Oral Histories Project (20th Century)

Stories from Ireland

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ONLINE COLLECTIONS / Oral Histories Project (20th Century) / Stories from Ireland

Intro to Stories from Ireland

Interviews document the Defence Forces experience at home from the 1940s, including the Emergency (World War II), training, evolution and development of the Defence Forces in the 1950s, the border, the Air Corps, Naval Operations, ceremonial responsibilities, as well as multiple human and social stories associated with those experiences.

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Battle of Glendalough (Irish Civil War)

Imelda Conway Duffy

Glendalough

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Glendalough House

Imelda Conway Duffy

Glen of Imaal

Tony Anthony Paul A P Kearns e1544529340778

Early Days of Research in Baldonnel

Tony Kearns

Casement Aerodrome

Michael walsh

Reflections on Dermot Early

Michael Walsh

Cathal Brugha Barracks

Featured People

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Kevin McDonald

Commandant Kevin McDonald served 7 years with Fórsa Cosanta Áitiúil (FCA) and 33 years with the Permanent Defence Forces. He discusses his military career, focusing on his extensive service overseas. Most of his interview relates to his service in Lebanon and he speaks about the 2006 Lebanon War when he was serving with Observer Group Lebanon (OGL). He speaks about the deaths of some of his United Nations Military Observer colleagues at an OGL patrol base at El Khiam during that war.
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Viv Collins

Sergeant Viv Collins enlisted the Defence Forces in 1972. He was serving as a Fitter Sergeant in Base Workshops in Clancy Barracks when he retired from the Defence Forces in 1995. He was interviewed for Military Archives Oral History Project in the Air Corps Museum in Baldonnel on 10 November 2017.
Michael walsh

Michael Walsh

Michael Walsh, Commandant (retired), served with the Reserve, Fórsa Cosanta Áitiúil (FCA), before joining the Cadet School in the Military College in 1976. During his military career he served in the Artillery Corps and with the Military Police Corps. In 1994 he was seconded to GOAL and worked as a logistics officer in a refugee camp in Goma during the Rwandan genocide. He went to the Lebanon with the 57th Infantry Battalion in 1995 and worked in Sarajevo, Bosnia in 2009. At the time of his retirement from the Defence Forces in 2012 he was serving as Aide de Camp (ADC) to President Michael D. Higgins. Comdt Walsh was interviewed for the Military Archives Oral History Project on 7th February 2017.
Séamus Mc Dermott Corporal retired

Seamus McDermott

Séamus McDermott, Corporal (retired), enlisted in the Defence Forces in 1957 and trained in the Army Apprentice School in Devoy Barracks, Naas where he qualified as a carpenter and joiner. After his apprenticeship he served with 4th Field Company, Corps of Engineers in Custume Barracks, Athlone. He volunteered for service overseas and in June 1961 he went to the Congo with the 35th Infantry Battalion. He took part in Operations Rampunch and Morthor and was part of Force Kane, the attempted relief of Irish prisoners at Jadotville. Cpl McDermott served in the Defence Forces until September 1962 and after his military service he worked as a woodwork teacher and guidance counsellor. He was interviewed for the Military Archives Oral History Project on 13th October 2016.
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Story Categories

Interviews document the Defence Forces experience at home from the 1940s, including the Emergency (World War II), training, evolution and development of the Defence Forces in the 1950s, the border, the Air Corps, Naval Operations, ceremonial responsibilities, as well as multiple human and social stories associated with those experiences.

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Background
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Domestic Duties
Recruitment poster halved

Joining Defence Forces
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The Emergency (World War II)
IE MA 189 033

Training
45 Inf Bn UNIFIL

UNIFIL

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