Exploring Ireland’s historic army barracks network

Figure 1 The Royal Barracks, now Collins Barracks, in Dublin was one of the first purpose-built army barracks constructed in Europe. Collins Barracks, Dublin (2023). OSBHM project photograph.

The history of army barracks in Ireland

The building of a country-wide network of army barracks commenced in Ireland in the late seventeenth century. This came about in the aftermath of a major continental war – the War of the Grand Alliance (1689–1697). The grand alliance was led by William III of England, and included the Dutch Republic, Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire. These powers fought against Louis XIV’s France. At the outset of the war, William III had replaced his uncle and father-in-law, James II, as king of England, Scotland, and Ireland. James II fled England for France, and then landed in Ireland in March 1689, hoping to regain his lost throne. The two kings confronted each other at the Battle of the Boyne, a key battle during the 1689–91 Williamite-Jacobite war in Ireland. Jacobite forces in Ireland ultimately surrendered, and James II went into exile in France. Meanwhile, the War of the Grand Alliance in Europe continued until 1697. After the war, William III was reluctant to disband his forces and a major debate erupted in England around the need for maintaining a standing army in peacetime.

Before the 1690s, many countries – including Britain and Ireland – did not have permanent or ‘standing’ armies. Instead, troops were mustered as needed during times of war and housed – or ‘billeted’ - in temporary accommodation, such as huts, tents, taverns or private homes. Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, there was a great deal of hostility to the idea of a standing army, due in part to concerns about the financial burden it would place on taxpayers, and fears that a standing army might become a tool of arbitrary government. Of course, the compulsory billeting of soldiers on civilians also provoked intense opposition.

In the wake of the War of the Grand Alliance, some argued in favour of maintaining the king’s large army in peacetime on the basis that Catholic France and the Jacobite court in exile remained a significant threat. Others argued in favour of disbanding the large Williamite army on the basis of cost and the threat it might pose to civil liberties and constitutional government. The case against a standing army proved persuasive and the English parliament refused to maintain a large army in peacetime. However, the Protestant ruling elite of Ireland, conscious of their status as a religious minority on the island, and with memories of the Williamite-Jacobite War fresh in their minds, were more open to the prospect. In 1698, the Irish parliament accepted plans to reroute 12,000 Williamite soldiers to Ireland.

This was an unprecedented development. With such large numbers of soldiers to be stationed indefinitely in the country, the traditional methods of housing them were no longer feasible. This led the Irish parliament to vote funds for the construction of residential complexes for the soldiers – or in other words, barracks. Work on the barracks network commenced in 1698–9, with a new bureaucracy of barrack-masters, a barrack board and barrack trustees put in place. Thereafter, the Irish barracks network expanded significantly and came to set the example for similar networks in Britain and further afield.

Army barracks in Ireland: the OU research contribution

The ‘Our shared built military heritage: the online mapping, inventorying and recording of the army barracks of Ireland, 1690–1921’ project, a collaboration between The Open University and University College Dublin, has worked to identify and map over 360 permanent residential army barracks established on the island of Ireland from the 1690s through the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1921–2.

The remains of a significant proportion of these sites are still evident across Ireland, in varying states of repair. Some barracks suffered damage or were destroyed during Ireland’s revolutionary decade (c. 1912 – c. 1922). Others have been neglected, abandoned or forgotten. Many former barracks are still in use for a wide range of different purposes, such as housing, schools or commercial premises. Of course, several former military barracks have been transformed into public amenities or heritage sites. Noteworthy examples include Collins Barracks in Dublin (Fig. 1), which now hosts the National Museum of Ireland, Decorative Arts & History; and Ebrington Barracks, which has been transformed into an important public space and tourism destination in Derry/Londonderry (Fig. 2/3). The value of historic barracks is being recognised elsewhere too, prompting redevelopment initiatives at former barracks sites such as those underway in Ballina (Fig. 4) and Castlebar, County Mayo. Activism by community groups elsewhere to conserve sites at risk, notably the former barracks in Nenagh, and Edenville House in Roscommon, is also taking place.

Figure 2 Former guardhouse and stores, Ebrington Barracks, Derry/Londonderry (2023). OSBHM project photograph.

Figure 3 Aerial view of Ebrington Barracks, Derry/Londonderry. Darron Mark/ Alamy Stock Photo.

Figure 4 Redevelopment work underway at Ballina, Co. Mayo, (January 2024). OSBHM project photograph.

Figure 5 Barracks at Nenagh, Co. Tipperary. OSBHM project photograph.

An interactive online map of the historic barracks network is available on the ‘Our Shared Built Military Heritage’ project website. This research provides important new insights into the extent and evolution of the barracks network in Ireland over time and is intended to help facilitate further work in this area. Indeed, the social and cultural history of historic barracks' sites, including the many stories of the people who lived, worked, or were otherwise connected to these sites, remains to be fully explored. This research is essential to better understanding the historic and ongoing impact of these important heritage sites, as well as fully realising their future potential.

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The ‘Our shared built military heritage: the online mapping, inventorying and recording of the army barracks of Ireland, 1690–1921’ project was funded by the Higher Education Authority’s North South Research Programme 2022–2024.