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The Other View |
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Issue No.2 Autumn 2000 ‘Faugh-an-Ballagh’ - Clearing the Way A review of nationalist participation in Irish regiments of the British Army By John Nixon In the town of Castleblayney, County Monaghan, there is a GAA club called Cunmann Fag an Bealach or colloquially ‘The Blayney Faughs’. The name is taken from the motto of the Royal Irish Fusiliers; ‘Faugh-an-Ballagh’ from the Irish meaning ‘Clear the Way’. Irish was the first language of the majority of recruits. Many Irishmen joined the ranks not to ‘follow the flag’ but as an option to eking out an existence on subdivided land or to escape poverty. There were no ‘Giros’ coming through the door. The regiment’s history stems back to the 1798 Rebellion when as the Armagh Militia or Protestant Yeomanry they took the surrender of the French at Ballinamuck, County Mayo. The pinnacle of glory came during the Napoleonic wars at Barrosa, when, as the 87th Princess Victoria’s, they captured the coveted French eagle from the French 8th Regiment. The attack was led by Ensign Edward T. Keogh and Sergeant Patrick Masterson, a Roscommon man, who finally seized the prize despite being wounded in the head. It was a hard fought, hard won battle which Col. Gough described as ‘two and a half hours’ roar of cannon and musketry – a scene of dreadful carnage’. The 87th Regiment whose strength totalled 722 men had scattered three French regiments and had suffered a total of 173 casualties. Material for the TV series Sharpe starring Sean Bean was gleaned from the war documents. Gough Barracks in Armagh was the nursery of the fusiliers whose recruitment area covered counties Armagh, Cavan and Monaghan. As the century closed and a world war (of the mass) was in the offing, the Fusiliers were seeing action in the Boer war where they were involved in The Siege of Ladysmith. Irish republicans particularly Arthur Griffiths, observed with keen interest the tactics used by the Boers. For the British it was a debacle; over 10,000 Boer children died in concentration camps. Ironically Armagh nationalists fought against each other on either side. Support for the Boers was strong among nationalists in the city. Armagh was a civil and military administrative area and the army a prime source of employment. Many nationalists joined the Fusiliers, particularly the Reserve. Economic conscription had many forms. Membership of the Reserve had benefits when it came to accessing jobs from the mainly Unionist employers in the city and district. When Britain entered the war in August 1914 the Reserve was immediately mobilised and sent to the Front. By 1916 the Faughs had fourteen fighting battalions. Thousands of nationalists, who joined the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th battalions, soon saw action with the Irish 10th and 16th divisions in the Dardanelles. Redmond’s Speech at Woodenbridge, Wicklow, committed Irish nationalists ‘to go wherever the firing line extends’. As the Reserves (and many old soldiers) left from Armagh train station they were accompanied by the Irish Volunteers and local UVF, who formed a guard of honour. There was opposition. As the recruits paraded through the nationalist Irish Street there were catcalls and shouts of ‘Up the Boers’ from the gathered crowd. The Union flag was lowered. Cardinal Logue added to growing opposition to possible conscription: "The people had been cleared out of the country. They had to fly to seek employment in other lands because their industries had been killed in the past and the Nemesis was coming now. The Government that killed their Irish industries and forced the people to emigrate were looking for men now to fight for them and the men were not there to be got". Despite this, thousands of nationalists followed Redmond in the hope that their sacrifice would smooth the passage of Home Rule. In September 1914, Armagh’s Irish volunteer leaders resolved: "That we the volunteers of the County of Armagh, proclaim our object to be the maintenance of our national parliament now restored to us by the Home Rule Bill passed in the last session of the British House of Commons". A census of Irish manpower in 1915 estimated that 1,161,236 men were available for active service. By 1916 all but 30,000 had signed up: 66,674 from Ulster (58% from Belfast), Munster 21,097, Leinster 15,636, Connaught 21,097. Almost 40,000 had died. The 9th battalion comprised almost entirely the Armagh UVF. Its history has been well documented, albeit in a hegemonising way by the Orange Order. The Fusiliers lost a total of 3,181 men with more than 15,000 wounded. The regiment won two Victoria Crosses. Many nationalists joined the Faughs during the Second World War and indeed, after it. The Faughs formed part of the 38th Irish Brigade with its Shamrock and Battle-axe logo. There was no identity crisis then; recruits were Irish or Royal Irish. The official regimental songbook is a schizoid collection of staunch Republican and Loyalist songs: ‘A Nation Once Again’ and ‘Kevin Barry’ sits awkwardly on the same leaf as ‘The Sash’ and ‘Dolly’s Brae’. During the 50/60’s Operation Harvest campaign the IRA easily infiltrated the garrison Gough Barracks and made off with tons of weapons and ammunition without a shot fired. In 1968 the Faughs merged with the Inniskillings and Royal Ulster Rifles. History, in particular nationalist history, has been unkind to those nationalists who paid the ultimate price for their political aspirations during the Great War. Like the Titanic this part of our past still intrigues us. After partition both Nationalists and Unionists rejected these Irishmen. In 1992 the Faugh’s motto was inherited by the controversial Royal Irish Regiment who are part made up the totally discredited UDR. No nationalists are in its ranks. It marks a consummate cut-off point in a shared military heritage.
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