The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-11-03
WHAT IRELAND IS DOING
 FOR KITCHENER'S ARMY


 fir st time since the conquest of Ireland by
 strongbow, England is engaged in war which she has the hearty and undivided sympathy of Ireland, and the empire is | looking for great things things from the Irish troops, whether they be drawn 1 from the north or from the south.
 In spite of the political estrange-
 ment between Ireland and her sister country-now happily wiped away for ever by the grant of home rule-Ire- land has always borne more than her share in Great Britain's battles. The
 Irish are a martial nation and not even the deep sense of their country's wrongs could keep them out of the
 army of England, the only army which | in recent years was open to most of
 them. I have just been going through | the army list and find that in the regu-
 lar army there are 15 Irish regiments. Each regiment consists of two regular battalions of 1000 men each, and one | or two reserve battalions which may | or may not be brought up to full strength on mobilization. At any rate the regular army is made up of the two
 battalions of each regiment so that Ireland contributes to the regular standing army of Great Britain at least S0.000 men. As the regular forces consist | in peace time of only 160,000 men very simple calculation will show what
 proportion of the military burden of the empire Ireland with her population of 4.0O0,o0o is bearing compared with l England. Wales and Scotland with their | population of over 40,000,000.
 | The Irish forces include such famous
 regiments as the Connaught Rangers, the Dublin Fusiliers, the Inniskilling
 Fusiliers and the Inniskilling Dragons, | the Munster Fusiliers. who were cut up at Mons, and the Irish Guards of which Lord Roberts, the great soldier who warned England for years of what was in store for her, is colonel-in-chief. | In former wars in which Great Britain engaged Irishmen were to be
 found fighting on both sides. When l the Stuart kings fell thousands of Irish gentlemen who had fought in their armies emigrated rather than submit l to the Hanoverian dynasty. They were | followed by tens of thousands of their soldiers and the Irisb brigades which entered the service of France. of Spain, | of Austria and of almost every other
 nation on the continent of Europe made the fame of the Irish as fighters world wide Everyone has heard of the famous Irish brigade which fought against the English at Fontenoy and even as recently as the Boer war there was an Irish brigade in the field against the old enemy, who has now become a friend
 This time the Irishmen will all fight on the one side. Ireland has become passionately loyal to the British em- pire, with the exception of very small and entirely uninfluential group of doctrinaire politicians who are still preaching that England Is the enemy But if England were still the enemy
 Ireland would have strong induce ment to fight against Germany and on the side of Belgium, for the relations between these two small nations have always been very close. Nowhere in | the world was there such thrill Of l horror at the destruction of Louvain 1 as in Ireland, for Louvain Is almost
 sacred ground to the Irish The bones | of the Four Masters, the authors of the Annals of Ireland, lie under the ruins of the chapel of Louvain university. l Louyain gave its hospitality to the l Irish clergy who were compelled to seek l refuge from the rigor of the British I penal laws and for centuries ma jority of the Irish priesthood were edu- cated at Louvain. The flags or Napo- leon's famous Irish brigade arc de-
 posited in the convent of Ypres. and there is hardly an ancient town In Bel gium that has not some Irish associa- l tion. Ireland has even suffered a ma terial loss by the destruction Of the Louvain library, for 1t contained the finest collection of Celtic manuscripts | in the world, many of them tho work ] of famous Irish scholars who had round l a home in the hospitable university. | The associations between France ana Ireland also have always been close and sympathetic so that Ireland feels that she Is entering on a holy war Tor
 herself and her allies.
 Now what is Ireland doing to contribute her share to Kitchener's new army? We have seen that she has done more than her share in building up the old army and l has contributed some of the finest fight ins material that 1t contains. John Red nond, tho leader of the Irish party, and, if he lives another year, the first prime minister Of Ireland, has said publicly that he Hopes to supply not only an Irish brigade but an Irish army corps cf 100000 men. Some optimists go so far as to talk about doubling that num- Ter, but that I am afraid Is hardly to he hoped for, unless the young Irishmen who have sought their fortunes overseas return to strike a blow for the honor of Ireland in the great war.
 It has been suggested that the two
 volunteer forces, Sir Edward Carson s
 Ulster army of 100000 partially trained men, and Redmonds national volunteer trained than the Ulstermen, might be
 taken over as a body. but anyone who is familiar with Irish conditions knows
 that this is impossible. Many of the
 men in both bodies joined the volunteer
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