Police

Royal Irish Constabulary 1822-1922

The first organised police forces in Ireland came about through the Peace Preservation Act in 1814 for which Sir Robert Peel (1788–1850) was largely responsible (the colloquial names "Bobby" and "Peeler" derive from his name Robert and Peel), and the Irish Constabulary Act in 1822 formed the provincial constabularies

The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC / Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when the country was part of the United Kingdom.

1822-1836

1836-1867

After a RIC 1867 original

RIC badge 1910

DMP badge

A separate civic police force, the unarmed Dublin Metropolitan Police, patrolled the capital, while the cities of Derry and Belfast, originally with their own police forces, later had special divisions within the RIC. For most of its history, the ethnic and religious makeup of the RIC broadly matched that of the Irish population, although Anglo-Irish Protestants were over-represented among its senior officers.

In January 1922 the British and Irish delegations agreed to disband the RIC. Phased disbandments began within a few weeks with RIC personnel both regular and auxiliary being withdrawn to six centres in southern Ireland. On 2 April 1922 the force formally ceased to exist, although the actual process was not completed until August that year. The RIC was replaced by the Civic Guard (renamed as the Garda Síochána the following year) in the Irish Free State and by the Royal Ulster Constabulary in Northern Ireland.

Garda Síochána 1922- present

An Garda Síochána meaning "the Guardian of the Peace", more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (Guardians") or "the Guards", is the police service of the Republic of Ireland. The service is headed by the Garda Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are in Dublin's Phoenix Park.

Since the formation of the Garda Síochána in 1923, it has been a predominantly unarmed force, and more than three-quarters of the force do not routinely carry firearms.

The

Garda Síochána is organised into four geographical regions: the East, North/West, South and Dublin Metropolitan Regions.

In addition to its crime detection and prevention roles, road safety enforcement duties, and community policing remit, the police service has some diplomatic and witness protection responsibilities and border control functions.

Car patch

More: http://www.irishmedals.ie/garda-uniform-and-badges.php

Armed Forces

The Irish Volunteers (Óglaigh na hÉireann), sometimes called the Irish Volunteer Force or Irish Volunteer Army, was established in 1913 by Irish nationalists. It was ostensibly formed in response to the formation of the Ulster Volunteers in 1912, and its declared primary aim was "to secure and maintain the rights and liberties common to the whole people of Ireland". The Volunteers included members of the Gaelic League, the Ancient Order of Hibernians and Sinn Féin, and, secretly, the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). Increasing rapidly to a strength of nearly 200,000 by mid-1914, it split in September of that year over John Redmond's commitment to the British War effort, with the smaller group retaining the name of "Irish Volunteers".

Badge

Pin set

Belt ckasp english text

Belt clasp irish text

Gaelic League emblem

AOH emblem

This emblem of the Ancient Order of Hibernians was found in the Library of Congress and was published on the front page of the Hibernian Digest in 2001.

Óglach, the singular of óglaigh, comes from the Old Irish word óclach, meaning a young man or (by analogy) a young warrior. The phrase Óglaigh na hÉireann was coined as an Irish-language title for the Irish Volunteers of 1913, and it was retained despite the Volunteers becoming known in English as the Irish Republican Army (IRA) during the War of Independence of 1919–1922.

Irish Republican Army

The name has also been used by several other paramilitary groups calling themselves the Irish Republican Army since 1920. These groups each claim to be the sole legitimist modern successors to the original Irish Volunteers and Irish Republican Army, and they have refused to recognise the authority of (variously) the Defence Forces, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland; as such, each of these groups claims the sole right to use the name Óglaigh na hÉireann. Such groups have included the Provisional IRA, the Continuity IRA and the Real IRA.

Some IRA splinter groups have used Oglaigh na hÉireann in English-language contexts, abandoning the label Irish Republican Army. An early instance was formed in 1956 by members of the Dublin Brigade who followed Joe Christle after his expulsion from the IRA; they formed an alliance with Saor Uladh shortly before the IRA's Border Campaign eclipsed them. Two dissident republican groups formed in the 2000s were named Oglaigh na hÉireann: a Continuity IRA splinter group first reported on by the Independent Monitoring Commission in 2006, and a Real IRA splinter group which began claiming responsibility for attacks in 2009.

A suppression order made by the Irish state in June 1939 under the Offences Against the State Act 1939 stated that "the organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army (also the I.R.A. and Oglaigh [sic] na hÉireann)" was to be considered an unlawful organisation within the context of the Act.

National Army

In 1922, the Anglo-Irish Treaty created the Irish Free State, and its Provisional Government formed the National Army. To establish itself as carrying on the tradition of the pre-independence movement, the Army adopted Óglaigh na hÉireann as its Irish language name, and also adopted the cap badge and buttons of the Irish Volunteers; the badge incorporates the title in its design.

Defence Forces

Since 1924, Óglaigh na hÉireann has remained the official Irish-language title for the Defence Forces, which are recognised by the Irish Government as the only legitimate armed forces of the independent state on the island of Ireland.

Army

Headquarters

Navy

Naval Service Emblem

Navy colours reverse and obverse

Naval jack

Commissioning Pennant

Air Force

The Air Corps (Irish: An tAerchór) is the air component of the Defence Forces of Ireland. Through a fleet of fixed and rotary wing aircraft, it provides military support to the Army and Naval Service, together with non-military air services such as Garda air support, air ambulance, fisheries protection and the Ministerial Air Transport Service. Its headquarters and airfield is Casement Aerodrome located at Baldonnel, County Dublin.

With the establishment of the Defence Forces in 1924, the Air Service became the new Army's Air Corps and remained part of the Army until the 1990s.

Emblem

Badge

POliceRoundel  1939-1954

Roundel, present

Wings