An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir June 2016 www.dfmagazine.ie 28 | By CAPT SA MCMICHAEL, REGIMENTAL CAREER MANAGEMENT OFFICER, 1ST BATTALION IRISH GUARDS the T he 1st Battalion Irish Guards are well known throughout the island of Ireland as one of the elite regiments of Foot Guards, part of the British Army's 'Guards Division'. the regiment, currently based in Cavalry Barracks, hounslow, was formed on 1st April 1900 by order of Queen Victoria, in recognition of the many courageous acts carried out by Irish soldiers from all the brave fighting Irish regiments in the Boer War, and are known affec- tionately throughout the Army as 'the Micks' or 'Fighting Micks'. (the term 'Micks', while derogatory if used in civil- ian life, carries no such stigma within the British Army.) The Irish Guards takes its motto, Quis Separabit, (Who shall separate us?) from the Order of St Patrick. As a Foot Guards regiment the Irish Guards are involved in state cer- emonial and public duties at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, St James's Palace and the Tower of London. HRH Prince William is Colonel of the Regiment and St Patrick's Day is the traditional celebration of the Irish Guards, when fresh shamrock is presented to members of the regiment. The 1st Battalion, made up of five companies with a va- riety of supporting arms, has deployed on recent conflicts including Iraq and Afghanistan. The battalion has also re- cently carried out a tour of Cyprus with the UN. As well as deploying on operations the battalion has also conducted various overseas exercises in Bosnia, Latvia, Oman, Kenya and numerous other countries. The opportunity for taking part in sport in the Micks is fantastic. Football, Gaelic football, boxing and rugby are just some of the sports we get involved with and there's also a wide variety of adventure training packages, including things like mountain climbing, skiing, sailing and white- water rafting. The regiment has played a significant part in every large- scale operation conducted by the British Army in the last 35 years, including, most recently, Iraq and Afghanistan. Recruits to the Irish Guards go through a 30-week progres- sive training programme at the Infantry Training Centre (ITC) where they receive first-class training, which will stay with them for life. The training is two weeks more than the training for the regular line-infantry regiments of the British Army, with the extra time devoted to specialist ceremonial training. The current group of proud Irish Guard recruits comprises a large number of individuals from the island of Ireland (over ¾ of the total). It was never envisaged that while two serving Micks were celebrating St Patrick's Day with a cold pint of Guin- ness in the presence of HRHs the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge that a conversation would lead to the founding of the current Irish Guards Gaelic football club. There is a strong urge with many of the young men within the bat- talion to play Gaelic games, and football is just the start. This desire, and the assistance to achieve it, is spread across all ranks within the battalion and regiment. The club was formed, by way of a verbal proposal to the London GAA County Board on Monday, 14th September 2015. A senior Irish Guard addressed the County Board meeting to gain affiliation of the first British Army regi- ment Gaelic football club, playing under the name, Gardaí Éireannach. Some London GAA club delegates raised concerns and after a long period of strong debate it was put to the vote, which went to a tie, 15 for and 15 against. The casting vote fell to the then chairman, Mr Noel

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