Irish Army Questions

[onyxandopal]

Further to my recent post about what uniform the gentleman was dressed in....

https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=818453.msg6804181#msg6804181

Could anyone help me with... well... all of it. 

Basically I now know that the gentleman served with The Connaught Rangers in WW1 (which is why I questioned whether it could have been a Connaught Rangers uniform in the previous post), and later on with The Royal Warwickshire Regiment in WW2. He originated from Dublin and moved to Birmingham in the late 1920s I believe.

This is where you'll have to excuse my ignorance here because I literally know nothing about this.

Why would he have been wearing the Irish uniform if he was part of the British Army - was it something he HAD to do, like national service?? Would he have been on the 'British' side? Was there a British side?

I understand that Ireland became a free state, and this obviously had something to do with it, but I don't 'get' it and what the uniform actually means in terms of his military service?

I keep Googling and the IRA keeps popping up. The IRA are not good, right? Or Yes at that time? I'm so confused!

Can someone please tell me, in easy speak, what the uniform is, and why that man would be wearing it. (Sorry if I sound absolutely ridiculous here!)

Many Thanks

[Sinann]

The Connaught Rangers was British Army.
If it is a Connaught Rangers uniform you won't find any records in Ireland.

It's possible he served in the Irish National Army between the World Wars, did he live in Ireland at the time?
I see you say he moved from Ireland in the 1920s so unlikely he was in the National Army.
The uniform is most likely an unrecognised British Army uniform.

[Sinann]

Is the person beside him in the photo wearing a uniform?
If yes what uniform?

[onyxandopal]

The Connaught Rangers was British Army.
If it is a Connaught Rangers uniform you won't find any records in Ireland.

It's possible he served in the Irish National Army between the World Wars, did he live in Ireland at the time?
I see you say he moved from Ireland in the 1920s so unlikely he was in the National Army.
The uniform is most likely an unrecognised British Army uniform.

He was from Dublin. I have managed to find some information about him online regarding his time spent with them, and also when he was in the Royal Warwickshire Reg later in life.

He moved to Birmingham from Dublin in approx. 1928/29. (He was definitely there in 1930, but still in Dublin in 1927 anyway).

I've been told by a couple of different people that the uniform in the photo is that of the Irish Free State Army uniform, and could possibly date to the Civil War in 1922-24. (I don't know if that makes sense or is correct).

My query really lies with the time period of the uniform, if it is indeed the Irish State Army uniform. Was the army something that they signed up for? Or they were 'made' to join? Was it a good thing in terms of, was the uniform part of the good side/bad side/no side? All very confusing to me! 

There are a few people in the photo and they are all wearing exactly the same uniform. They would definitely have been in Ireland at this point.

[heywood]

If you search in images, the Connaught Rangers cap badge shows a harp.
There are a couple of shapes and I have no knowledge which would be correct for the era.

[Sinann]

The Irish Free State Army and the National Army are the same Army and was the forerunner of today's Irish Army.
Simply the army formed by the (new) state when the British Army left, joining up was and still is voluntary.

[heywood]

Have you compared photos of the National Army? It looks very possible.

[Sinann]

Is he here?
Military Census 1922 (National Army)
http://census.militaryarchives.ie/

[onyxandopal]

I've just Googled the cap, and looking at some of the others in the photo, it appears the cap badge does indeed have the 'FF' logo on, which would be the Irish Army.

So if he'd left the Connaught Rangers after WW1, because they were disbanded, would he had volunteered for the Irish Army? (What happened to all the soldiers of the disbanded Irish divisions?)