The Royal Cork City Militia, later the Royal Cork City Artillery, was an Irish Militia regiment raised in Cork City in 1793. It saw action during the Irish Rebellion of 1798. In 1854 it was converted to artillery militia and was embodied for home defence during the Crimean and Boer wars. As a Special Reserve unit of the Royal Garrison Artillery it served in coast defence and supplied trained gunners to the fighting units during World War I. It was disbanded at the time of Irish Independence.
Precursors
Although there are scattered references to town guards – in 1584 those of Cork City comprised 300 'shot' (musketeers) and 100 billmen – no organised militia existed in Ireland before 1660. After the Stuart Restoration more formal militia forces were organised. In 1667 the militia of the City of Cork consisted of 600 foot and 60 horse; in 1681 they were 500 foot and 'two gallant troops of horse'. During the Williamite War in Ireland the Governor of Cork, Sir Richard Cox, increased the militia of the county to three regiments of foot (6000 men) and 26 independent troops of horse in 1691, which played an active part in the fighting. In 1715 the Irish Militia came under statutory authority, but its numbers fell away until the War of American Independence, when with a serious threat of invasion by the Americans' allies, France and Spain, Ireland had no national militia. It was not until the outbreak of the French Revolutionary War In 1793 that the Irish administration passed an effective Militia Act that created an official Irish Militia. The new Act was based on existing English precedents, with the men being conscripted by ballot to fill county quotas (paid substitutes were permitted) and the officers having to meet certain property qualifications.Hay, pp. 197–8. Hay, pp. 146–7. Hay, pp. 390–3.McAnally, pp. 1–31.Richey, pp. 3–6.
Royal Cork City Militia French Revolutionary War In March 1793 County Cork was given a quota of 1464 men to find, to be organised into three regiments each of 488 men in 8 companies:Frederick, p. 167.McAnally, Appendix VI. Royal Cork City MilitiaFrederick, pp. 983–5.Royal Cork City Militia at Regiments.org (archived at the Wayback Machine) North Cork Militia at FermoyFrederick, p. 243. South Cork Militia at RathcormacFrederick, p. 275.Hay, pp. 427–8.Litchfield, pp. 56–8. The new militia was widely unpopular, and Cork was one of the slower counties to fill its quota. The commandant of the City Militia, Richard Longfield, complained that it was hampered by the activities of insurers in the city who (for a price) provided volunteer substitutes for balloted men who were unwilling to serve. The order to embody the three regiments for service was not issued until 30 September and it was not carried out until 15 October.McAnally, pp. 41, 43, 48. In 1795 the Irish militia was augmented, and each of the County Cork regiments was raised to an establishment of 612 men.
The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars saw the British and Irish militia embodied for a whole generation, becoming regiments of full-time professional soldiers (though restricted to service in Britain or Ireland respectively), which the regular army increasingly saw as a prime source of recruits. They served in coast defences, manned garrisons, guarded prisoners of war, and carried out internal security duties.Knight, pp. 78–9, 111, 255, 411. In August 1794 the Cork City regiment was stationed at Charleville, with two companies detached to Millstreet.McAnally, Appendix III.
Anxiety about a possible French invasion grew during the autumn of 1796 and preparations were made for field operations. A large French expeditionary force appeared in Bantry Bay on 21 December and troops from all over Ireland were marched towards the threatened area. Soon afterwards news arrived that the French fleet had been scattered by the winter storms. Several ships had been wrecked and none of the French troops succeeded in landing; there was no sign of a rising by the United Irishmen. The invasion was called off on 29 December, and the troop concentration was dispersed in early 1797.McAnally, pp. 96–102; Appendix III.
Early in 1797 the light companies of the militia were detached to join composite battalions drawn from several militia and regular regiments. The light companies of the three Cork regiments joined 1st Light Battalion. The militia regiments were each issued with two light six-pounder 'battalion guns', with the gun detachments trained by the Royal Artillery. When the militiamen of 1793 reached the end of their four-year enlistment in 1797, most of the Irish regiments were able to maintain their numbers through re-enlistments (for a bounty).McAnally, pp. 102–9, 121–6.Richey, pp. 18–9; Appendices IV & V.
Irish Rebellion
The expected Irish Rebellion finally broke out in May 1798. In Dublin the authorities quickly occupied strategic points in the city which the United Irishmen had planned to seize. The main body of the Royal Cork City Militia under Lieutenant-Colonel Longfield, with its battalion guns, was stationed in St Stephen's Green. Dublin City remained quiet.
However, about away Captain Richard Swayne with a 40-strong detachment of the Light Company of the regiment and 20 of the Ancient British Fencible Cavalry were garrisoning the town of Prosperous, County Kildare, where they had made themselves unpopular by heavy-handed searches for illegal arms. On the night of 24 May John Esmonde led a small rebel force into the town, killed the two sentries, opened the gates and attacked the barracks. Most of the off-duty militiamen were trapped in the upper floors of the barracks which was set on fire by the rebels, those who jumped down being summarily killed. Swayne was killed in bed. The garrison's estimated casualties in this Battle of Prosperous range widely, but the Light Company appears to have lost two sergeants, a corporal and 23 privates killed in addition to Capt Swayne. Some of the Ancient Britons who had been billeted in private houses got away. The rest of the Royal Cork City's Light Company under Lieutenant Corker was on detachment at the time. Only two or three of the United Irishmen were killed. Swayne was later criticised even by loyalists for his heavy-handedness and for failing to double his sentries and take other defensive precautions on news of the rebellion.McAnally, Appendix VIII.Maxwell, pp. 60–2.Fergal Browne 'Captain Swayne and the Battle of Prosperous, 24 May 1798', History Ireland, Vol. 26, Issue 3, May/June 2018.
Other small garrisons near Prosperous had managed to hold on.Rathangan, County Kildare, was attacked, on the same day as Prosperous but the yeomanry in garrison held on and were besieged for four days before being relieved by the main body of the Royal Cork City regiment under Lt-Col Longfield in the Battle of Rathangan. Lieutenant Pearce with a detachment was also successful in a separate skirmish. The 1st Light Battalion fought at the decisive Battle of Vinegar Hill on 21 June, which broke the back of the rebellion. On the same day another part of the Royal Cork City was engaged in an action at Ponsonby Bridge, outside Dublin. The rebellion was effectively ended at Vinegar Hill, and although a small French invasion force landed in August and inflicted a defeat on the government troops at the Battle of Castlebar it was too late to have any real effect, and soon surrendered.Maxwell, pp. 67–8.
After the rebellion the Irish Militia settled down to garrison duty once more. With the diminishing threat of invasion after 1799, the strength of the militia could be reduced, and the surplus men were encouraged to volunteer for regiments of the line.McAnally, pp. 148–53. The light battalions were reformed in 1800, with the Cork companies once more in 1st Light Bn.Richey, Appendix X.
By the end of 1801 peace negotiations with the French were progressing, so recruiting and re-enlistment for the Irish Militia was stopped in October. The men received the new clothing they were due on 25 December, but the Treaty of Amiens was signed in March 1802 after which the militia regiments were disembodied leaving only the permanent staff of non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and drummers under the regimental adjutant.McAnally, pp. 164–72.
Napoleonic Wars However, the Peace of Amiens was short-lived and preparations to re-embody the militia begun in November 1802. Early in 1803 the regiments were ordered to begin re-enrolling former militiamen and new volunteers as well as using the ballot. The proclamation to embody the militia was issued on 15 March and carried out on 25 March.McAnally, pp. 172–8.
Anti-invasion preparations were now put in hand and the reconstituted militia regiments underwent training, although most were not considered well enough trained to go into camp during the summer of 1804. The light battalions were reformed in September 1803 but were discontinued in 1806. Over the following years the regiments carried out garrison duties at various towns across Ireland, and attended summer training camps. As the war progressed, the Regular Army increasingly relied on volunteers from the militia for trained recruits. In 1805 the militia establishment was raised to allow for this.McAnally, pp. 179–94, 198–9, 216.Hay, pp. 150–4.
Mountifort Longfield, Member of Parliament (MP) for Cork City, was appointed colonel of the Royal Cork Militia on 11 July 1805.War Office, 1805 List.
The war ended with the abdication of Napoleon in April 1814. Militia recruiting was halted and the Royal Cork City regiment was disembodied.McAnally, p. 256.
Long Peace After the Battle of Waterloo there was a long peace. Although officers continued to be commissioned into the militia and ballots might still be held, the regiments were rarely assembled for training and the permanent staffs of militia regiments were progressively reduced.McAnally, p. 264.
Sir Augustus Warren, 3rd Baronet, was appointed Lt-Col on 13 April 1829. William, 2nd Marquess of Thomond was colonel of the regiment in 1840. After his death he was succeeded by Francis, Viscount Bernard (later 3rd Earl of Bandon), who was appointed on 5 September 1846.Hart's, various dates.Sleigh, p. 149.
Militia Artillery The Militia of the United Kingdom was revived by the Militia Act 1852, enacted during a period of international tension. As before, units were raised and administered on a county basis, and filled by voluntary enlistment (although conscription by means of the Militia Ballot might be used if the counties failed to meet their quotas). Training was for 56 days on enlistment, then for 21–28 days per year, during which the men received full army pay. Under the Act, Militia units could be embodied by Royal Proclamation for full-time home defence service in three circumstances:Litchfield, pp. 1–7.Dunlop, pp. 42–5.Grierson, pp. 27–8.Hay, pp. 155–6.Spiers, pp. 91–2. 'Whenever a state of war exists between Her Majesty and any foreign power'. 'In all cases of invasion or upon imminent danger thereof'. 'In all cases of rebellion or insurrection'.
Colonel the Earl of Bandon and Capt Augustus Warren, the adjutant, revived the Royal Cork City Militia.
Royal Cork City Artillery The 1852 Act introduced Artillery Militia units in addition to the traditional infantry regiments. Their role was to man coastal defences and fortifications, relieving the Royal Artillery (RA) for active service.Maurice-Jones, pp. 161–3.
In December 1854 the revived Royal Cork City Militia was converted into the Cork City Artillery at Ballincollig Barracks on the outskirts of Cork. On 4 August 1855 the regiment formed up on the barrack square when it was announced that Queen Victoria had approved the change of name to Royal Cork City Artillery. The headquarters was established at Elizabeth Fort in Cork and the unit consisted of four batteries.Litchfield, Appendices 1 & 7.Litchfield, Appendices 4 & 5.