North Irish Horse - Background

Background

The raising of Militia units in Ireland commenced with the "Militia Act 1793" which in Ireland was used in conjunction with the compulsory disbandment of Lord Charlemont's Irish Volunteers who had become a political entity and "out of the scope of official influence." The scope of the Militia was broadened by an act of the Dublin Parliament in 1796 which led to the raising of 49 troops of cavalry, later renamed yeomanry. A troop normally consisted of a captain, two lieutenants (commissioned by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland) and forty men along with a permanent sergeant and trumpeter. Troops were grouped together under the command of a regular army Brigade Major. The force was known collectively as the "Irish Yeomanry" Each man provided his own horse. The falling need for this force eventually led to their disbandment in 1834.

With the advent of the Boer War a parliamentary decision was taken to raise squadrons of Yeomanry Cavalry under the "Militia and Yeomanry Act 1901" for service in South Africa. Because of the pressing need to raise this force quickly normal cavalry training with swords or lances (known as the arme blanche) was dispensed with and the new yeomanry was issued only with rifles in a break with cavalry tradition. This new force was called the "Imperial Yeomanry". Six squadrons were quickly raised in Ireland including the 46th (1st Belfast), 54th (2nd Belfast), the 60th (North Irish), and 45th (Dublin) (known as the Dublin Hunt Squadron) commanded by the Captain, the Earl of Longford. The 45th, 46th, 47th and 54th formed the 13th (Irish) Battalion Imperial Yeomanry. The 47th (Duke of Cambridge's Own) were raised from rich "men-about-town" in London by the Earl of Donoughmore and paid £130 each for their horses and equipment. The officers of the battalion included: the Earl of Leitrim, Sir John Power (of the Powers whiskey family), James Craig (later Lord Craigavon) and was known as the "Millionaires Own".