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On 7 September 1793, a Dublin newspaper announced:
'His Majesty has been graciously pleased to permit Major Doyle, the soldiers friend, to raise forthwith a legion of Irish Heroes, the 87th. Such spirited lads as are desirous of serving in this honourable Corps, to be called the Prince of Wales' Irish Heroes, are invited to apply to Captain James Magrath, No. 42 Summer Hill, Dublin.
God save The King'
Later, a soldier wrote a poem from which the following extract is taken:
_'Eight hundred brave youths were collected,
Volunteers from the Emerald Isle,
The 88th Regiment was raised in Ireland, on 25 September 1793, by Colonel the Honourable Thomas de Burgh, who later became Major General the Earl of Clanricarde, and was recruited mainly from the Province of Connaught. Its facings were yellow and its Colours bore a Harp and Crown and the motto 'Quis Separabit'. A second battalion was formed in 1804. The 88th merged with the 94th Regiment of Foot in 1881 to become The Connaught Rangers.
The Regiment, when it was placed on the Establishment of the Army, had been raised in Dublin by Colonel William Crosbie, late of the 22nd of Foot. He was later promoted to Major-General and then commissioned as the Regiment's Colonel Commandant on 3 December 1793. The first Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Handfield (late of Fitch's Regiment), was also appointed on 3 December 1793.
The Cavan Militia, although raised in 1793, began recruiting in 1794. It was in existence from 1794-1816, except for short periods in 1802 and 1814. It was raised again during the Crimean War and in 1881 became the 4th Battalion The Princess Victoria’s (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment. When it was mobilised in 1914, it became the Training Battalion and provided drafts for the Service Battalions.
The Cavan Militia was mentioned in Parliament on 29 July 1899 in a question from the member for Cavan (West) to the Financial Secretary for War:
The Territorial Army battalions of the three regiments of the North Irish Brigade were the 5th (Territorial) Battalion The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, the 6th (Territorial) Battalion The Royal Ulster Rifles and the 5th (Territorial) Battalion The Royal Irish Fusiliers. They were raised in 1947, but during the 1960s the UK government decided that the reserve forces should be reduced to become a smaller but better equipped and trained reserve.
Ranger Aaron Lesley McCormick of the 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment was killed in action while serving in the Nad-e Ali district of Helmand province on 14 November 2010.
On 7 Jan 1991, all nineteen members of the Regimental Band, 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Rangers, led by Bandmaster WO1 Clarke, moved from Battlesbury Barracks, Warminster to Plymouth following receipt of a Warning Order for Op GRANBY, the British element of Operation DESERT STORM. In Plymouth, the Band came under control of Commander Medical Squadron, Royal Marines.
Ranger Justin Cupples, aged 29, of the 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment, was killed in action whilst on foot patrol in Sangin District, Helmand Province.
On 24 October 1990, 4 Platoon, B Company, 2nd Battalion The Royal Irish Rangers was manning the Permanent Vehicle Checkpoint at Cloghoge Mountain situated on the A1 to the south of Newry. At 0409 hours, a yellow van pulled up at the checkpoint and the driver, a hostage restricted in the van, shouted 'There's a bomb'. Ranger Cyril John Smith, who was the duty 'road man', removed and led the driver to safety while alerting the other soldiers who were manning the checkpoint.
The Royal Irish Rangers, the Territorial Army battalion of The Royal Irish Regiment, assumed a role in the Civil Contingency Reaction Force Northern Ireland.
