Formation of The Royal Irish Regiment

The Royal Irish Regiment (27th (Inniskilling), 83rd, 87th and The Ulster Defence Regiment) was formed on this day by an Act of Parliament that merged the men and women of The Royal Irish Rangers and The Ulster Defence Regiment into a new regiment, The Royal Irish Regiment.

On formation, the Regiment consisted of two battalions (1st and 2nd) designated for worldwide service (General Service), a further seven battalions (3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th) designated for service in Northern Ireland only (Home Service) and two Territorial Army (TA) battalions (the 4th and 5th Battalion The Royal Irish Rangers), also designated for worldwide service.

Locations for the Regiment were:

1st Battalion - Battlesbury Barracks, Warminster, England.
2nd Battalion - Stornoway Barracks, Lemgo, Germany.
3rd (County Down) Battalion (3 R IRISH) – Ballykinlar
4th (County Fermanagh and County Tyrone) Battalion (4 R IRISH) – St Lucia Barracks, Omagh
5th (County Londonderry) Battalion (5 R IRISH) – Ballykelly
6th (County Armagh) Battalion (6 R IRISH) – Drumadd Barracks, Armagh
7th (City of Belfast) Battalion (7 R IRISH) – Windsor Park, Belfast
8th (County Tyrone) Battalion (8 R IRISH) – Dungannon
9th (County Antrim) Battalion - Bn HQ - Antrim
4th Battalion The Royal Irish Rangers (4 RANGERS) - Charles Street, Portadown.
5th Battalion The Royal Irish Rangers (5 RANGERS) - Hydebank, Belfast.

The two TA battalions retained the Royal Irish Rangers (RANGERS) title to avoid confusion, and differentiate them from the Home Service battalion's titles. It also served to separate the TA units from the ongoing internal security campaign in Northern Ireland, in which the TA had no operational role.

The 1 July every year, is celebrated as Ranger's Day.