| St Patrick's Barracks | |
|---|---|
| Ballymena | |
  St Patrick's Barracks Location within Northern Ireland | |
| Coordinates | 54°56′26″N06°14′24″W / 54.94056°N 6.24000°W |
| Type | Barracks |
| Site information | |
| Owner | Ministry of Defence |
| Operator |  British Army |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1937 |
| Built for | War Office |
| In use | 1937-2008 |
St Patrick's Barracks was a military installation in Ballymena.
The site was requisitioned by the War Office and the barracks were put into use as the depot of the Royal Ulster Rifles, who had relocated from Victoria Barracks, as soon as they opened in 1937. [1] The barracks were used by the United States Army during the Second World War. [2] The barracks reverted to use as depot of the Royal Ulster Rifles after the War and became the regional centre for infantry training as the North Irish Brigade Depôt in 1964. [3] The barracks went on to be the home of the Royal Irish Rangers when it was formed in 1968 and of the Royal Irish Regiment when it was formed in 1992. [4]
The barracks were closed in 2008 and the Imjin River Memorial, which had been located at the barracks, was moved to Belfast City Hall: the memorial commemorates Irish troops lost in the Battle of Chaegunghyon in January 1951 during the Korean War. [5] [6]
The site was given to the Northern Ireland Executive in 2012 [7] and housing refurbishment was carried out. [8] The site was the home of the Royal Irish Regiment Museum until it closed. [9] Plans for a road link to the east of the site appeared in the planning submissions to Mid and East Antrim Council in November 2017. [10]
The 36th (Ulster) Division was an infantry division of the British Army, part of Lord Kitchener's New Army, formed in September 1914. Originally called the Ulster Division, it was made up of mainly members of the Ulster Volunteer Force, who formed thirteen additional battalions for three existing regiments: the Royal Irish Fusiliers, the Royal Irish Rifles and the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. The division served from October 1915 on Western Front as a formation of the British Army during the Great War.
Thiepval Barracks in Lisburn, County Antrim, is the headquarters of the British Army in Northern Ireland and its 38th (Irish) Brigade. It is home to 2nd Battalion, The Rifles.
The Royal Irish Regiment is an infantry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was founded in 1992 through the amalgamation of the Royal Irish Rangers and the Ulster Defence Regiment. Their oldest predecessor, the 27th Regiment of Foot, was first raised in June 1689 to fight in the Williamite War in Ireland. Other notable regiments in their lineage include the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, Royal Irish Rifles and the Royal Irish Fusiliers.
Ballymena is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 31,205 people at the 2021 Census, making it the seventh largest town in Northern Ireland by population. It is part of the Borough of Mid and East Antrim.
The Royal Irish Rangers was a regular infantry regiment of the British Army with a relatively short existence, formed in 1968 and later merged with the Ulster Defence Regiment in 1992 to form the Royal Irish Regiment.
The Royal Irish Rifles was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army, first created in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 83rd Regiment of Foot and the 86th Regiment of Foot. The regiment saw service in the Second Boer War, the First World War, the Second World War, and the Korean War.
The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers was an Irish line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1968. The regiment was formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot and the 108th Regiment of Foot.
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 Regiment of Foot and the 18th 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.
HQ Northern Ireland was the formation responsible for the British Army in and around Northern Ireland. It was established in 1922 and disbanded, replaced by a brigade-level Army Reserve formation, 38 (Irish) Brigade, in 2009.
The North Irish Brigade was a Brigade of the British Army which existed between 1948 and 1968; it consisted of the three regiments from Northern Ireland. After the Second World War there were 14 infantry depots in the United Kingdom, each bearing a letter. The depots were territorially aligned, and Infantry Depot M at Omagh was aligned with the regiments from Northern Ireland.
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Gough Barracks was a military installation in Armagh, Northern Ireland.
Victoria Barracks was a military installation in New Lodge, Belfast in Northern Ireland.
Major-General Corran William Brooke Purdon was an Irish-born career soldier in the British Army, who took part in the raid on St Nazaire as a commando for which he was awarded the Military Cross. He was subsequently a prisoner in Colditz Castle.
The Battle of Chaegunghyon or the Battle of Happy Valley was a conflict in the Korean War fought in Yangju by China and against Britain The Battle of Chaegunghyon took place on the night of 3–4 January 1951 and held back the advancing Chinese and North Korean forces helping to facilitate the evacuation of Seoul.
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