Irish Soldiers In Ww1

The first world war took place between 1914 and 1918 as a result of conflict between the Great Powers. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the event which became the immediate cause of the "War to end all wars". Sixty-five million men were mobilized to fight in the war. 8.7 million of these men fought for the British army, and of those, around 210,00 were Irish men. Since there was no conscription, about 140,000 of these Irishmen joined the army as volunteers. Irishmen enlisted in the cause for a variety of reasons. Some joined because of the perceived justice of the cause, while others took a more political approach to enlistment. Nationalists had been committed to the war effort in September 1914 by their leader, John Redmond

Having already established the UVF (Ulster volunteer force) to oppose home rule and secure a union with Great Britain in 1912, they couldn't exactly stand by and allow Great Britain itself go to war alone. A substantial portion of the UVF enlisted and formed the 36th Ulster division which was almost wholly Protestant. Nationalists, mostly Catholic, joined the other two of lord kitcheners " new army " divisions raised in Ireland: the 10th and 16th Irish divisions. Not all Irishmen enlisted based on political opinions. many simply joined seeking an adventure. One man, Tom Barry who would later become a noted IRA commander, said he enlisted " to see what war was like, to get a gun, to see new countries and to feel like a grown man." Many of the Irishmen involved in WW1 would go on to have involvement in the 1916 rising. James Conolly for example. He suggested that many men had no choice but to enlist as a result of the poor economic conditions and severe lack of employment in Ireland. The fighting would soon commence for the

However, the divisions attacking Thiepval and Beaumont Hamel were quickly repulsed and the German machine guns now turned on the Ulster men. This attack caused great slaughter and over the course of two days, the division lost around 5500 killed, wounded or missing in action, 2500 of which had been killed. These losses had devastating effects for the people back in Ireland. The division was withdrawn from the battle in July 1916 and deployed to a quieter sector in Flanders. They were joined there in September by the 16th division following their devastating losses at Ginchy and