Curragh Camp
| Curragh Camp | |
|---|---|
| Campa an Churraigh | |
| The Curragh, County Kildare | |
 |
|
| Type | Army post |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by | Irish Defence Forces/Department of Defence |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1855 |
| In use | 17th century – present |
| Garrison information | |
| Garrison |
|
The Curragh Camp (Irish: Campa an Churraigh) is an army base and military college located in The Curragh, County Kildare, Ireland. It is the main training centre for the Irish Army and is home to 2,000 military personnel.
The Curragh has historically been a military assembly area due to the wide expanse of plain. Henry Harvey in 1599, during the Elizabethan wars noted "a better place for the deploying of an Army I never beheld." However, the Curragh's history goes further back being mentioned in the Annals of the Four Masters where Laeghaire Lore, the king of Ireland, was slain on the Curragh by Cobhthach Cael Breagh.
Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnel chose the Curragh as a muster point for the cause of James II during the Williamite War in Ireland. In 1783, a review of the Volunteers raised to assist in the defence of the country while England was at war with America held on the Curragh attracted upwards of 50,000 spectators.
It was also a muster point during the 1798 Rebellion and was mentioned in the Irish peasant song The Sean-Bhean bhocht. As translated by Padraic Colum in 1922:
And where will they have their camp?
Says the Shan Van Vocht;
Where will they have their camp?
Says the Shan Van Vocht;
On the Curragh of Kildare
the boys will be there,
with their pikes in good repair.
There were numerous training camps organised on the Curragh in the nineteenth century including the training of militia to defend the country during the Napoleonic Wars. However, the first permanent military structures were built in 1855 by British soldiers preparing for the Crimean War. These structures were wooden in character but the camp did have its own post-office, fire station, ten barracks, two churches, a water pumping station, court house and a clock tower.
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