The Veteran Issue 5

William and Catherine, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge,
celebrate St Patrick’s Day with the Irish Guards
Pipers of the Irish Guards
After the war, the regiment was reduced to a
single battalion. In 1947, the 1st Battalion
deployed to Palestine to perform internal security
duties there. It was then posted to the Suez Canal
Zone in Egypt, remaining there until the British
withdrawal in 1956. The regiment continued to
serve in troubled regions such as Cyprus and
Aden throughout the 1950s and 1960s. During this
time they were also part of the British Army of the
Rhine (BAOR) in Germany on a number of
occasions. They also served as the garrison of
Hong Kong from 1970 to 1972.
The Irish Guards were one of the few regiments in
the British Army initially exempt from service in
Northern Ireland during The Troubles. However, a
Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) bomb
blasted a bus carrying members of the regimental
band to Chelsea Barracks in October 1981. 39
people (23 soldiers and 16 others) were wounded
and two civilians were killed.1992 saw the
regiment finally carry out its first tour-of-duty in
Northern Ireland, based in County Fermanagh.
Left. DOMHNALL (pronounced Donal) means “world leader” in Gaelic. The
regiment has had an Irish Wolfhound as a mascot since 1902 and he is the
16th.Turlough Mór is the current mascot of the Irish Guards and replaces
Domhnall who retired.
Like the 16 mascots that preceded him, Turlough Mór is also an Irish
Wolfhound and named after an ancient Irish King.
However, on a day-to-day basis, he will be known by his kennel name, Séamus.
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