Military history of Ireland

The military history of Ireland comprises thousands of years of armed actions in the territory encompassing the island of Ireland.

The Battle of Clontarf in 1014 saw a large force of Vikings and their Irish allies defeated by the forces of the High King of Ireland.

Ireland was never invaded by the Roman Empire, and the island remained a warring collection of separate kingdoms throughout its early history. Although it is known that the Romans traded with the Irish kingdoms, historically it was thought that the Romans never established a military presence in Ireland. In recent times the find of ruins of a possibly Roman fort in Drumanagh near Dublin has questioned this belief.

After the November 2015 Paris attacks killed more than 130 people in France, the French government invoked a mutual defence clause of the Treaty of Lisbon, asking for military assistance from the European Union. The Irish government agreed to deploy peacekeeping troops to Mali in order to free up French troops stationed there for deployment elsewhere.

Royal Air Force stations in Northern Ireland

Name Opened Closed Current use Notes
RAF Aldergrove February 1918 Joint Helicopter Command Flying Station Aldergrove
RAF Ballyhalbert June 1941 February 1946 Ballyhalbert Caravan Park
RAF Ballykelly June 1941 June 1971
RAF Bishops Court April 1943 December 1990 Bishopscourt Racing Circuit
RAF Boa Island May 1944 May 1945 Slipway
RAF Castle Archdale February 1941 January 1958 Castle Archdale Caravan Park & Camping Site
RAF Cluntoe October 1942 1959 Ardboe Business Park
RAF Eglinton April 1941 City of Derry Airport
RAF Greencastle July 1942 1947 Farmland
RAF Killadeas March 1941 May 1947 Marina
RAF Kirkistown July 1941 1946 Kirkistown Circuit
RAF Langford Lodge
No. 20 SLG
May 1941 1953 Industry
RAF Limavady December 1940 1958 Aghanloo Industrial Estate
RAF Long Kesh November 1941 October 1947 Balmoral Park
RAF Maghaberry
No. 101 Storage Sub Site
November 1941 1950s Maghaberry Solar Farm
RAF Maydown April 1941 1947 Maydown Industrial Estate
RAF Mullaghmore August 1942 1946 Aghadowey Stadium
RAF Murlough
No. 19 SLG
March 1941 February 1945 Farmland
RAF Newtownards August 1934 Newtownards Airport
RAF Nutts Corner June 1941 September 1963 Nutt's Corner Circuit
RAF Omagh 1918 1930s Farmland
RAF Sandy Bay 1930s 1940s Marina
RAF St Angelo
No. 18 SLG
No. 106 Storage Sub Site
April 1941 Enniskillen/St Angelo Airport
RAF Sydenham 1933 George Best Belfast City Airport
RAF Toome January 1943 1969 Creagh Industrial Park

Former Royal Air Force airfields in the Republic

Name Opened Closed Current use Notes
Gormanston August 1918 April 1920
Tallaght August 1918 April 1920
Baldonnel May 1918 February 1922
The Curragh December 1917 February 1920
Fermoy May 1918 February 1922
Limerick Detachment of No. 2 Squadron during 1913
Rathbone Camp (Birr) September 1913 September 1913
Oranmore May 1918 February 1922
Castlebar May 1918 May 1921

See also


This page was last updated at 2023-11-10 03:21 UTC. Update now. View original page.

All our content comes from Wikipedia and under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.


Top

If mathematical, chemical, physical and other formulas are not displayed correctly on this page, please useFirefox or Safari