ONE year ago the Royal Irish Regiment was en route to the arid heat of Afghanistan.
During a six-month tour of duty in Helmand province, the full-time soldiers who make up the regiment’s 1st Battalion fought on a daily basis against the Taliban, earning more Conspicuous Gallantry awards than any other regiment has earned in one depl
oyment.
One of their number, Ranger Justin Cupples, did not return; 19-year-old Ranger Andy Allen lost both his legs and scores more were injured to varying degrees.
But on Saturday the regiment came together at Clive Barracks, part of the sprawling Tern Hill Army base in north Shropshire which is now the historic regiment’s home, for its traditional St Patrick’s Day celebrations.
Three days before St Patrick’s Day itself, as many of the soldiers had other engagements on Tuesday, hundreds of soldiers and their families gathered to celebrate.
The troops were awakened at 6.15am by the regiment’s mascot, Irish wolfhound Brian Boru, visiting their rooms and ‘gunfire’ – a startling mix of Irish whiskey and tea.
Reveille at 6.30am was followed by the ‘Shamrock Stakes’, a chariot race between the regiment’s various companies, with each submitting a team of eight to race carefully constructed custom vehicles while under attack from colleagues armed with flour and eggs.
Then, at 11am, the entire contingent of Royal Irish regular soldiers – the 2nd Battalion is now made up of TA soldiers – marched into the parade ground behind the Regiment’s band playing many of the same tunes heard during last autumn’s homecoming parades.
Four guards of regular soldiers, one of cadets and one of veterans, moved into the windswept parade ground.
After the regiment had formed into their ranks, two soldiers pushed the wheelchairs of their injured colleagues Andy Allen and SergeantAlly McKinney forward to join the flanks of the Royal Irish ranks.
The parents of Ranger Cupples travelled from their home in Co Cavan in the Republic to watch the service alongside other families and senior officers.
In front of the saluting dais stood a series of stacked drums – bearing the names of battles where the Royal Irish and its antecedent regiments fought – which give the Drumhead Service its name.
In the battlefield the drums, emblazoned with a multitude of battle names – Egypt 1882-84, Jerusalem, Dunkirk 1940 – are used by chaplains as altars.
During the service, the ranks of troops held hymn sheets as they sang Belfast hymn writer William Young Fulton’s composition I Cannot Tell Why He Whom Angels Worship to the tune of Londonderry Air before a reading from the Confession of St Patrick and prayers.
Lieutenant General Sir Philip Trousdell, a former General Officer Commanding of Northern Ireland, addressed the troops in his role as Colonel-in-Chief of the regiment.
Lt Gen Trousdell told the troops that their efforts over the last year had “certainly been for the honour of Ireland” but urged them “never to forget those who were wounded in combat and those who did not return”.
