Soldiers of the Short Grass. Dan Harvey

Soldiers of the Short Grass - Dan Harvey


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      SOLDIERS OF THE SHORT GRASS

      To my daughter Mary-Claire in remembrance of when an extended peacekeeping tour of duty to KFOR (Kosovo, October 2011 to October 2012) meant I missed two of your birthdays in a row. This is an example of the many real everyday sacrifices Irish peacekeepers continually experience and I wish to therefore make this book a heartfelt dedication to the men and women of the Curragh Camp past, present and future, and to their families, for their unstinting service and many countless sacrifices small and large.

      SOLDIERS OF

      THE SHORT GRASS

      A History of the Curragh Camp

      DAN HARVEY

      Published in 2016

      Merrion Press

      8 Chapel Lane

      Sallins

      Co. Kildare

      © 2016 Dan Harvey

      British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

      An entry can be found on request

      978-1-78537-061-8 (Paper)

      978-1-78537-062-5 (Cloth)

      978-1-78537-063-2 (PDF)

      978-1-78537-065-6 (Kindle)

      Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

      An entry can be found on request

      All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved alone, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

      Inside design by www.jminfotechindia.com

      Cover design by www.phoenix-graphicdesign.com

      Cover/jacket front: ‘Drill Season’ on the Curragh Plains, late nineteenth century.

      Cover/jacket back: A View of the Water Tower from the East, late nineteenth century. (Images courtesy of the National Library of Ireland)

      Printed in Ireland by SPRINT-print Ltd

      Contents

       Preface

       Acknowledgements

       Introduction

       PART I The British

       Chapter 1Construction and Consolidation of the Curragh Camp

       Chapter 2Royalty, Rebels and Reform

       Chapter 3By the Turn of the Century

       Chapter 4The War Years

       Chapter 5The Easter Rising, 1916

       Chapter 6The War of Independence

       PART II The Irish

       Chapter 7The Civil War

       Chapter 8From a Revolutionary to a Regular Army

       Chapter 9A State of Emergency

       Chapter 10Calm before a Storm

       Chapter 11A Global Outlook

       Chapter 12The Task of Modernization

       Afterword

       Appendix 1

       Appendix 2

       Appendix 3

       Select Bibliography

       Index

      Preface

      by Maurice Sweeney

      The Curragh of Kildare has, for a long time, held a special place in the Irish imagination, secured there first of all by the unique geographical nature of its vast sward of common pasturage. Its significance has been reinforced more recently by the presence of two establishments that each represents an important aspect of Irish life: the Curragh Racecourse, the spiritual home of an ancient and world-famous horse-breeding industry, and the Curragh Military Camp which, to the lay person at least, is synonymous with all things soldierly and represents the long military tradition of which this country can boast, whether in the service of others or fighting for ourselves. It is with the story of the military camp that this book is concerned, a story that is inextricably entangled with the story of Ireland itself. The benefits of the Curragh as a training ground − as well as an excellent position for a garrison in a troublesome country – had no doubt appealed to the British army for a long time, but it was not until the early 1850s, with the outbreak of the Crimean war, that the first move was made to establish a permanent presence.

      Since then, the shape of the camp and the functions it carries out have been determined by the exigencies of the time. It has played a central role in troubled times, during the Great War and the struggle for independence, when facing the fear of invasion and preserving the state from domestic enemies; in its modern-day guise it trains and equips the Defence Forces as they fulfil their obligations as international peacekeepers.

      Dan Harvey brings his skills as a military historian, and his experience as an officer, to bear in telling the camp’s story in a thorough and entertaining fashion. And, as he points out, the story is not just one of bricks and mortar, but of the living essence of the camp in the shape of those who have served there and those who have worked there as civilians, creating a community unparalleled in any other part of Ireland. Reorganization and new training, operational, logistical and administrative needs have meant the camp maintains a vital role as a military campus at a time when the task of international peacekeeping demands the best possible training to produce men and women whose leadership skills and personal attributes continue to contribute to global stability and earn accolades for this country.

      Acknowledgements

      In


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