The Royal Irish Regiment (27th (Inniskilling) 83rd and 87th and Ulster Defence Regiment)

Royal Irish Regiment (27th (Inniskilling) 83rd and 87th and Ulster Defence Regiment)
Flag of the Royal Irish Regiment
Active	1 July 1992–present 1689 (antecedents)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Line Infantry
Role	1st Battalion – Light infantry 2nd Battalion – Light infantry (Army Reserve)
Size	Two battalions
Part of	Prince of Wales' Division
Garrison/HQ	RHQ – Holywood 1st Battalion – Clive Barracks, Ternhill 2nd Battalion – Thiepval Barracks, Lisburn
Motto(s)	"Faugh A Ballagh" (Irish) "Clear the Way"
Colours	Green, Red, Blue, Black
March	Quick – Killaloe Slow – Eileen Alannah
Mascot(s)	Irish Wolfhound (Brian Boru VIII)
Anniversaries	Barrosa Day, 5 March; Somme Day, 1 July
Engagements	Kosovo War, Sierra Leone Civil War, Operation Banner, 2nd Gulf War, War in Afghanistan
Commanders
Colonel in Chief	HRH The Duke of York
Colonel of the Regiment	Brigadier Joseph O'Sullivan
Notable commanders	Lt Col Tim Collins OBE
Insignia
Tactical Recognition Flash
Tartan	Saffron (pipes)
Hackle	Green From Royal Irish Rangers
Abbreviation	R IRISH

The Royal Irish Regiment (27th (Inniskilling) 83rd and 87th and Ulster Defence Regiment) (R IRISH) is an infantry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was founded in 1992 through the amalgamation of the Royal Irish Rangers and the Ulster Defence Regiment. Their oldest predecessor; the 27th Regiment of Foot; was first raised in June 1689 to fight in the Williamite War in Ireland. Other notable regiments in their lineage include the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, Royal Irish Rifles and the Royal Irish Fusiliers (Princess Victoria's).

The motto of the regiment is Faugh A Ballagh (Modern Irish: Fág an Bealach), derived from the Irish Gaelic phrase for "Clear the Way". This originates from the Peninsular War, when Ensign Edward Keogh of the 87th Regiment of Foot let out the cry while capturing a French Imperial Eagle at the Battle of Barrosa. The Regimental Headquarters of the Royal Irish Regiment has been Palace Barracks, Holywood in County Down, Northern Ireland since moving there in 2008.

With an antecedence reaching back to 1688, the regiment was formed in 1992. The creation followed the Options for Change proposals which recommended the amalgamation of the Royal Irish Rangers and the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR). Most of the membership of the new regiment came from the UDR. This produced an overwhelmingly Ulster Protestant regiment with eleven battalions: