Irish Army Cavalry Corps

Irish Army Cavalry Corps
Irish: An Cór Marcra
Collar badge of the Cavalry Corps
Active	1934 – present
Country	Ireland
Branch	Army
Type	Armoured
Role	Light Cavalry Armoured Reconnaissance
Size	Three squadrons
Part of	Defence Forces
Garrison/HQ	1st Armoured Cavalry Squadron - Curragh Camp 1st Cavalry Squadron - Cork 2nd Cavalry Squadron - Rathmines
Nickname(s)	"The Cav"
Motto(s)	Through the mud and blood to the green fields beyond
Insignia
Headdress	Glengarry
Flag

The Cavalry Corps (Irish: An Cór Marcra) is the armoured formation of the Irish Army. In peacetime the Cavalry carries out various duties in aid to the Civil Power, such as:

For this, the corps is equipped with various light armoured vehicles including the Mowag Piranha and RG-32M Light Tactical Armoured Vehicle, which are utilised as part of the light cavalry mission, in support of the infantry. In addition, a number of FV101 Scorpion light tanks are also used in the armoured reconnaissance role.

The Cavalry Corps traces its history to the formation of the Armoured Car Corps on 14 September 1922. Mechanised from the start, the corps utilised armoured vehicles that the British Army left following the War of Independence. Following a debate on the use of the term "cavalry", and whether the word was meant to encompass horse, wheeled or tracked, the corps was renamed as the Cavalry Corps in 1934.

The first Irish Landsverk L60 was delivered in 1935 and joined Ireland's only other tank a Vickers Mk. D in the 2nd Armoured Squadron. The second Landsverk L60 arrived in 1936. The Landsverk's were still in use up until the late 1960s. One L60 is preserved in running order and the other is in the National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Dublin.

After The Emergency, the corps established a main battle tank cadre equipped with the Churchill, which formed the basis of the 1st Tank Squadron in 1959. This was equipped with the Comet until its disbandment in 1973.

The Cavalry Corps has served in many locations on UN peacekeeping missions, including the Congo, Cyprus and Lebanon, either as Cavalry groups on their own, or attached as part of a battalion group. In these deployments the Cavalry Corps were equipped with Panhard AML vehicles - prior to their retirement in 2013.