How do you find the Irish who fought in World War 1?

Answer 1

Ireland was a part of the United Kingdom during World War I Three provinces of the island left to form the Irish Free State, now the Republic of Ireland, in 1922. The remaining province, Ulster, is still part of the United Kingdom, often called "Northern Ireland".

A total of 206,000 Irishmen served in the British forces during the war. The number of Irish deaths in the British Army recorded by the registrar general was 27,405. A significant number of these casualties were from what, in 1920, became Northern Ireland. While 49,400 soldiers died serving in Irish Divisions (the 10th, 16th and 36th) only 71% of the casualties in these Divisions were natives of Ireland.

"Ireland's Memorial Records" is a database of men from Ireland who served in ANY regiment (or those from elsewhere who served in an Irish regiment) who were killed in action, died of wounds or illness during the war years. They were originally compiled in the 1920s and are a collection of eight books. The books were digitized a few years back and the records are now available on CD. You can get a copy from www.eneclann.ie. The Records contain information on the soldier's battalion, where he was killed (country/theatre only - no specifics), date of death and where he was born. Note it only records the fallen - no entries for survivors.

The British National Archives has created an online database of those that served in the First World War. Never before has such a list been created because 60 percent of British service records were destroyed in the bombing of Britain during World War II. This database has been created from the Medal Rolls Index and consists of over 5.5 million records. The search box only requires a first and last name. You can search the database for free but you have to pay a fee to receive a digital copy. See related link below for the webpage of the British National Archives.

See the related link for further information.