THE BARRACK SQUARE

A few years ago I was lucky to enough to be given the memorial plaque of Lance Corporal Patrick Andrew Hennessy from a relation of his....

On my last visit to Grangegorman Military Cemetery, my attention was caught by the headstone of John Ennis of Stoneybatter, Dublin. The...

A familiar stretch of road to me is the Tullamore - Birr road, which I’ve been on countless times. Passing by Eglish I always catch...

The recent release of the World War One pension cards has made spotting large family contributions to the war effort much clearer. One...

The medals of James Stephens. Recently a friend linked me to some medals for sale, the group consisted of the 1914 Star, the British War...

Today marks the 102nd anniversary of the death of Sergeant Gordon Brooker of the Leinster Regiment. Sergeant Brooker was buried in an...

As it was the anniversary of the death of Private Christopher White during this past week it would only be fitting to feature his story...

Andrew Acres Stoney was born in Frankford (Kilcormac), King’s County (County Offaly) on 8 October 1879. He was the only surviving son of...

My early days of researching soldier’s in Birr began with spending countless hours wandering around Clonoghill Cemetery, which is just a...

Today with are looking at a simple brass item, a bed plate. Bed or duty plates were hung at the end of a soldier’s bed when they were on...

A number of years ago I came across a Queen's South Africa medal. On initial research there did not appear to be much information about...

The Prince of Wales, later King Edward VIII was appointed commander in chief of the Leinster Regiment in 1919. In 1922 he visited the 1st...

11 November 2020 marks one year to the day since the 6.6-meter-tall oak cross commemorating Captain Lancelot Joseph Moore Studholme was...

Robert Malcolm Vernon Willington was born at St Kieran’s, Dorrha, County Tipperary on 13 November 1895.He was the youngest son of James...

Vincent John Hogan was born in Crinkill, Birr on 23 February 1892. He was the son of Colour Sergeant Patrick Hogan and Sarah Hogan (née...

Oliver was born in Trim, County Meath on 6 September 1896. He was the son of Head Constable Michael Holmes and Marianne Holmes (Nee...

This is the story of Peter Craffey. A professional soldier, wounded and taken prisoner during the Great War. Peter's post war life was...

The Second Anglo Boer War broke out in October 1899. The conflict arose after the British ignored an ultimatum issued by the Boers about...

A few years ago I came across a single 1914-15 Star awarded to Private Frederick McDonald of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Inniskilling...

While casually browsing the 1901 or 1911 census it is possible to pick up on interesting or peculiar facts about different families...