Birr Barracks

Birr Barracks (Irish: Dún Bhiorra) also known as Crinkill Barracks (Irish: Dún Chríonchoill) was a military installation in Crinkill, near Birr, County Offaly in Ireland.

Birr Barracks
Dún Bhiorra
Crinkill, Birr, County Offaly
Entrance to Birr Barracks
Birr Barracks Location within Ireland
Coordinates	53.07812°N 7.895216°W / 53.07812; -7.895216
Type	Barracks
Site information
Operator	Irish Army
Site history
Built	1809-1812
Built for	War Office
In use	1812-1922
Garrison information
Garrison	Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians)

History

The Barracks around 1900

The barracks were built by Bernard Mullins at the instigation of Lawrence Parsons, 2nd Earl of Rosse, who had supported the need to build some barracks within a few hours’ march of the River Shannon, and were completed between 1809 and 1812.^[1] In 1873 a system of recruiting areas based on counties was instituted under the Cardwell Reforms and the barracks became the depot for the 100th (Prince of Wales's Royal Canadian) Regiment of Foot and the 109th Regiment of Foot (Bombay Infantry).^[2] Following the Childers Reforms, the 100th and 109th regiments amalgamated to form the Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians) with its depot in the barracks in 1881.^[2] The regiment moved into the barracks on 17 November 1882.^[1]

Some 6,000 recruits enlisted at the barracks during the First World War: an airfield was built there in 1917 and Sergeant John Allan was killed when his plane crashed into Crinkill House on 28 March 1919.^[1]

The Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians) was disbanded at the time of Irish Independence in 1922.^[3] The barracks were taken over by the Irish Army at that time but a small group of Irish Republican Army irregulars took control of the barracks and burnt them to the ground on 14 July 1922.^[4] The remaining ruins were demolished in 1985.^[1]

In 2013 the Regimental Association of the Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians) erected a memorial to commemorate the regiment's strong linkages with the area.^[5]

References

1. Display at the entrance to the ruins of the Barracks
2. "Training Depots". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 10 February 2006. Retrieved 16 October 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
3. Murphy, David (2007). Irish Regiments in the World Wars, quote: "Following the treaty that established the independent Irish Free State in 1922, it was decided to disband the regiments that had their traditional recruiting grounds in southern Ireland: The Royal Irish Regiment; The Connaught Rangers; The Prince of Wales' Leinster Regiment; The Royal Munster Fusiliers; The Royal Dublin Fusiliers; The South Irish Horse". Osprey Publishing. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-84603-015-4.
4. "Crinkle". Birr History Society. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
5. "Leinster Regiment Memorial Birr". Leinster Regiment Association. Retrieved 18 November 2014.