Waterford County Museum does not hold the records for any of the Irish Regiments that served in World War 1. Due to the pressures of time on our voluntary staff, the museum is not in a position to answer queries about specific soldiers. We have prepared this short guide to help genealogists find their ancestors. You should also consider using a professional military researcher. Members of the museum have previously used the services of Richard Moles and found him to be a most efficient and trustworthy researcher.
Irish Regiments that served in the Great War were part of the British Army, and all surviving records are held at the Public Records Office in Kew, Surrey, England. Brief histories of the The Royal Irish Regiment, The Connaught Rangers, The Royal Dublin Fusiliers, The Royal Munster Fusiliers and The Leinster Regiment can be found elesewhere on this site. The following Regimental Associations / people may also be able to help:-
Connaught Rangers
The web site of Peter Power-Hynes. He provides free (non commercial ) info mainly to relatives of deceased Rangers from all over the world. He also acts as an advisor to the Connaught Rangers re-enactment group.
Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association
The Royal Munster Fusiliers Association C/O T. Moloney, 86 High Meadows, Gouldavoher, Limerick, Ireland.
South Irish Horse
In tracing WWI veterans no one source will provide you with all the information you may need. However, as was found in the preparation of this site, a combination of one or more of the resources below is the best way to start. For example if we have exact details of name and battalion number (eg from the CWGC site), any of the other sites are more than capable of filling in some of the background details. In the case of Sgt. Healy, once we knew his Battalion number we were then able to make assumptions as to where he may have served, based on battalion history. If anyone knows of any other such resources, please email us.
1. Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Your first step for tracing a WWI veteran. All Commonwealth soldiers (and some civilians) killed in WWI are listed. The database of 1.7 million soldiers can be searched by name.
2. British Public Records Office
The Public Records Office houses the remaining records of WWI servicemen. While not searchable online, it gives details of how to access their files.
3. British Regiments on the Web
Here you will find links to websites on nearly all British regiments. The postal addresses of the regimental museums can also be found. Links on this site can be useful for getting information from battalion war diaries.
4. Swavesey And The Great War
A fantastic collection of human interest stories on how The Great War affected Swavesey in England.
5. British Regiments Email Group
Post your query on a veteran or other aspect of British military history here and a worldwide network of experts will answer your questions. An excellent resource.
6. Trenches on the Web
The best source of general information on WWI.
7. The Wilfred Owen Multimedia Digital Archive
This site in our opinion, provides the best catalog of war photos etc. available on the internet.
8. 16th Irish Division
" This webpage is to honour the men of the 16th Irish Division who took part in the Great War of 1914-1918. These brave and dutiful soldiers are little remembered because the Ireland from which they joined to fight for the freedom of small nations had, by 1918, undergone a sea-change in national aspirations. "
9. Royal Munster Fusiliers
" ...I have only touched on certain events that will give an insight to the evolution of this regiment and the role of Irishmen in military service. I have included items such as, Victoria Cross awards gained at Gallipoli, the story of the introduction of khaki, and.... " A great site on the history of this regiment by James F. O'Sullivan
