On this day in 2012 (at 2.30pm to be precise), the tricolour was lowered for the last time at Kickham Barracks, Clonmel, bringing a symbolic end to a military presence in the town that stretched back to 1650.
Earlier that day, around 150 soldiers from the 12th Infantry Battalion marched through the streets of Clonmel in a poignant ceremony attended by thousands of locals who came out to cheer and bid farewell.
The barracks was built in 1780-1782 and was initially known as Clonmel Infantry Barracks. It was renamed Victoria Barracks in 1837 in honour of Queen Victoria. In 1873 it became the depot of the Royal Irish Regiment. During the pre-independence era, soldiers from the barracks fought in the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War, the Boer Wars and World War One amongst others. During the Great War, at least 1,000 men from Clonmel served with the British Army. Sadly, 420 of these would be killed during the War. On the eve of the Royal Irish’s exit from Clonmel, there were over 500 men stationed there.
Post-Independence, it was renamed Kickham Barracks in 1922 but lay vacant for a prolonged spell until 1941, when the Emergency caused a ramping up of army personnel and Clonmel became 1st Brigade Headquarters. Ireland joined the United Nations in 1955 and soldiers from Kickham Barracks served on peacekeeping duties in places such as the Congo, Cyprus, Lebanon, Kosovo, Chad and Liberia. Company Sergeant Felix Grant, originally from Downpatrick, Co. Down, but based in Clonmel became the first Irish soldier to die on UN service in the Congo in 1960.
The barracks became a part of the fabric of the community in Clonmel and surrounding areas. Pat O’ Brien pointed out that in 1941, during a Foot and Mouth outbreak, soldiers from the barracks helped to bury animal carcasses. In 1963, the delivered food to the isolated snow-bound communities of the Nire Valley. They also took part in fundraising for local charities such as Cuan Saor and attended numerous community events including St. Patrick’s Day parades, Military Tattoos, and military open days.
O’ Brien claimed the army ‘introduced into Clonmel an exemplary body of men and women, who mixed with the locals and infused a whole new life through their families and associations. Writing in The Nationalist in 2012, just before the closure. Aileen Hahessy wrote that the spectacle of the troops of the 12th Battalion marching through the streets for the final time “will be one of the most poignant ceremonies the town has ever witnessed.”
Sources:
“Poignant Clonmel ceremony to mark Kickham Barracks final march-out”, Aileen Hahessy, The Nationalist 22/03/2012, pg1.
“Kickham Barracks – A Sad Farewell”, Pat O’Brien, The Nationalist 22/02/2012, pg6 (souvenir supplement)
“End of an era for Garrison town as army ‘retreats’”, Conor Kane, Irish Independent, 27/03/2012, pg7.
