Early history The regiment was formed by the amalgamation of the
88th Regiment of Foot (Connaught Rangers) (which formed the
1st Battalion) and the
94th Regiment of Foot (which formed the
2nd Battalion) in July 1881. The amalgamation of the two regiments into one with the title
The Connaught Rangers, was part of the
United Kingdom government's reorganisation of the
British Army under the
Childers Reforms, a continuation of the
Cardwell Reforms implemented in 1879. (1840–1926) It was one of eight
Irish regiments raised largely in
Ireland, with its home depot at
Renmore Barracks in
Galway. The 88th were based in
Bengal,
British India, when they were amalgamated into the new regiment. The 94th were based in South Africa at the time of amalgamation; as the 2nd Battalion, it returned to Ireland the following year and sent a small detachment on the
Nile Expedition in 1884 as Camel Mounted Infantry. The Rangers fought at
Spion Kop in January 1900 and the
Tugela Heights in February 1900 during further attempts by General
Sir Redvers Buller to relieve the besieged town of Ladysmith. In late February the siege of Ladysmith finally came to an end after it was relieved by British forces. The battalion stayed in South Africa after the end of the war (June 1902), leaving Cape Town for Southampton on the SS
Staffordshire in January 1903. After a brief stay in
Mullingar, they returned to India later in 1903. the regiment now had two Reserve but no Territorial battalions. The 2nd Battalion landed at
Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the
5th Brigade in the
2nd Division with the
British Expeditionary Force in August 1914 for service on the Western Front. Following severe losses in the battles of 1914, the 2nd Battalion was disbanded, with survivors transferring into the 1st Battalion. In turn, the 1st Battalion was redeployed to the Middle East in 1916, where it fought primarily in modern-day Iraq as part of the British
Tigris Corps. The 3rd (Reserve) Battalion was based in
Galway upon the declaration of war and would remain in Ireland until November 1917 when it moved to England. landed at
Le Havre as part of the
47th Brigade in the
16th (Irish) Division in December 1915 for service on the Western Front. On 21 March 1918, the same Battalion was "practically annihilated" during the
German spring offensive breakthrough. In one week the battalion lost "22 officers and 618 other ranks". As a result of these heavy losses, the survivors were transferred into the 2nd Battalion, the
Leinster Regiment. A 584-man strong column from the 3rd Battalion Connaught Rangers, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel A J Digan DSO, marched on
Enniscorthy to fight the rebels who had taken over the town, however on arrival decided not to attack the insurrectionists' positions within the town to avoid turning Enniscorthy into a battlefield. In the days after the insurrection began the Connaughts patrolled the countryside seeking contact with any of those war parties that cared to show themselves, in the process capturing hundreds of prisoners of war and seizing their weapons stocks. A 250 strong force of the Connaughts, under the command of Major H.M. Hutchinson, marched to
Ferns on 4 May 1916, and then on to
Gorey the next day. A party of 31 Connaught Rangers led by Lieutenant L.C. Badham searched houses in
Kinsale on 4 May 1916, and the next day captured a large number of rebels and their weapons. The Connaught Rangers' Column searched houses in
New Ross on 9 May 1916 and then at
Waterford the next day. This was part of a general policy aimed at minimizing the pressures of divided loyalties, by relocating serving Irish regiments during "
the troubles".
Mutiny in India, 1920 ,
Dublin On 28 June 1920, four men from C Company of the 1st Battalion, based at Wellington Barracks,
Jalandhar in the
Punjab, protested against
martial law in Ireland by refusing to obey orders. One of them, Joe Hawes, had been on leave in Clare in October 1919 and had seen a
hurling match prevented from happening by British forces with bayonets drawn. Poor accommodation conditions in the Wellington Barracks may have provided an additional cause of the dispute. The protestors were soon joined by other Rangers, including several English soldiers, such as John Miranda from
Liverpool and Sergeant Woods. By the following morning, when a rebel muster took place, over 300 soldiers were involved in the mutiny. On 30 June 1920, two mutineers from the Jalandhar barracks (Frank Geraghty and Patrick Kelly) travelled to Solon barracks where C Company were stationed and, despite arrest, helped spark a mutiny there, led by
Private James Daly, whose brother William also took part in the protest. Initially, the protests were peaceful with the men involved donning green, white and orange rosettes and singing Irish nationalist songs. At Solon, however, on the evening of 1 July a party of about thirty men led by James Daly, carrying bayonets, attempted to seize their company's rifles, stored in the
armoury. The troops guarding the magazine opened fire and two men were killed: Pte. Smythe who was with Daly's party, and Pte. Peter Sears (who had not been involved in the attack on the magazine but was returning to his billet when hit by a stray bullet). Within days, both garrisons were occupied by other British troops. Daly and his followers surrendered and were arrested. Eighty-eight mutineers were
court-martialed: seventy-seven were sentenced to imprisonment and ten were acquitted. In 1923, following Irish Independence, the imprisoned mutineers were released and returned to Ireland. The bodies of Ptes. Sears, Smythe, and Daly were repatriated from India to Ireland for reburial in 1970.
Disbandment Due to substantial defence cuts and the establishment of the
Irish Free State in 1922, it was decided that the six former
Southern Ireland regiments would be disbanded, including the Connaught Rangers. On 12 June, five regimental
colours were laid up in a ceremony at St George's Hall,
Windsor Castle in the presence of
HM King George V. The six regiments were then all disbanded on 31 July 1922. With the simultaneous outbreak of the
Irish Civil War conflict some thousands of their ex-servicemen and officers contributed to expanding the Free State government's newly formed
National Army. They brought considerable combat experience with them contributing significantly to the success of the Free State’s cause, and by May 1923 comprised 50 per cent of its 53,000 soldiers and 20 per cent of its officers. ==Memorials==