The Irish Army, known simply as the Army, is the land component of the Defence Forces of Ireland. Approximately 7,300 people served in the Irish Army on a permanent basis as of May 2016, and there were 1,600 active reservists, divided into two geographically organised brigades. As well as maintaining its primary roles of defending the State and internal security within the State, since 1958 the Army has had a continuous presence in peacekeeping missions around the world. The Army also participates in the European Union Battlegroups. The Air Corps and Naval Service support the Army in carrying out its roles.
The Royal Green Jackets (Rifles) Museum is situated at Peninsula Barracks in Winchester, England. The museum is one of several regimental museums that form part of Winchester's Military Museums.
The United Nations Operation in the Congo was a United Nations peacekeeping force deployed in the Republic of the Congo in 1960 in response to the Congo Crisis. ONUC was the UN's first peacekeeping mission with significant military capabilities, and remains one of the largest UN operations in both scale and operational scope.
Likasi is a city in Haut-Katanga Province, in the south-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In the Siege of Jadotville[ʒa.do.vil] in September 1961, a small contingent of Irish troops serving as part of the United Nations Operation in the Congo were besieged in the mining town of Jadotville by Katangese forces loyal to the secessionist State of Katanga. The siege took place during the seven-day escalation of a stand-off between ONUC and Katangese forces during Operation Morthor. Although the Irish soldiers resisted Katangese attacks for five days while a relief force of Irish, Indian and Swedish troops attempted to reach them, they were eventually forced to surrender. They were subsequently held as prisoners of war for approximately one month.
The Organisation of National Ex-Servicemen and Women is a support organisation for ex-service personnel of the Irish Defence Services.
The 83rd Regiment of Foot was a British Army line infantry regiment, which was formed in Ireland in 1793 for service in the French Revolutionary Wars. The regiment served in the West Indies, South Africa and the Peninsular War, and after the end of the wars with France spent much of the nineteenth century in colonial garrisons. Among other service, the 83rd fought in the Ceylon Great Rebellion of 1817–18, the Canadian Rebellions of 1837, and the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Under the Childers Reforms, the regiment amalgamated with the 86th Regiment of Foot to form the Royal Irish Rifles in 1881.
Though Ireland has no formal honours system, there are systems of awards run by the state. Among those systems is the system of awards and medals awarded to members of the Defence Forces.
The Military Medal For Gallantry (MMG) is a military decoration awarded by the Government of Ireland. It is the highest award of the military awards and decorations of Ireland.
The Niemba ambush took place on 8 November 1960, when an Irish Army patrol in Congo-Léopoldville was ambushed, the first time the Irish Army was embroiled in battle since the 1922-23 Irish Civil War. Ireland had deployed troops as United Nations Operation in the Congo (ONUC) peacekeepers.
The United Nations Force Intervention Brigade (FIB) is a military formation which constitutes part of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO). It was authorized by the United Nations Security Council on 28 March 2013 through Resolution 2098. Although it is not the first instance in which the use of force was authorized by the UN, the Force Intervention Brigade is the first UN peacekeeping operation specifically tasked to carry out targeted offensive operations to "neutralize and disarm" groups considered a threat to state authority and civilian security. In this case, the main target was the M23 militia group, as well as other Congolese and foreign rebel groups. While such operations do not require the support of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), the Force Intervention Brigade often acts in unison with the FARDC to disarm rebel groups.
William "Liam" Donnelly was an Irish former hurler who played as a centre-back for the Dublin senior team.
Declan Power is a former Irish Army soldier, defence analyst and writer.
The Siege of Jadotville is a 2016 action-war film directed by Richie Smyth and written by Kevin Brodbin. An Irish-South African production, the film is based on Declan Power's book, The Siege at Jadotville: The Irish Army's Forgotten Battle (2005), about an Irish Army unit's role in the titular Siege of Jadotville during the United Nations Operation in the Congo in September 1961.
Roger Faulques was a French Army Colonel, a graduate of the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr, a paratrooper officer of the French Foreign Legion, and a mercenary.
Operation Rum Punch or Operation Rampunch was a military action undertaken by United Nations peacekeeping forces on 28 August 1961 against the military of the State of Katanga, a secessionist state from the Republic of the Congo in central Africa. UN troops arrested 79 foreign mercenaries and officers employed by Katanga with little conflict.
Patrick Quinlan (1919–1997) was an Irish Army officer who commanded the Irish UN force that fought at the Siege of Jadotville in Katanga in 1961, and surrendered when they ran out of ammunition and other supplies. Despite the initial lack of recognition for the events leading up to the surrender, following Quinlan's death his reputation in Ireland was restored.
The Katangese Gendarmerie, officially the Katangese Armed Forces, was the paramilitary force of the unrecognized State of Katanga in Central Africa from 1960 to 1963. The forces were formed upon the secession of Katanga from the Republic of the Congo with help from Belgian soldiers and former officers of the Force Publique. Belgian troops also provided much of the early training for the Gendarmerie, which was mainly composed of Katangese but largely led by Belgians and later European mercenaries.
Kottimukula Alagaraja Singaparaja Raja, known as K.A.S. Raja, was an Indian military officer.
James Lucey was an Irish Gaelic footballer. He played at club level with Glenbeigh-Glencar, Laune Rangers and Mid Kerry and at inter-county level with the Kerry senior football team.
