Irish in Europe

Organised recruitment of Irish regiments to the French army dates from 1635 and seven regiments were recruited to fight in France.While numbers declined in the 1640s, eight regiments fought in French service after the Catholic defeat in Ireland. Wall’s own regiment passed to the exiled James Stuart, Duke of York (later James II), and was disbanded in 1664 (then called the Royal Irlandais).The most significant military migration to France occurred with the advent of the Williamite wars in the early 1690s, the defeat of James II’s army in Ireland, and the Treaty of Limerick (1691). The mass military migration of troops that would later form the régiments irlandais or Irish regiments took place in two waves. In exchange for a contingent of French soldiers sent to Ireland, around 5,000 Irish soldiers sailed from Kinsale to Brest in 1690 under the command of Justin MacCarthy, Viscount Mountcashel. This group formed a foreign brigade within the French army, receiving the higher rate of pay. Soldiers in French military service enlisted for a minimum of six years according to a law of 1682. This term of service was increased to eight years in 1762 but the reality was rather different. Terms of service lasted from a few weeks to decades.3 In the 1690s the Irish troops were divided into two distinct groups: the three regiments of Mouncashel’s Brigade under direct French control (Clare, Dillon, Lee); the ten regiments of foot , two regiments of horse and two horse troops of James II’s army. The total strength of both groups was 18,365 according to John Cornelius O’ Callaghan, author of A History of the Irish Brigades in the Service of France.

When peace returned after the Treaty of Ryswick (1697) and Louis XIV recognised William of Orange as sovereign of Britain, the French army was reformed in 1698. Henceforth, the Irish and Jacobite regiments and companies were reorganised into an Irish force in the service of the king of France. As a result of the reform, the infantry were reduced to eight regiments leaving a total infantry force of 5,600 men on paper. The regiments were named after the colonel proprietors, Albermarle, Berwick, Burke, Clare (O’ Brien), Dillon, Dorrington (Rothe, Roscommon Walsh), Galmoy and Lee. The cavalry were reduced to one regiment of two squadrons, commanded by Dominic Sheldon.5 Irish troops came to be respected and trusted for their courage and their strength. Evidence in the contrôles de troupe supports this positive image of the Irish migrants. They tended to be taller, stronger and well-built according to the records. Throughout the troop registers there are physical descriptions of the soldiers attesting to their rude health and imposing physique: joues rougatres, belles jambs, belle poitrine, beau visage.
The Irish regiments were re-organised into five one-battalion regiments in 1715: the regiments of Dillon, Berwick, O’Brien (Clare), Lee and Dorrington. Nugent’s Irish cavalry regiment was also in the French pay. In 1744, Thomas Arthur Lally formed another infantry regiment and King Louis XV directed the regiments to reduce in size from seventeen companies of forty men to thirteen companies of fifty men. By this time, the Irish regiments included those of Dillon, Clare, Berwick, Rothe, Lally and Bulkeley. Fitzjames’ cavalry (formerly known as Sheldon’s, then Nugent’s) was attached to a French cavalry brigade.7 In 1762, the Lally regiment was disbanded. The Fitzjames cavalry was annihilated in the same year at the battle of Wilhemstahl and was subsequently disbanded. The other regiments were reduced to nine companies, each of less than seventy-five men.The remaining regiments were reformed in 1774. They were divided into two-battalion regiments, one battalion consisting of a grenadier and four fusilier companies, the other of a chasseur and four fusilier companies. The Clare regiment merged with that of Berwick, and Bulkeley’s was incorporated into Dillon’s regiment. By 1777 three Irish regiments of foot remained in the French army – Dillon, Berwick, and Walsh.

The development of this database of the Irish Regiments in France (1715-1791) has been made possible by the existence of regimental troop inspections. The time frame represents the period for which detailed troop inspections, or contrôles de troupes are available. A French royal decree of 2 July 1716 introduced a system of troop records to the French army. French regimental chiefs were henceforth required to keep precise registers of all their sergeants, corporals and ordinary soldiers.12 From 1763 officer records were compiled by regiment, whereas previously this information had been gathered according to rank. A large number of the records taken during these inspections are presented in this database. The end point selected for the database is 1791. As part of the military reforms undertaken with the advent of the French Revolution, the Irish Regiments were absorbed into the French army of the line, ending the separate identity of the Irish Regiments.
The troop inspections, carried out periodically contain the names of soldiers, rank, date of enrolment, date of leaving the company/regiment, age on enrolment, height, hair and eye colour and distinguishing physical attributes. An observations column gives the reason for leaving the company/regiment and other miscellaneous information. Other information provided includes the company, regiment and year of inspection as well as the place of origin of each soldier.
The information is recorded in a different fashion for the officers. At the beginning of each inspection, officer ranks are listed, from colonel to surgeon major (chirurgien major). Officer information includes date of birth, date of joining the regiment, promotions, transfers, and date of leaving the regiment. In addition to personal information, observations are made regarding the capabilities of individual officers and their suitability for promotion.
To date, over 16,000 separate entries have been recorded in the database. These give us detailed information on each of the soldiers, allowing us to estimate the origin, of the Irish soldiers, the rhythm of recruitment along with many other factors, such as their height, their length of service, reasons for leaving transfers and promotions.