The Handovers
Once the Treaty had been signed, the first major barracks to be handed over was at Beggars Bush, Dublin, on 1st February, 1922.
The raising of the National Flag, in what had been the centres of imperial power in Ireland, was a very powerful symbol and one that resonated with Irish people at the time.
“I’m very proud of my family service to Óglaigh na hÉireann which started with my grandfather in 1922, continued with my father and now me. Families make great sacrifices to enable us to serve, my father deployed to Congo the day after he married my mother on 16th June 1961.”
Cpl Seán Reilly CIS Gp, DFTC