Royal Irish Rifles mobilise for South Africa

The Commander-in-Chief Ireland, Field Marshal Lord Roberts, inspects the Battalion in Belfast Barracks*. He sailed for South Africa on 23 December 1899, having been appointed Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces in South Africa.©

The 2nd Battalion The Royal Irish Rifles, having completed sixteen years of service overseas, returned during 1899 from Poona, India to Belfast Barracks*, Ireland. Their stay there was short.

On 9 October 1899, the Battalion was ordered to mobilise for service in South Africa. Although 695 out of a total of 704 reservists reported for duty, the remaining nine were never traced and were believed to have died in the intervening period. The Battalion marched to the Great Northern railway station on 25 October and entrained for Queenstown, County Cork. There, they embarked on the hired ship Britannic with a battalion strength of 21 officers and 872 other ranks. The Battalion arrived off Cape Town on 13 November 1899, where the Britannic dropped anchor in Table Bay.

*
Renamed 'Victoria Barracks' following the death of Queen Victoria in 1901.