An Cosantóir

28 | Les Irlandais et La France Report by Lt Col John O'Loghlen Portrait photos courtesy of Paul Sherwood www.sherwood.ie Gendarme Denis Lambolez (French Embassy Police Officer) with MP Cpl Michael Kelly and MP Cpl Mark Hughes I n January, over 200 people attended the National Museum of Ireland, Collins Bks, for the official opening of 'The Irish and France: Three Centuries of Military Relations', an exhibition produced by France's Musée de l'Armée (Army Museum), and which was brought here in association with the French Embassy in Ireland. The exhibition, which marked the start of 'Culture Connects', the cultural programme launched by the government as part of Ireland's presidency of the EU, was unveiled on the 9th of January by the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Mr Jimmy Deenihan TD, and Mde Emmanuelle d'Achon, French Ambassador to Ireland. It had been on An Cosantóir May 2013 www.dfmagazine.ie display last year in the Musée de l'Armée in the Hotel des Invalides, Paris last year. The exhibition traces Irish/French military cooperation since the 17th century. From the end of the Williamite War to the First World War; from Samuel Beckett, who fought in the French Resistance, to Lt Gen Pat Nash, Operational Commander EUFOR Tchad/RCA, who was awarded the Légion d'honneur by President Sarkozy in 2009. Covering the period from 1689 to 2012 it includes material relating to the Wild Geese* and the Irish regiments that fought for France. In the French Army, there are four periods that saw Irishmen serving in significant numbers: the Wild Geese regiments from 1688 – 1791; Napoleon's Irish Legion from 1803 – 1815; the Franco-Irish Ambulance Brigade in 1870 – 1871; and the French Foreign Legion in the 1980s. For most of the 18th Century the French Army's Irish Brigade included about half-a-dozen regiments, which were named after their commanders, such as the Clare, Walsh, Lally, Dillon and Bulkeley regiments. One of the Irish Brigade's most famous days came on May 11th 1745 at the Battle of Fontenoy, where it counter-attacked the British infantry and saved the day for the French. A painting depicting this event can be seen in the Hall of Battles at Versailles, outside Paris. (The 92nd Regiment, based in Clermont, is the last remaining French unit with a connection to the Irish Brigade. This unit's current 2i/c, Lt Col Charles Arminjon, attended the launch in the National Museum and expressed a strong interest in the 92nd Regiment establishing a relationship with a suitable Irish unit, possibly based on rugby, which is very strong in the Clermont area.) In 1803 the new French Leader, Napoleon Bonaparte created an Irish Legion, composed of Irish officers in command

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