ST. PATRICK’S DAY JIGS AND REELS ON THE CURRAGH WITH THE CONNAUGHT RANGERS
St Patrick’s Day jigs and reels on the Curragh with the Connaught Rangers
Shamrock from Sligo was the order of the day on the Curragh for the St Patrick’s parade in 1913. And for those who would ask why the shamrock should have come all the way from the western seaboard when there were copious quantities of the diminutive three-leafed foliage to be found in the short-grass environs of the Curragh, the answer was simple. The shamrock was to be worn by the Connaught Rangers Battalion then based in the Curragh and where else would the men of the west get their shamrock only from a county on Ireland’s Atlantic shore?
The wearing of the green in the soldiers’ headgear had been given formal recognition a decade earlier when Queen Victoria issued permission for the Irish regiments in the British army to wear shamrock in their headgear for St Patrick’s Day. At the time this was portrayed as recognition of the gallantry of the Irish regiments in the Boer War (1899-1902) or as Victoria, from the safety of Buckingham Palace, is said to have declared “my brave Irish”. More cynical observers would have claimed that the encouragement to wear the shamrock, coupled with the renaming of some regiments to give an Irish flavour to the British army, was a recruitment ploy to attract from Ireland thousands of fresh troops needed to flush out the hardy Boer guerrillas who had been running rings around the cream of Britain’s fighting forces in South Africa.
Whatever the reason behind the formal recognition of the shamrock as part of the dress code for St Patrick’s Day the Connaught Rangers on parade in the Curragh in 1913 were reported by the Kildare Observer correspondent to have looked “especially smart” with all ranks displaying “the little bunch of shamrock.”
The goodwill of Major-General Ferguson, Commanding the Curragh Brigade, resulted in the Connaught Rangers battalion being granted an army holiday for the national saint’s day. The battalion paraded for Divine Service — which was choral — at 8.30am. After Mass and a parade through camp the tournament for the day commenced with the final of the Bayonet Competition. After dinner there was an influx of friends of the Battalion which was followed by an afternoon of sports and novelty events. The Kildare Observer correspondent wrote that “The different events were, as usual, of a most laughable order – tilting the bucket, sack races, potato race, all of which caused no end of merriment.”
A more characteristic Irish form of entertainment was on display for the dancing competition. Particular charm was lent to this item by the graceful “stepping” of some of the young ladies from around the district who had come specially to display some of the “real Irish style” of dancing. The men of the Connaughts were clearly smitten and “heartily and deservedly applauded” the young ladies with their jigs and reels. According to the Observer correspondent “Considering their youth, they gave a most finished display”. The prizes for dancing were carried off by Miss Eva Oates who secured first; Miss Jenny Thompson, second; and Miss Kathleen Oates, third.
There were rewards too for the children of the soldiers’ families who had come to join the Rangers for the St Patrick’s Day fun. “The children were simply great” gushed the reporter adding “All scrambled together and the genial Colonel Abercrombie, Commanding the Battalion, to stop the young chicks clamouring scattered sweets, bon-bons, and oranges about.”
It was said that a most pleasing feature of the evening’s enjoyment was the fact that Major-General Ferguson, overall commander of the Curragh, and Lady Ferguson, graced the Connaughts’ festival and the three hearty cheers for them proposed by Colonel Abercrombie were voiced by the men in “true Hibernian style”.
The wearing of shamrock by Irish-titled regiments of the British Army continues to the present day and last St Patrick’s Day the Irish Guards were presented with their shamrock in barracks by Catherine Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge.
There is little likelihood that HRH will turn up in the Curragh on any St Patrick’s Day soon to present shamrock to troops of the Defence Forces. It is even less likely that that she would be prevailed on to dance an Irish step unlike the hearty Kildare lasses who entertained the Connaught Rangers on their festive St Patrick’s Day one hundred years ago.
Fógra: for those interested in all things Patrician, Castledermot Local History Group is hosting a talk on “St. Patrick – the man behind the myth” on Tuesday, 26 March in the Community Centre by Terry O’Hagan, archaeologist and historian. Series no: 322.
Shamrock from Sligo was the order of the day on the Curragh for the St Patrick’s parade in 1913 writes Liam Kenny in no. 322 of his Looking Back series.
