Renmore Barracks () is a military installation in Renmore, a suburb of

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

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 ...

History

The barracks were built by Colleran Brothers, a

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

-based contractor, and completed in 1881. Their creation took place as part of the

Cardwell Reforms The Cardwell Reforms were a series of reforms of the British Army undertaken by Secretary of State for War Edward Cardwell between 1868 and 1874 with the support of Liberal prime minister William Ewart Gladstone. Gladstone paid little attentio ...

which encouraged the localisation of British military forces. The barracks became the

depot Depot may refer to: Places * Depot, Poland, a village * Depot Glacier (disambiguation) * Depot Island (disambiguation) * Depot Nunatak * Depot Peak Brands and enterprises * Maxwell Street Depot, a restaurant in Chicago, United States * Of ...

for the

87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot The 87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1793. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 89th (Princess Victoria's) Regiment of Foot to form the Royal Irish Fusiliers, Pr ...

and the

88th Regiment of Foot (Connaught Rangers) The 88th Regiment of Foot (Connaught Rangers) was an infantry Regiment of the British Army, raised in 1793. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 94th Regiment of Foot to form the Connaught Rangers in 1881. History Formation The re ...

. Following the

Childers Reforms The Childers Reforms of 1881 reorganised the infantry regiments of the British Army. The reforms were done by Secretary of State for War Hugh Childers during 1881, and were a continuation of the earlier Cardwell Reforms. The reorganisation w ...

, the 88th Regiment of Foot (Connaught Rangers) and

94th Regiment of Foot The 94th Regiment of Foot was a British Army line infantry regiment, raised as the Scotch Brigade in October 1794. It was renumbered as the 94th Regiment of Foot in December 1802 and disbanded in December 1818. The regiment was reformed in Decemb ...

amalgamated to form the

Connaught Rangers The Connaught Rangers ("The Devil's Own") was an Ireland, Irish line infantry regiment of the British Army formed by the amalgamation of the 88th Regiment of Foot (Connaught Rangers) (which formed the ''1st Battalion'') and the 94th Regiment of Fo ...

with its depot in the barracks in 1881. The Connaught Rangers were disbanded at the time of Irish Independence in 1922. The barracks were taken over by 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. ...

at that time and then renamed Dún Uí Mhaoilíosa after

Liam Mellows William Joseph Mellows (, 25 May 1892 – 8 December 1922) was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican and Sinn Féin politician. Born in England to an English father and Irish mother, he grew up in Ashton-under-Lyne before moving to Ireland, ...

, an

Irish Republican Irish republicanism () is the political movement for an Irish republic, void of any British rule. Throughout its centuries of existence, it has encompassed various tactics and identities, simultaneously elective and militant and has been both w ...

, in 1952. The barracks are now home to the 1st Infantry Battalion. In August 2024, army

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

Paul Murphy was stabbed outside the entrance to the barracks. A teenage boy was arrested at the scene. As of 16 August 2024, the

Special Detective Unit The Special Detective Unit (SDU) () is the main domestic security agency of the ''Garda Síochána'', the national police force of Ireland, under the aegis of the Crime & Security Branch (CSB). It is the primary counter-terrorism and counter-es ...

was investigating the incident. In February 2025, the boy pleaded guilty to attempted murder.

Dún Uí Mhaoilíosa Museum

Renmore Barracks features a museum that recalls the history of the Connaught Rangers, as well as Renmore Barracks' later role as home to the 1st Infantry Battalion of the Irish Army. Irish soldiers engaging in UN Peacekeeping in Congo, Cyprus, Lebanon, Chad and Afghanistan are remembered at the Dún Uí Mhaoilíosa Museum. An axe used by an African tribesman in the Niemba Ambush in the Congo in which nine Irish Army soldiers were killed is featured in the exhibits. The museum has forged links with the Connaught Rangers Association, established in Boyle in 2002. Dún Uí Mhaoilíosa Museum is not fully open to the public, but visitors can make an appointment to visit by contacting the museum curator.

References

{{Irish Army & Army Reserve Barracks in the Republic of Ireland

History

Dún Uí Mhaoilíosa Museum

See also

References