The mobilisation of Reserves was signed into law on 4th August. Patrick reported to the Regimental Depot (at Ashton-under-Lyne, near Manchester) the following day. Two sizeable groups of reservists joined the 2nd Battalion in Ireland on the 7th and 8th. These were probably men from the Special Reserve. They had 3-4 weeks of training every…
As mentioned in ‘Would not start from here’, the War Diary appears to have been written in an exercise book. Compiling it was the job of one of the officers. The handwriting is reasonably legible. To help the reader, place names are generally written in capitals. I thought that tracking the journey of the 2nd…
When the Great War started, Patrick, from Roscommon, was living in England. He was in Dewsbury, Yorkshire. As a reservist, he could live where he liked. Most of his close relatives were in Dewsbury, so that is where he went after completing his eight years of service in the Army in October 1910. His Battalion…
Many years ago, I asked a work colleague what prompted his interest in the Great War. He said that he had become aware of how much the world had changed in those four years. The map of Europe had been redrawn. The social changes were even more dramatic. Things could never return to the old…
At the Battle of Waterloo, in 1815, estimates of the numbers of Irish born soldiers in the British Army vary from a third to a half. There were many exclusively Irish regiments. As stated in ‘Advantages of birth’, a life in the military offered certain attractions to the poor. (Regular food and clothing being the…
The term ‘advantages of birth’ normally refers to those who were born into wealthy families. People who had decent clothes and good shoes. People who always had enough to eat. People with secure jobs, or those who did not need to work. People who lived in warm, dry houses, and slept in comfortable beds. People…
Promotion can come quickly in times of war. Opportunities abound to show leadership qualities. There are many cases of men rising from Private to Lieutenant and beyond. Reaching the level of Major was possible. As previous articles have shown, the level of attrition of both officers and other ranks was high. As recorded in “Ancre”,…
I know nothing about Patrick’s life between his birth in Roscommon in March 1883 and August 1902, when he joined the Militia in Dewsbury. I cannot find him on any of the census returns for 1901. My Father relayed a vague story about Patrick being a cabin boy at some point. This is perfectly possible.…
One of the characters in Alan Bennett’s play ‘The History Boys’ expresses the sentiment that history is just one thing after another. (I am not repeating the exact quote. It is easily accessible on line!) And, at one level, so it is. I have tried to convey in these blogs that history has a profound…
Mary Cannan first appeared as a visitor in ‘Room at the Inn’. A subsequent blog (Mary Cannan) explored her story in more detail. At the time there were gaps in the story: she seems to disappear. I have investigated in more detail and now have a reasonably complete story. The key was looking for sufficiently…
