31st Reserve Field Artillery Regiment ( Ireland ) The 31st Reserve Field Artillery Regiment was a field artillery unit of the Southern Brigade Irish Reserve Defence Forces tasked with the defence of part of County Tipperary and also with providing support to the 1st FAR , a unit of the Irish Army . History . The Corps of Artillery of the Irish Army was founded in 1924 , and based in Connolly Barracks in the Curragh Camp . The Patron saint of the corps is Saint Barbara , and she appears on the corps insignia sitting astride a cannon . The 31st FAR came into being on 1 October 2005 , and was made up of units from the former reserve structure , the FCÁ . The units which were disbanded in order to form the new 31st FAR were the 8th FAR ( Cork ) , 3rd FAR ( Tipperary ) and part of the 14th Infantry Battalion also from Tipperary . The 8th FAR was originally formed in Ballincollig in 1979 . It was made up of the reserve batteries which had once formed part of the 1st FAR . The regiment consisted of two batteries : 2nd Battery ( 25 Pounder field guns ) and 21st Heavy Mortar Battery ( 120 mm Mortars ) . The unit moved to Collins Barracks in Cork City following the closure of Ballincollig Barracks . 2nd Battery and 21st Battery merged to become 1st Battery of the 31st FAR on 1 October 2005 . Activities . The unit had both ceremonial and training commitments , with annual artillery practice held in the Glen of Imaal in Co Wicklow in July of each year . A camp was also held around Easter time which focused on small arms training . Reservists from this unit were often invited to participate in training courses outside the unit , and members also participated in Defence Forces sporting events and shooting competitions , and have won several medals across a variety of events . The Pistol Team from 1st Battery was in the forefront of army shooting competitions for some years . In January 2005 , members of the 8th FAR ( later the 1st Battery ) were called upon to take part in a ceremonial 21 - gun salute in honour of the City of Cork becoming the European Capital of Culture . Other ceremonial duties have included committing a contingent of reservists to represent the 1st Southern Brigade at the National Day of Remembrance ceremony at Kilmainham . Reservists in the 31st FAR were also trained in Infantry Tactics , Amphibious operations , Fighting in Built Up Areas ( FIBUA ) and Peace Support Operations . Armaments . The unit used 25 Pounder field guns and L118 and L119 105 mm Light guns . Some smooth - bore Brandt 120 mm heavy mortars were in the unit ' s possession but this obsolete weapon was later removed from service , while the 25 pounder became an exclusively ceremonial weapon . The unit acquired a number of 120 mm Ruag mortars . The personal weapon of reservists in this unit was the Steyr AUG automatic rifle . Officers and senior NCOs carried the 9 mm H & K USP pistol , which had replaced the Browning Hi - Power in 2007 . The 7 . 62 mm FN MAG machine gun replaced the Bren gun as the section light machine gun . The unit also trained on anti - tank weapons such as the 84 mm Carl Gustav recoilless rifle and the 84 mm SRAAW . Members . Men and women ages 17 – 34 could join the unit by applying to their local battery office . The unit had batteries in Cork City and in Templemore , Thurles and Nenagh . All members were volunteers , and they give up their free time in order to train with the unit . 2007 was the first year since 1979 where members of the Reserve Defence Forces could become integrated with their associated army unit . Members of the 31 FAR had the opportunity to train alongside their colleagues in the 1st FAR . As an artillery unit , members also trained frequently with the Army School of Artillery in the Curragh Camp . Training was held once a week for two hours at night . Members were also frequently given opportunity to train on a variety of Reserve Army tasks across the 1st Southern Brigade .