Early History of Constituent Regiments
The 87th and 89th Regiments of Foot both saw extensive service in the Napoleonic Wars. At the Battle of Barrosa in 1811 the 2nd battalion of the 87th became famous as the first British Army unit to capture a French Imperial eagle in battle. It was during the Peninsular War that the regiment got its nickname, the Faughs, from their Irish war cry "Faugh A Ballagh" (Fág a' Bealach, meaning Clear the Way).
The 87th Regiment subsequently saw service in the Burmese War of 1824-26, where the battle honour "Ava" was gained. The 89th Regiment served in the Crimean War (1854) and the Indian Mutiny (1857).
Following amalgamation in 1885 battalions of the Royal Irish Fusiliers saw active service in Egypt and the Sudan (1882 and 1898) and the Boer War (1899–1902).
Read more about this topic: Royal Irish Fusiliers
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“I believe that history might be, and ought to be, taught in a new fashion so as to make the meaning of it as a process of evolution intelligible to the young.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)