It was preceded by local paramilitary defense forces that were officially recognized in June 1920 as the Ulster Special Constabulary (USC) and divided into "A" (full-time), "B" (part-time), and "C" (reserve) sections. https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/ulster-special-constabulary, "Ulster Special Constabulary He also pointed out that the B Specials were the only reserve available to the RUC and that he could see no other way of quickly reinforcing the over-stretched RUC in the circumstances. ballymenaguardian.co.uk Goulding also stated that British troops would be in a "very perilous situation" until the B-Specials were disarmed and disbanded. You will also discover the persons salary. The lists show the chief constables name, county, and station. In addition they were to prevent border incursion, smuggling of arms and escape of fugitives. WebThe Police Museum holds microfilm copies of the Royal Irish Constabulary service records 1822-1922, the originals of which are held at the Public Record Office at Kew in London. After the Truce between the IRA and the British on 11 July 1921, the USC was demobilised by the British and the IRA was given official recognition while peace talks were ongoing. Brooke was impacted personally. [56][57][ii] Their biggest single loss of life came at Clones in February 1922, when a patrol which entered the Free State refused to surrender to the local IRA garrison and took four dead and eight wounded in a firefight. Subscribe now for regular news, updates and priority booking for events, All content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0, except where otherwise stated, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), About our
Schutzstaffel, abbreviated as SS, literally means "protective guard." Pricing & History. Any views expressed in message boards and members notes represent the opinions of the author and do not represent the opinions of Findmypast Limited. [75][76], In Belfast, the USC were successful in restoring order in the predominantly Protestant Shankill area, where they performed their patrol duties unarmed. This database contains images of Church of England baptism records in registers from parishes in the West Yorkshire area of England. The registers also recorded the constables rate of pay and the amount of pension calculated. .tableizer-table td {
WebPlease note we are unable to feature dedicated trees, plaques and benches in the list below. WebIn pictures - Ulster Special Constabulary Association unveil Ballymena memorial. "[84], Cameron recommended that the purposes of the USC as a reserve civilian police force, as well as a counter-insurgency reserve, be properly made known in recruitment and training so that it would be more attractive to Catholics. . }
2023 BBC. The districts were based on the existing RIC divisions. If so, you should search for your ancestor in the Ireland, Royal Irish Constabulary Pensions 1826-1925 available in the Useful links and resources section. In 1970 the security of Northern Ireland became the responsibility of the RUC, the British army, and the Ulster Defence The service number will help narrow your results and you may discover records you could not find before. (April 27, 2023). See The Troubles in Northern Ireland (1920-1922) and Timeline of the Irish War of Independence. [69] Historian Tim Pat Coogan said of the USC, "The B Specials were the rock on which any mass movement by the IRA in the North has inevitably floundered. Fees: The fees associated with the release of records are 2019Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. WebService in the Ulster Special Constabulary which was not counted for the award of the medal or bar, may be counted with service as a member of the RUC Reserve. On the disbandment of the USC, many of its members joined the newly established Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR), the part-time security force which replaced the B Specials. border: 1px solid #CCC;
Each entry of the register includes a constables name, rank, number, birth year, and the number of years the constable spent in the force. the Royal Ulster Constabulary was transformed into the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) in November of 2001 (Mulcahy 2006, 179). They recorded the members name, number, county, rank, and age, as well as the number of years in service in the force. Source Information Ancestry.com. The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure. Is climate change killing Australian wine? [92] An Orange lodge was formed to commemorate the disbandment of the force called "Ulster Special Constabulary LOL No 1970". The force trained at Phoenix Park Depot. Most of these (72) were killed in conflict with the IRA in 1921 and 1922. On 1 April 1970 the Ulster Defence Regiment began duties. One of his other major concerns was the use of the police force for carrying out military style operations. Between 1956 and 1962, the Special Constabulary was again mobilised to combat a guerilla campaign launched by the IRA. [citation needed], The IRA issued a statement which said that any Catholics who joined the specials would be treated as traitors by them and would be dealt with accordingly.[26]. The Specials, who were armed and not trained for riot duty, used deadly force on a number of occasions. The police force of Northern Ireland, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), came into existence on 1 June 1922 upon the disbandment of the Royal Irish The BBC News NI website has a dedicated section marking the 100th anniversary of the creation of Northern Ireland and partition of the island. [63], The conflict never formally ended but petered out in June 1922, with the outbreak of the Irish Civil War in the Free State and the wholesale arrest and internment of IRA activists in the North. Another 530 civilians and 35 IRA men were killed in the Northern conflict of 19201922. WebThe Royal Ulster Constabulary GC was the name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It has been argued that their failure to deal with the 1969 disturbances was due to a failure on behalf of the Northern Ireland government to modernise their equipment, weaponry, training and approach to the job.[86]. The disbandment registers were created in 1922 when the Royal Irish Constabulary was disbanded
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The journals recorded the names of members as well as their company, dates of appointment and promotion, and details about whether the member stayed in the hospital at any point. To access the records held here you will either need to visit us, pay for research ( charges apply) or, where you can identify a specific record reference, order a copy ( charges apply ). padding: 4px;
[37] Macready and Henry Hughes Wilson argued that the concept of a special constabulary was a dangerous one. The transcripts will include a combination of the following details: The information found on each image will vary depending on the subject of the records as well as whether they are registers or recruitment lists. Please add any photos or descriptions of graves to your police relatives. It had been hoped that UK constabularies would take many on but, apart from the Northern Irelands new Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) which had enrolled 1,347 ex-RIC by October 1922 (including over 250 Black and Tans and Auxiliaries), they displayed a marked disinclination to recruit former members of a by then internationally notorious "[40], The Irish nationalist press was less reserved. A Message From The SheriffIt is the mission of the Ulster County Sheriff's Office to serve the public by enhancing our partnership with the community, and in so The Ulster Special Constabulary was set up in 1920 and dissolved in 1970 "Proni will scope the cataloguing and sensitivity review of the administrative records of the USC for the 1920s. margin: 3px;
92 Topics 346 Posts Last post Irish Police Funerals by b.griffin 10:46 AM - 3 https://www.psni.police.uk/inside-psni/our-history/police-museum/. Sir John Cameron was requested to submit a report on the disturbances in Northern Ireland. Included in this collection are 181 pieces from TNA series HO 184: table.tableizer-table {
[22], There was a willingness to arm or recognise existing Protestant militias. The officers registers are similar to the general registers. WebUlster Special Constabulary: award of Long Service Medal to those narrowly failing to qualify on disbandment. Birth, Marriage & Death, including Parish, Operated by Ancestry Ireland Unlimited Company. [88] Initially, the Regiment had 4,000 members who worked part-time while the new special constabulary, the RUC Reserve which replaced the B-Specials, initially consisted of 1,500 members.[89][90][91]. The article explains the continuities between the revolutionary Ulster Volunteer Force and the Ulster Special Constabulary with an overview of the constabulary's establishment in 1920. William was the Son of Robert J. McDermott and Isabella McDermott of 14 Albert Street,Londonderry. Dr Coleman said the centenary was an opportunity to "ensure that we get full access to the historical record relating to the establishment of Northern Ireland". Ulster Special Constabulary- Armagh Share 6 posts Fox8457 79 21 2 District Inspector 3rd Class Jan 26, 2020 #1 I came across these photos online, from the Picture Library Executive, National Museums NI. In February 1921, Specials and UVF men burned down ten Catholic houses in the County Fermanagh village of Roslea after a Special who lived in the village was shot and wounded. WebCatalogue description Ulster Special Constabulary: general correspondence Ordering and viewing options This record has not been digitised and cannot be downloaded. Badges of rank were displayed on the right forearm of the jacket.[45]. The Oxford Companion to British History. Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), state police force in Northern Ireland, established in 1922. There are two types of books related to the Constabulary Force Fund. 192070. [26] A number of the newly appointed Special Constables (by the Lisburn Urban Council) had been charged with rioting and looting committed over three days and nights following the assassination RIC Inspector Oswald Swanzy. VideoThe secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure, LGBT troops take love for Eurovision to front line, Why an Indian comedian is challenging fake news rules. A spokesperson said: "Proni will scope the cataloguing and sensitivity review of the administrative records of the USC for the 1920s. There are special reports on the major figures of the time and the events that shaped modern Ireland available at bbc.co.uk/ni100. WebThese records list the names of the clerical staff who worked for the Royal Irish Constabulary. In the following Scarman Tribunal, the findings said "the Tribunal has been at a loss to find any explanation for the shooting, which it is satisfied was a reckless and irresponsible thing to do. The USC's most intense period of deployment was in the first half of 1922, when conditions of a low-intensity war existed along the new Irish border between the Free State and Northern Ireland. During that same time period members of the Dromore UVF were said to have supervised the expulsion of Catholic families from Dromore and many UVF units joined the new Constabulary with their commanders appointed to senior positions. During the Irish War of Independence, RIC barracks were the targets of frequent attacks from the Irish Republican Army. His recommendations included:[7], The Ulster Special Constabulary was disbanded in May 1970. Members of the platoon with Lancia car and dog Peter Mc 5,696 2,388 35 Inspector "[83] The Cameron Report described the B-Specials as "a partisan and paramilitary force recruited exclusively from Protestants. WebThe Special Constabulary Long Service Medal is a long service medal awarded in the United Kingdom to members of the Special Constabulary who have completed a specified period of service. [46] By the 1960s Sten and Sterling submachine guns were also used. They witnessed the Great Famine, land wars, the Easter Rising, the Irish War of Independence, and the beginning of the Irish Civil War. They sought to magnify and distort every incident and to stir up hatred of the force even before it started to function. This data collection contains images of Church of England baptism, marriage, and burial records in registers from parishes in the West Yorkshire area of England for the years 15121812. This information will help us make improvements to the website. These records list the names of the clerical staff who worked for the Royal Irish Constabulary. He praised the Specials where he felt it was due. The Genes community will go out of their way to help you, so dont be shy about asking for help. - A pamphlet published by the Ulster Special Of the remainder, most died in accidents but two former officers were killed during the Troubles in the 1980s. Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. [72] The unsuitability of the use of the B Specials in such situations was clear: "The 'Specials', untrained for such a job, contained no Catholic members, were inevitably regarded as sectarian, and their presence tended to heighten rather than lower tension in Catholic areas. CAIN: 'Why?' To browse this image set, select from the options below. Formed as an auxiliary armed police force by the new Northern Irish government, the Ulster Specials in 1922 consisted of A full-time, B This meant that the B Specials had to be deployed, although they were not trained or equipped for public order situations. Encyclopedia.com. The entries include the individuals birth date, native county, religion, previous occupation, date of appointment, and promotions, as well as any rewards or punishments received and the date of pension or the date of discharge. WebSpecial police constable ww2 records?? WebAbstract. "[85], Scarman went on to criticise the Command and Control of the RUC for deploying armed Special Constables in areas where their very presence would "heighten tension", as he was in no doubt that they were "Totally distrusted by the Catholics, who saw them as the strong arm of the Protestant ascendancy".[85]. Northern Ireland had been destabilised by disturbances arising out of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association's agitation for equal rights for Catholics. The Anglo-Irish treaty ended the war on 6 December 1921 and the Irish Free State was established in January 1922. The lists recorded the staff members birth date, age at appointment, rank (such as junior or senior clerk), and department. The other three counties (Donegal, Monaghan, and Cavan) had disproportionately Catholic and nationalist majorities and would become part of the Irish Free State. . Special Constable Thomas Sheridan from Co Cavan was shot dead by a sniper shortly before midnight on Sunday, June 6, 1922. Sold for. February 2006, Might be worth contacting the address given here, they may be able to advise?https://www.psni.police.uk/inside-psni/our-history/police-museum/Police MuseumPolice Service of Northern Ireland HeadquartersBrooklyn65 Knock RoadBelfastBT5 6LETelephone: 101 Non Emergency Number - extension 22499Email: museum@psni.police.uk. It has been argued that their failure to deal with the 1969 disturbances was due to a failure on behalf of the Northern Ireland government to modernise their equipment, weaponry, training and approach to the job. WebThe Ulster Special Constabulary Association (USCA) was a loyalist group active in Northern Ireland during the early 1970s.The group was established following the dissolution of the Ulster Special Constabulary (commonly known as the B Specials) and operated with a semi-paramilitary structure. The Anglo-Irish Treaty had agreed the partition of Ireland, between the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland. ." The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (Proni) is governed by the Department for Communities. The Belfast units were constructed differently from those in the counties. Scarman concluded that it would have been very difficult for Catholics to gain membership in 1969, even if they had applied to join. Together, the records will help to provide an overview of your ancestors career in the force. In late 1921, a Belfast police officer came across a secretive loyalist paramilitary organization known as the Ulster Protestant Association or UPA, operating in the city. In Belfast, the Specials were trained in much the same way as the regular police whereas in rural areas the USC was focused on counter-guerilla operations. William was killed in Action when involved in Air Operations at Banja Luka, Yugoslavia on 18th August 1944 when he was 24 years old. The Special Constables were armed with Webley .38 revolvers and also LeeEnfield rifles and bayonets. On one occasion, the Comber Platoon was petrol-bombed by a hostile Protestant crowd at Inglis's bakery as it tried to protect Catholics who were going to work. This database contains images of Church of England marriage records and banns in registers from parishes in the West Yorkshire area of England. "The activities of the USC are contested, shall we say, and people today might have concerns that they wouldn't want their ancestors' file open to the public, but there should be no concern about that. A member of the advisory panel, Dr Marie Coleman from Queen's University, said gaining access to all of the files from the 1920s would help to tell the story of Northern Ireland in greater detail. WebThe fax number for Records is (801) 377-7315. Explore this plethora of RIC records containing general registers, disbandment registers, nominal returns, and more. "[37][39] John Anderson, the Under Secretary for Ireland (head of the British Administration in Dublin) shared his fears, "you cannot, in the middle of a faction fight, recognise one of the contending parties and expect it to deal with disorder in the spirit of impartiality and fairness essential in those who have to carry out the order of the Government. Can anyone tell me where the records are held for the Ulster Special Constabulary a part time unit of the Royal Ulster Constabulary founded For years Britons resisted having a proper police force, because they associated it with repression, especially of the French kind. Excellent condition with only minor signs of external wear. These "Special Constables" will be nothing more and nothing less than the dregs of the Orange lodges, armed and equipped to overawe Nationalists and Catholics, and with a special object and special facilities and special inclination to invent 'crimes' against Nationalists and Catholics they are the very classes whom an upright Government would try to keep powerless Vice Admiral Sir Arthur Hezlet in the official History of the Ulster Special Constabulary,[42] contended that "Sinn Fein regarded the Specials as an excuse for arming the Orangemen and an act even more atrocious than the creation of the 'Black and Tans'! The oldest - "Guns in Ulster" has a publishing date of 1967 but it is a record of the formation of the USC from 1921 until the mid 60s. The summary includes a brief description of the collection(s) (usually including the covering dates of the collection),
One is the correspondence registers which contain lists of members names who paid into the fund with notes regarding whether the person had been pensioned, died, or received any rewards from the fund. The collection contains a variety of records related to the administration of the Royal Irish Constabulary. She added: "We see this decade of centenaries as an opportunity to unearth documents which up until now maybe might not have been considered as relevant or had not been in the priority for archives to be released. Craigs vision of a system or organised reprisals by a Special David Charles Arthur Police Constable, Metropolitan Police, 26 The Ulster Special Constabulary (USC; commonly called the "B-Specials" or "B Men") was a quasi-military[1] reserve special constable police force in what would later become Northern Ireland. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal The Ulster Unionist Labour Association had established an "unofficial special constabulary," with members drawn chiefly from the shipyards, tasked with policing Protestant areas. "The Public Record Office staff are doing amazing work but I think it's fair to suggest that they need additional resources to be able to complete this.". Their fury was natural as they saw that the Specials might well mean that they would be unable to intimidate and subdue the North by Force. WebThe Cambridgeshire Constabulary is also exceptional in the number of documents which it has retained from the 1830's and 1840's, since police records do not generally pre-date the compulsory establishment of the new police following the 1856 Police Act. "[70] Six RUC and eleven IRA men (but no Special Constables) were killed in this campaign. Encyclopedias almanacs transcripts and maps. : Octavo. 'A Special' platoons were fully mobile using a Ford car for the officer in charge, two armoured cars and four Crossley Tenders (one for each of the sections). WebWilliam McDermott, Service Number 1007187, was serving with 19 Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. Did your Irish ancestor serve in the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC)? [citation needed], In the British House of Commons, the leader of the Nationalist Party of Northern Ireland, Joseph Devlin, formerly a leading member of the now defunct Irish Parliamentary Party, made his feelings on the creation of the USC clear: "The Chief Secretary is going to arm pogromists to murder Catholicswe would not touch your special constabulary with a 40 foot pole. WebLisburn won the Ulster Special Constabulary (South Antrim District) Cup for rifle shooting at Langford Lodge, Crumlin, on Saturday, scoring 297 points. [20], In April 1920, Captain Sir Basil Brooke (future Prime Minister of Northern Ireland), had set up "Fermanagh Vigilance", a vigilante group to provide defence against incursions by the IRA. The Fermanagh Herald noted the opposition of Irish nationalists:[41].mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}. The USC were deployed in 1969 to support the RUC in the 1969 Northern Ireland riots. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. [30], Scarman concluded in his report on the civil disturbance in the region in 1969 that: "Undoubtedly mistakes were made and certain individual officers acted wrongly on occasions. The IRA, although now split over the Treaty, continued offensive operations in Northern Ireland, with the co-operation of Michael Collins, leader of the Free State, and Liam Lynch, leader of the Anti-Treaty IRA faction. [56], During the Second World War, the USC was mobilised to serve in Britain's Home Guard, which unusually, was put under the command of the police rather than the British Army.[68]. "[80], When Jack Lynch, the Taoiseach of Ireland, moved Irish Army troops up to the border in response to the rioting, platoons of Specials were deployed to guard border police stations.[72]. Ruc Royal Ulster Constabulary Boxed Service Medal N Ireland Irish Police. The PSNI received new badges representing the Many records only recorded the constables first initial; therefore, if your search is unsuccessful, try searching for only your ancestors surname or select the name variants option on the search field. Most populous nation: Should India rejoice or panic? This collection includes a wide variety of registers that recorded appointments of regular and special constables, promotions, disciplinary actions, transfers, lists of applicants, injuries sustained in the line of duty, and physical descriptions. [17][18][19], The composition of the USC was overwhelmingly Protestant and Unionist, for a number of reasons. The Centenary Historical Advisory Panel is chaired by Queen's University historian Professor Paul Bew and includes academics from Cambridge University, Sheffield University and Ulster University. ." When you find one record for your ancestor, document his service number and use it to search all the records. The IRA called off their campaign in February 1962. The lists recorded the staff members birth date, age at appointment, rank (such as junior or senior clerk), and department. In the final handover to the Ulster Defence Regiment, the B Specials had to surrender their weapons and uniforms. [1] It initially began as a series of unrelated small groups of WebThe RIC Roll has been developed as an online resource and research tool, to facilitate the study of the War of Independence. [23] There was an immediate and illicit supply of arms available; especially from the Ulster Volunteers. In addition to the MLA, Chicago, and APA styles, your school, university, publication, or institution may have its own requirements for citations. Special Operations Forces: Overview Funct, police. Web2.1 Ulster Special Constabulary 2.2 Royal Ulster Constabulary. The USC consisted of 32,000 men divided into four sections, all of whom were armed: The units were organised on military lines up to company level. The Royal Irish Constabulary was established as a peace-keeping force dedicated to the detection and prevention of crime throughout Ireland. This list of chief constables was created during the first year of the Royal Irish Constabulary. [78], The USC's most controversial conduct in the 1969 riots came in provincial towns, where the Special Constabulary formed the main response to the rioting. The lists recorded the individuals number, rank, name, religion, date of appointment, marital status, and station location. The British Government commissioned three reports into the policing response to the 1969 riots. The Usc was seen as violent, ill-disciplined, and sectarian. During its existence, 95 USC members were killed in the line of duty. Date 19 August 2014, 00:57:50 Source Own work Author MrPenguin20 Permission (Reusing this file) This vector imageincludes elements that have been taken or adapted from this file: Within the Cite this article tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. 2023