The Royal Irish Constabulary

Book excerpt: This new, revised and expanded edition brings back into print an excellent resource for those interested in the history of the RIC and the revolutionary period generally. In the period 1816 to 1922 some 85,000 men served in the RIC and its predecessor forces. Information on all these policemen is available, constituting a quarry for their descendants in Ireland, the US and elsewhere. The book consists of chapters on the history of policing in Ireland (to illustrate the type of men in the Force, their background and their lifestyle etc.), followed by a section on 'Tracing your ancestors in the RIC'. New appendices to this edition identify members of the RIC who were rewarded for their service during the Young Ireland Rising, 1848; the Fenian Rising, 1867; the Easter Rising, 1916; and the War of Independence, 1919-21. Also members of the RIC who volunteered for service in the Mounted Staff Corps and the Commissariat during the Crimean War; members who served as drivers and orderlies on secondment to the Irish Hospital in the South African War in 1900; and members who served in the British Army in the First World War are identified. RIC recipients of the King George V, Coronation (Police) Medal, 1911; the Constabulary Medal; and the Kings Police Medal are listed, as are ex-RIC men who transferred to the Royal Ulster Constabulary in 1922 and received additional bravery medals. [Subject: 19th Century History, 20th Century History, Policing, Genealogy & Archives, Ireland]