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Having taken part in an abortive expedition to Holland the 87th were sent, at the end of 1796, to the West Indies where they spent nearly 8 years. Their only action during these years was an attack which failed against the well-protected town of San Juan or Puerto Rico. Although the 87th suffered only 2 killed and 3 wounded at this battle the Regiment lost between 700 - 800 men owing to disease during their long stay in the tropics.
The 87th spent 12 years on garrison duties in Mauritius from 1831. An inspecting officer noted in 1840:
'... it would be exceedingly desirable that the soldiers should be provided with an Evening Meal. From the dinner hour at one o'clock until eight the next morning he fasts - he has no meal in the interval, and in many instances acts of intemperance are more readily induced in consequence'.
The men were more prone to drink as they could do so very cheaply - a man could get drunk in Mauritius for one penny.
On 17 November 1827, the Colonel of the 87th, General Sir John Doyle, received a letter from the Adjutant General, Sir Henry Torrens:
'I have the honour to acquaint you that the King has been pleased to approve of the Eighty-Seventh Regiment assuming the title "Royal", and its being in future styled the Eighty-Seventh or Royal Irish Fusiliers, instead of the Prince of Wales' Own Irish Fusiliers'.
The Secretary-at-War wrote to Major John Doyle on 18 September 1793, advising Doyle that HM The King had approved Doyle's raising of the 87th Regiment of Foot. Once the Regiment was recruited and considered fit for active continental service it embarked for Flanders in summer 1794, as part of a force commanded by Major General the Earl of Moira. The overall commander in Flanders was HRH The Duke of York.
The Parliament of Great Britain, on 2 July 1800, passed An Act for the Union of Great Britain and Ireland, also known as The Union with Ireland Act 1800, which came into effect on 1 January 1801. The Parliament of Ireland also, on 1 August 1800, passed a complementary Act of Union (Ireland) 1800; both in effect created a Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Acts also created a united parliament in London.
The Battle of Lexington, 19 April 1775, marked the opening of the American War of Independence and the last major battle was fought in 1781. The Treaty of Paris, signed on 3 September 1783, brought the war to a formal conclusion. Although the American colonies had declared independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain on 4 July 1776, it was not until 1783 that the British government recognized America's independence.
This was a jaunty Cork street ballad that reflected the views of a separa, a woman who was paid separation money when her husband went to fight with the Army during the Great War, in this case Salonika, and the wife of a slacker. Men in Cork who avoided joining the army, for whatever reason, gained the pejorative slacker. The use of the word may also reflect Cork’s strong links with the USA as Americans used the term slacker to describe civilians dodging either the war effort or enlisting - later described as a draft dodger.
The 2nd Battalion The Royal Irish Fusiliers left Malta in June 1943, having survived the siege of that island and all the privations that a siege and blockade normally entail. The Faughs arrived in Port Said after a sea journey via Tripoli. After leave, and two months of hard training in mountain warfare and practice with landing craft, speculation about its destination was rife.
The European 'Scramble for African' began in earnest following the Berlin Conference. European tensions over claims would ultimately contribute to the outbreak of war in 1914. Participants negotiated their claims to African territory in Berlin as well as a framework for negotiating future claims in Africa. However, the nations and people of the African continent were not represented at the Berlin Conference, nor were they to be included in any future negotiations on how their traditional lands and kingdoms were divided and parcelled by the colonising European empires.
The dictionary describes a caubeen as 'an Irish beret, typically dark green in colour' with the origins of the word going back to the 19th century Irish for 'old hat' - cáibín, literally meaning 'a little cape'. There are tales of its origins in an Aran beret worn by fishermen, and a romantic suggestion that it dates back to the time of the Gaelic Irish general Owen Roe O'Neil.
