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General Headquarters of the Free State Army
and both men took up residence in the then known, Portobello Barracks. The building of a Barracks in Portobello commenced on
October 12th, 1810 and numerous British Army units were garrisoned here right through the 19th and the early 20th century. Another claim to fame for the barracks occurred, or at
least took off in 1817, when William Wyndham Saddler from the barrack’s square set out on the first ever hot air balloon crossing of the Irish Sea. It was from here during the 1916 Easter Rising that British
troops left and fought against Irish rebels, Commandant McDonagh’s men, garrisoned in Boland’s Mill and Cathal Brugha and his men barricaded in the South Dublin Union. On May 17th 1922, following the War of Independence and after 112 years of British occupation, the
Worcestershire Regiment marched out the canal
gate, while Commandant General Tom Ennis, Colonel Commandant Thornton and a unit of the Dublin Guards marched in the main gate from Beggars Bush Barracks with General Eoin O’Duffy taking the salute. A group of photographs from this historic handover are portrayed in a series of iconic pictures on display in the visitor’s centre. Today, Cathal Brugha Barracks is still an operational
military installation and is home to the headquarters of the 2nd Eastern Brigade, the 2nd Infantry Battalion and numerous brigade combat, combat support and combat service support units, including the Defence Forces School of Music and Military Archives which are also located within the barrack’s walls. Apart from the opening of the visitor’s centre, it was
also an opportunity for the barracks to welcome in its neighbours from the Rathmines community. A large
An Cosantóir June 2011
