The island's rich history has included monks and monasteries, rioters and redcoats, captains and convicts and sinners and saints. The ceremony concluded with the playing of Amhrán na bhFiann before the Artillery Corps members left the barracks square.In the last 1300 years Spike Island has been host to a 6th century Monastery, a 24 acre Fortress, the largest convict depot in the world in Victorian times and centuries of island homes. The No 1 Army Band of No 1 Brigade under the baton of Capt Ben Jacob played the Last Post before the National Flag was raised and Reveille. Lieut Gen Clancy, GOC 1 Brigade Brigadier General Brian Cleary and retired Regimental Sgt Major, Paddy Driscoll then laid wreaths following by a minute’s silence which was ended with the firing of a 25 pounder gun before Piper Freddie Strutt played Oft In the Stilly Night. “As I finish, I wish to remember those gunners who are no longer with us, those whose legacy we have inherited in particular those who lost their lives on peacekeeping missions and those who died in a training incident in the Glen of Imaal in September 1941 – Ar dheis Dé a raibh a n-anam dilis.” The members of the Artillery Corps have also played critical roles in peacekeeping missions in Libya as well as Liberia, Chad and Eritrea, he said. The Artillery Corps Heavy Mortar Troop travelled on UN Peacekeeping duties in 1960 to the Congo where it distinguished itself in action. Coastal defence artillery units were established in the late 1930s in Cork and Donegal following the handover of the Treaty ports, he said. The Artillery Corps had its first shoot on September 1st, 1925, in the Glen of Imaal and the first anti-aircraft battery was established in 1930 in the Curragh. “Indeed, the conflict in Ukraine has highlighted the continued importance of artillery fire support and the need to protect forces from aerial threats to include unmanned platforms,” said Lieut Gen Clancy, noting that artillery can continue to contribute effectively within a modern force.Įarlier, Brig Gen Gerard Buckley of the Artillery Corps recalled how the corps was established on March 23rd 1923, in Clancy Barracks in Dublin under the leadership of Col PA Mulcahy “who had at that time under his command 11 officers, 52 enlisted personnel and 10 horses”.

The recent Commission on the Defence Forces identified indirect fire support from artillery and air defence capability, again from artillery, as being to the forefront of future Defence Forces structures, he told the centenary ceremonial parade in the barracks square. Lieut Gen Clancy said that democracy and sovereignty within Europe is being challenged by the ongoing war in Ukraine while issues such as energy supply, climate change, critical infrastructure, cyber attacks and drone attacks require the Defence Forces to be prepared for various contingencies. The war in Ukraine has highlighted the continued importance of artillery fire support, particularly when dealing with drone attacks, Defence Forces Chief of Staff, Lieut Gen Sean Clancy told an event at Collins Barracks in Cork to mark the centenary of the establishment of the army’s Artillery Corps.

Spikeisland