The Irish military diaspora refers to the many people of either Irish birth or extraction (see Irish diaspora) who have served in foreign military forces, regardless of rank, duration of service, or success.
Many foreign military units were primarily made of Irish people or those of Irish military diaspora and had the word 'Irish', an Irish place name or an Irish person in the unit's name. 'Irish' named military units took part in numerous conflicts throughout world history. The first military unit of this kind was in the Spanish Netherlands during the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch. A notable example would be that of Owen Roe O'Neill.
Read more about Irish Military Diaspora: Austria and Austria-Hungary, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Latin America, Papal States, Portugal, Russia, Spain, United States of America
Famous quotes containing the words irish and/or military:
“The Irish are often nervous about having the appropriate face for the occasion. They have to be happy at weddings, which is a strain, so they get depressed; they have to be sad at funerals, which is easy, so they get happy.”
—Peggy Noonan (b. 1950)
“The military mind is indeed a menace. Old-fashioned futurity that sees only men fighting and dying in smoke and fire; hears nothing more civilized than a cannonade; scents nothing but the stink of battle-wounds and blood.”
—Sean O’Casey (1884–1964)