry. These boundaries are not rigid, however.

Every soldier who served in WW1 was awarded a service medal and those who saw action received a medal for each campaign. TNA has an online index, but images of the originals are only available on Ancestry.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission maintains graves in more than 150 countries covering more than 925,000 individuals, members of the forces of the Commonwealth killed in the two World Wars. Their website includes extensive details on those buried.

lightbulb hints

The only cast-iron rule of family history is that you start from what you know and use it to find out more. It is almost impossible to take a historical family and try to uncover what your connection might be. Instead, think of yourself as a detective, taking each item of information as potential evidence and using it to track down more information that in turn becomes evidence for further research.

Ireland's Memorial Records (Dublin, 1923) is an eight-volume commemorative publication listing the Irish men and women killed during the war and those of other nationalities who died while serving with Irish regiments. It is not, however, a complete list of all Irishmen killed while serving in the War. It is freely searchable online at imr.inflandersfields.be/search.html.

Every regiment kept a war diary, giving details of postings and engagements. Some, but not all, have been digitised by TNA. Those for Gallipoli and the Dardanelles, as well as some from the Western Front, are on Ancestry. You may find extracts on some websites dedicated to the Irish in WW1: www.royaldublinfusiliers.com, greatwar.ie and others.

Tasks

1.a

Who was the only Lemass to be killed as part of the British forces in the First World War?

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Herbert Lemass, first cousin once removed of Seán Lemass.

1.b

What age was he when he was killed?

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19.

Hint: the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

2.a

Daniel McCarthy was killed in action on May 2 1915. Where was he from?

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Monaghan.

2.b

Where is his memorial?

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Ypres (Menin Gate) memorial.

2.c

What was his regiment and service number?

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Royal Irish Fusiliers, 7856.

Hint: the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and Ireland's Memorial Records.

3.a

Joseph Brady was court-martialled in November 1916 for allowing a prisoner to escape from Portobello Barracks in Dublin. What was the prisoner's name?

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Shine.

3.b

What happened to Joseph?

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He was acquitted, but was killed in 1917.

Hint: the Royal Dublin Fusiliers.

4.

How many men called John Murphy were awarded medals for being part of the British forces in the First World War?

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1028.

Hint: the UK national Archives Medal card index.

5.a

Where was the regimental depot of the cavalry regiment, the North Irish Horse?

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Belfast.

5.b

What was its original name?

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The North of Ireland Imperial Yeomanry.

Hint: the Irish Military Archives guide to Irish regiments in the British Army.