Stephens Barracks () is a military installation in

Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...

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 James Switzer (then spelled Switser) on land provided by the Earl of Ormond as part of the response to the Irish Rebellion and completed between 1800 and 1803. The site was provided by William Butler, 6th Earl of Ormond on the North East of the city. Construction was to a standard plan similar to barracks being built in Templemore and Mullingar. On completion, sufficient material remained to construct “an asylum to cater for the needs of twenty women”, the present day Switser's Home in Kilkenny. A garrison church was added in 1852. Married quarters were provided to the east of the barracks in the 1850s, continuing in their original use until 1995 when they were handed over to Kilkenny Corporation for redevelopment as local authority housing. Following the

Anglo-Irish Treaty The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty (), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain an ...

the barracks was handed over to the forces 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 ...

in 1922 and renamed after James Stephens, the

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 ...

leader, in 1969. The barracks was occupied by a number of different units between the end of the Civil War and the start of the Emergency (as the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

was officially termed in Ireland). This period saw a considerable expansion of the number of personnel accommodated in both the barracks and other locations in the city. Following the end of the Emergency, the strength was again reduced to cadres for reserve elements. In 1971 A Company, 3 Infantry Battalion was moved to the barracks from the Curragh and in 1977 this was incorporated into the newly formed 30 Infantry Battalion. This remained the main unit in the garrison until its disbandment in 1998. The barracks is now the home to the 3 Infantry Battalion.

References

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

History

See also

References