South Irish Horse The South Irish Horse was a Special Reserve cavalry regiment of the British Army . Formed on the 2nd January 1902 as the South of Ireland Imperial Yeomanry . It was renamed as the South Irish Horse from 7 July 1908 and transferred to the Special Reserve ( Cavalry ) . After fighting in the Great War the unit was disbanded in 1922 following the implementation of the Anglo - Irish Treaty . History . The declaration of war against Germany in August 1914 found the South Irish Horse at summer camp , as was its sister regiment the North Irish Horse . Together they supplied a composite regiment who acted as GHQ ( General Head Quarters ) troops in the BEF ( British Expeditionary Force ) in France , B Squadron from the South Irish Horse and two from the North Irish Horse . HQ - Artillery Barracks , Limerick . A Squadron - Beggars Bush Barracks , Dublin B Squadron - Artillery Barracks , Limerick . ( known as " S " Squadron on first deployment to France ) . C Squadron - Glen House , Ballyvolane , Cork . D Squadron - Beggars Bush Barracks , Dublin Briefly , the regiment served as separate divisional cavalry squadrons and then as 2 corps cavalry regiments . In September 1917 the officers and men of both regiments were retrained as infantry and formed 7th ( South Irish Horse ) Battalion Royal Irish Regiment . The battalion was posted to 49th Infantry Brigade in 16th ( Irish ) Division . A look at the list of war dead will show 21 men recorded as Killed in Action on 12 December 1917 and a further 9 Died of Wounds by the end of the month . All of these men had previously been in the South Irish Horse . On 21 March 1918 the battalion was caught in the maelstrom of the German Kaiserschlacht ( Kaiser ' s Battle ) Spring offensive . The Official History records that , " 2 Coys of 7 / Royal Irish posted in forward zone suffered terribly ; not a man succeeded in escaping . " 77 officers and men of 7th ( SIH ) Royal Irish Regiment were killed in action that day , 42 were formerly South Irish Horse . 14 officers of the battalion were captured that day 6 of whom were formerly South Irish Horse . By the end of the month over 90 men of the battalion were dead or dying . According to the War Diary of 49th Infantry Brigade the battalion strength on 30 March 1918 was 1 officer and 34 other ranks . The battalion strength on 20 March is not known but a sister battalion ( 2nd Royal Irish Regiment ) in the brigade had a strength of 18 officers and 514 men before the battle and 1 officer and 31 other ranks on 30 March . 15 officers of this battalion were also captured ( two of whom were also formerly South Irish Horse ) . The regiment was one of the six British Army regiments disbanded in 1922 as a result of the Partition of Ireland , having only existed for a mere 20 years . Battle honours . Loos - Somme , 1916 , 1918 - Albert , 1916 - St Quentin - Rosières - Avre - Ypres , 1918 - Courtai - France and Flanders , 1915 - 18 . Association . The regiment no longer has an association but dependents may still get assistance from the Army Benevolent Fund . The Combined Irish Regiments Association also remains as a source of information and for those who wish to remember the disbanded regiments .