The Corps of Engineers (ENGR) () is the

military engineering Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics b ...

branch of the Defence Forces of

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. The Corps is responsible for

combat engineering A combat engineer (also called pioneer or sapper) is a type of soldier who performs military engineering tasks in support of land forces combat operations. Combat engineers perform a variety of military engineering, tunnel and mine warfare tas ...

construction engineering Construction engineering, also known as construction operations, is a professional subdiscipline of civil engineering that deals with the designing, planning, construction, and operations management of infrastructure such as roadways, tunnels, bri ...

, and

fire fighting Firefighting is a profession aimed at controlling and extinguishing fire. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter or fireman. Firefighters typically undergo a high degree of technical training. This involves structural fir ...

services within the Defence Forces. The main role of the combat engineers is to provide engineering on the battlefield; the Corps has successfully leveraged its skill and expertise in several of the

Irish Army The Irish Army () is the land component of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Defence Forces of Republic of Ireland, Ireland.The Defence Forces are made up of the Permanent Defence Forces – the standing branches – and the Reserve Defence Forces. ...

's deployments on

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

operations.

History

Following the establishment of the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...

on 6 December 1922 General Routine Orders were issued which laid down the organisation of the first centralised Defence Forces. From an engineering point of view there were three particular problem areas to be overcome:- *The Barracks and Posts throughout the state were in great need of repair following the

War of Independence Wars of national liberation, also called wars of independence or wars of liberation, are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) ...

and the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. *There was a general shortage of materials. *Most of the railway system was in disarray with many towns cut off. To meet these requirements three (3) Corps were set up: *The Works Corps - to carry out repairs and reconstruction. *The Salvage Corps - to recover materials from damaged buildings for use elsewhere. *The Railway Protection, Repair and Maintenance Corps - to rebuild the railway system. The Corps of Engineers was established and took over from these three Corps with effect from 1 October 1924. In 1931 Field Engineer Companies and the School of Military Engineering were added to the establishment.

Roles

The Corps has a wide variety of roles, covering conventional warfare, and training for the Defence Forces. With such a wide range of skills, the Engineer Corps provide a variety of support to the Army. This support includes anything from the provision of: * Mobility ** Clearing terrain obstacles ** Constructing roads and bridges **

Demining Demining or mine clearance is the process of removing land mines from an area. In military operations, the object is to rapidly clear a path through a minefield, and this is often done with devices such as mine plows and blast waves. By cont ...

* Counter mobility ** Planting landmines ** Digging trenches and ditches ** Demolishing roads and bridges **

Demolition Demolition (also known as razing and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction (building), deconstruction, which inv ...

s * Survivability ** Building

fortification A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

s **

Camp Construction Camp may refer to: Areas of confinement, imprisonment, or for execution * Concentration camp, an internment camp for political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or minority ethnic groups * Extermination ...

: Camp Clara (Monrovia, Liberia), Camp Clark (Kosovo) * General Engineer Support ** Counter Terrorist Search **

Fire fighting Firefighting is a profession aimed at controlling and extinguishing fire. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter or fireman. Firefighters typically undergo a high degree of technical training. This involves structural fir ...

& RTA ** EOD **

CBRN defence Chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense (CBRN defense) or Nuclear, biological, and chemical protection (NBC protection) is a class of protective measures taken in situations where chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclea ...

Humanitarian Demining Demining or mine clearance is the process of removing land mines from an area. In military operations, the object is to rapidly clear a path through a minefield, and this is often done with devices such as mine plows and blast waves. By cont ...

Missions

The Corps have seen active service in

UNMIK The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Привремена административна мисија Уједињених нација на Косову, Privremena administrativna misija Ujedinjenih na ...

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

(

UNOSOM II The United Nations Operation in Somalia II (UNOSOM II) was the second phase of the United Nations intervention in Somalia and took place from March 1993 until March 1995, following the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991. UNOSOM II carried o ...

), Congo (

ONUC The United Nations Operation in the Congo (, abbreviated ONUC) was a United Nations peacekeeping force which was deployed in the Republic of the Congo in 1960 in response to the Congo Crisis. The ONUC was the UN's first peacekeeping mission wi ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

(

UNIFIL The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (; ), or UNIFIL (; ) is a United Nations peacekeeping mission established on 19 March 1978 by United Nations Security Council Resolutions 425 and 426, and several further resolutions in 2006 to con ...

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

(

UNMIL The United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) was a United Nations peacekeeping operation established in September 2003 to monitor a ceasefire agreement in Liberia following the resignation of President Charles Taylor and the conclusion of the ...

) &

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

(

EUFOR Tchad/RCA European Union Force Chad and the Central African Republic (EUFOR Chad and the Central African Republic), also EUFOR Tchad/RCA after the French, was the European Union mission in Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR), authorised in late 2 ...

) - where the Engineer Corps was deployed to construct Camp Ciara in advance of a contingent of more than 500 troops. Army engineers were deployed alongside personnel from the Naval Service and NSR in early 2020 as part of Ireland's response to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).

Equipment

* Aardvark Midi

Mine flail A mine flail is a vehicle-mounted device that makes a safe path through a minefield by deliberately detonating land mines in front of the vehicle that carries it. They were first used by the British during World War II. The mine flail consists of ...

* DOK-ING MV-4 Remotely Operated

* Cyclops Mk4

Remotely Operated Vehicle A remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROUV) or remotely operated vehicle (ROV) is a free-swimming submersible craft used to perform underwater observation, inspection and physical tasks such as valve operations, hydraulic functions and other g ...

* Remote Firing Demolitions Equipment (BIRIS, PRIME, DRFD) * Mabey Johnson Bridge * Infantry Assault Bridge * FFV 013 Area Defence Munition * Rigid-hulled inflatable boats (RIBs) (Delta 7 metre, Lencraft 5.1 metre dive, and Lencraft 7.5&6.5 metre intruder RIBs)

Corps of Engineers Units (2013)

*1st Engineer Group (Replaced 1st Field Engineer Company) *2nd Engineer Group (Replaced 4th Field Engineer Company) *Engineer Section, Air Corps. Attached

Irish Air Corps The Air Corps () is the air force of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Organisationally a military branch of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Defence Forces of Ireland, the Air Corps utilises a fleet of fixed-wing aircraft and rotorcraft to carry out ...

*Engineer Section, Naval Service. Attached

Irish Naval Service The Naval Service () is the maritime component of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Defence Forces of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and is one of the three branches of the Irish Defence Forces. Its base is in Haulbowline, County Cork. Though prece ...

*Engineer Group, Logistics Base Curragh

Disbanded (Defence Forces Re-org 2012)

*2nd Field Engineer Company * 31st Field Engineer Company *62nd Field Engineer Company *54th Field Engineer Company

Future developments

As in all aspects of society, legislative changes and technological advances have required workforces to become more specialised and more highly skilled. The Irish Defence Forces is no exception - requiring specialist skilled engineers. Compared with Defence Forces in other countries e.g. British and French Armies, the number of engineers in the Irish Defence Forces is low, 5.5% against 8.8% and 12.8% respectively.

Gallery

Image:Bridge Building (4706573298).jpg, Bridge building Image:Bridge Demolition.JPG, Demolition using Hayrick shaped charges File:Aardvark mine flail detonating a landmine.jpg, Aardvark Joint Service Flail detonating an Anti-Tank Landmine Image:Camp Construction2.jpg, Installing Lighting Towers Image:Fire Fighting.jpg, Fire Service DFTC

References

External links

Official website
{{Irish Army & Army Reserve Engineers, Corps of Military engineer corps Military units and formations established in 1924