Victorian IRISH British Army ROYAL IRISH REGIMENT Cross Belt Buckle (1684–1922)

Description

British Army Victorian era Brass Cross Belt buckle of
The Royal Irish Regiment
This regiment
served with distinction here in NEW ZEALAND
during the 19th Century New Zealand Maori Land Wars
This
GENUINE
Victorian-era badge may well have been worn on active service here in New Zealand
Looking at their regimental history on Wikipedia? it may well have also served over half the planet !!
The Royal Irish Regiment, until 1881 the 18th Regiment of Foot, was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army, first raised in 1684.
Also known as the 18th (Royal Irish) Regiment of Foot and the 18th (The Royal Irish) Regiment of Foot, it was one of eight Irish regiments raised largely in Ireland, its home depot in Clonmel.
It saw service for two and a half centuries before being disbanded with the Partition of Ireland following establishment of the independent Irish Free State in 1922 when the five regiments that had their traditional recruiting grounds in the counties of the new state were disbanded.
The regiment also saw action at the Battle of Alexandria in March 1801.
The 1st Battalion served in Jamaica and the 2nd Battalion served in Curaçao during the Napoleonic Wars.
On 19 November 1807, 120 members of the 18th Regiment of Foot were drowned when HM Packet Ship Prince of Wales sank in Dublin Bay. They were buried at Merrion Cemetery, Bellevue.
During the First Opium War in China, the regiment next saw action at the Capture of Chusan in July 1840, Battle of Canton in May 1841, Battle of Amoy in August 1841, Second Capture of Chusan in October 1841, Battle of Ningpo in March 1842, Battle of Tzeki in March 1842, Battle of Chapu in May 1842, Battle of Woosung in June 1842, and Battle of Chinkiang in July 1842. It took part in the Siege of Sevastopol during the Crimean War; Captain Thomas Esmonde was awarded the Victoria Cross for saving a party of colleagues from a fire of shell and grape. The regiment also took part in the Second Anglo-Afghan War.
The 2nd Battalion, which was re-formed on 18 September 1857, began to arrive in New Zealand from 4 July 1863 and served in the Waikato and Taranaki campaigns of the New Zealand Wars.
Captain Hugh Shaw won the Victoria Cross when he rescued wounded soldiers during a skirmish at Nukumaru near Whanganui.
The regiment was not fundamentally affected by the Cardwell Reforms of the 1870s, which gave it a depot at Victoria Barracks in Clonmel from 1873, or by the Childers reforms of 1881 – as it already possessed two battalions, there was no need for it to amalgamate with another regiment. Under the reforms the regiment became The Royal Irish Regiment on 1 July 1881. It served as the county regiment of Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford and Kilkenny. Militarily, the whole of Ireland was administered as a separate command within the United Kingdom with Command Headquarters at Parkgate (Phoenix Park) Dublin, directly under the War Office in London.
The 1st Battalion was stationed in British India and Afghanistan from 1875 to 1884, when it were transferred to Egypt to take part in the Nile Expedition. It was back in home barracks from 1885 to 1891, then in Ireland until it was sent to South Africa as part of reinforcements for the Second Boer War in late 1899. The battalion took part in several battles, and played an important role at the Battle of Slabbert's Nek in July 1900 during the war.
The 2nd Battalion saw action in Egypt during the Anglo-Egyptian War in 1882. From 1884 it was stationed at Malta, then in India where it had various postings, including the last in Kamptee until it returned home in late 1902.
In 1908, the Volunteers and Militia were reorganised nationally, with the former becoming the Territorial Force and the latter the Special Reserve; the regiment now had two Reserve but no Territorial battalions
Do please VIEW my ***24 + years *** FEEDBACK selling history on E-Bay !!
Any questions please message me
Postage
First Class AirMail (6-10 DAYS)
New Zealand customers .30 Courier
....... SORRY but you pay GST @15% on purchase price :-(
Because WE must PAY GST on all locally-delivered item sales
A GST receipt will be provided on request
Track Page Views With
Auctiva's FREE Counter
Add a map to your own listings. FREE Trial !