An Cosantóir

| 31 The Men of the West, 1916-21 Volunteers at Galbally, Co Limerick, c.1913 firing line extends, in defence of right, of freedom and religion in this war." 170,000 Volunteers answered Redmond's call. However, this group, renamed the National Volunteers, soon became irrelevant in an Irish context as thousands of their number set off to serve with great distinction in the 10th and 16th Divisions of the British Army. The more militant minority, initially numbering 12,000, refused to follow suit and, dominated by the IRB and retaining the title of the Irish Volunteers, set about the daunting task of rebuilding an entire organisation. A special meeting of the remaining members of the Provisional Committee assembled on October 10th and elected Eoin MacNeill as the new chief of staff. They also passed a new constitution which categorically spelt out the objectives of the movement: "To secure and maintain the rights and liberties common to all the peoples of Ireland; to train, discipline, and equip for this purpose an Irish Volunteer Force which will render service to an Irish national government when such is established; to unite in the service of Ireland Irishmen of every creed and of every party and class." The Volunteers were effectively restarting from scratch. Unlike the British Army they did not have any established recruiting offices and were forced to rely on publicity in periodicals such as The Irish Volunteer and public parades including Saint Patrick's Day, when local Volunteer units took to the streets, usually accompanied by pipe bands. The organisation's structure was also changed to cater for the smaller numbers and when the first convention took place after the split (at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, on October 25th 1914) it was agreed that the movement would be governed by a general council of 50 members (meeting monthly) and a nine-man central executive 'Uniforms of Dublin Soldiers through the Ages' by F. Glenn Thompson, taken from An Cosantóir Vol. 48 No. 9 September 1988 1. The Irish National Guard raised in 1911 by August in Finlay and later merged with the Irish Volunteers. Their head-dress gave the uniform an almost central European appearance. They carried French bayonets and drilled with wooden rifles. Their first headquarters was in Blackball Street and some of their members wore saffron kilts. 2. Suitable uniform patterns for the Volunteers were agreed upon in 1914 and (meeting weekly). A month later a Committee of Military Organisation was appointed and tasked with drafting proposals for the establishment of a new general headquarters. These proposals came into effect on December 5th and provided for a headquarters staff comprising a chief of staff, a quartermaster general, and directors of organization, operations, and training. A scheme of military organisation was also introduced at this time that saw the tactical Volunteer units designated as companies, with an establishment of 103 all-ranks. These companies were subdivided into half-companies, each with two sections, and each section contained two eight-man squads and a number of specialists. Volunteer battalions, under the command of a commandant, would comprise of from four to eight companies, and plans were made to establish specialist engineer, transport, supply and communications battalions along with a hospital corps. Volunteer brigades would be commanded by a brigadier general and would consist of three to five battalions. However, instituting a military structure was the easy part. The Dublin Brigade, for example, was relatively well equipped with the rifles landed at Howth but Volunteers elsewhere in the country were generally left to purchase their own weapons. Occasionally fund-raising raffles were held in which the first prize was a rifle, but an acute shortage of combat weapons still remained. To alleviate this problem, wooden rifles were frequently used for training and when live firing was permitted most Volunteers were limited to two or three rounds of ammunition. Nevertheless the first Irish Volunteer summer camp took place during mid-July in Co Tyrone, with further concentrations held during August in Co Wicklow and north Cork, and in Galway in September. On each occasion over two hundred men attended and the Volunteer leadership set about developing the concept further. From these humble beginnings Óglaigh na hÉireann set out on a route which would ultimately change the course of Irish history. In May 1915, World War I had reached a stalemate in the trenches of the Western Front. The IRB element within the Volunteer leadership identified that 'England's difficulty' was 'Ireland's opportunity' and plans were made to pitch the movement into open rebellion against the Crown in pursuit of Irish freedom. Founded in the political crisis of 1913, forged in the Rebellion of 1916, tempered by the attrition of the War of Independence and Civil War, Óglaigh na hÉireann would finally emerge in 1922 as the custodians of sovereignty: a constitutionally based national army tasked with defending a free and democratic Irish state. green of various shades remains with us ever since. Professor Eoin MacNeill, Chairman of the National Executive of the Irish Volunteers designed the cap badge which is now worn by all members of the Defence Forces. The Dublin Brigade had the words "Drong Atha Cliath" on the badge. 3. The uniforms of the Irish Citizen Army was a very dark shade of green relieved by a red hand worn on the side of the hat. Most of the members of the Irish Citizen Army were members of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union. James Connolly was the Commandant of this Force. 4. A Captain of the Dublin Brigade Irish Volunteers. Owing to the availability of cloth for the manufacture of uniforms, patterns varied as would be expected, but officers tried hard to keep as close to dress regulations as possible. 5. The Dublin Guards was the first unit in 1922 to make its formal appearance on the streets of Dublin to take over Beggars Bush Barracks. The Guards were distinguished by brown leather equipment. magazine www.military.ie the defence forces

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