Regimental Tercentenary
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| HRH The Duchess of Gloucester, Colonel-in-Chief, The Royal Irish Rangers. |
The 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Rangers (27th (Inniskillings) 83rd and 87th) deployed to Northern Ireland in September 1988 on Operation BANNER, the Ranger’s first operational tour of Northern Ireland. The battalion was spread over nineteen locations in Counties Armagh, Fermanagh and Tyrone. As it entered 1989, the Regimental Tercentenary year, elements of 1 R IRISH were deployed in much the same area around Enniskillen where their forebear, Tiffin’s Regiment of Foot, was raised in 1689.
The following events were held in 1989 to mark The Regimental Tercentenary:
21 April. HM The Queen appoints HRH The Duchess of Gloucester as Colonel-in-Chief.
20 May. Old Comrades paraded with their standards and marched from Enniskillen Castle where Tiffin’s Regiment was formed in 1689, to St Macartin’s Cathedral for a Service of Thanksgiving attended by the Lord-Lieutenant of Fermanagh, Lord Erne.
23 May. A Beating Retreat at St Patrick’s Barracks in Ballymena followed by a march through the town to exercise the Freedom of Ballymena. The Mayor of Ballymena Borough, Councillor Sandy Spence, took the salute.
27 May. Old Soldiers Day at the Regimental Depot, St Patrick’s Barracks, Ballymena where the inspecting officer was the Colonel of the Regiment, Brigadier M N S McCord CBE MC.
28 May. A Church Parade in Belfast exercised the Freedom of the City, where the Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Nigel A Dodds, accompanied by the Colonel of the Regiment, took the salute. The Chaplain General to the Forces delivered the sermon at St Anne’s Cathedral.
18 June. At the Parade and Service of Commemoration at the Cenotaph in London, the Archbishop of Armagh, The Rt Rev Dr Robin Eames gave the lesson. There followed a Beating of Retreat at the Duke of York's Headquarters by the Bands, Bugles, Pipes and Drums of both battalions. The Colonel-in-Chief, HRH The Duchess of Gloucester, took the salute.
20 June. The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers Officers Club Dinner was held at the Berkley Hotel in London.
30 June. The Tercentenary Parade of the 1st Battalion and 2nd Battalion The Royal Irish Rangers at Belfast Barracks, Osnabrück. The Inspecting Officer was the Chief of the General Staff, General Sir John Chapple GCB CBE. The Parade Commander was Brigadier W J Hiles CBE, Deputy Colonel of the Regiment.
27 September. HRH The Duchess of Gloucester, Colonel-in-Chief of the Regiment, takes the salute at a Recruit Passing out Parade at the Regimental Depot, St Patrick’s Barracks, Ballymena.
