Central Council for the organisation of recruitment in Ireland

[isadore]

Hi All,

This council was formed in 1915 as far as I can gather.

Does anyone know where I could possibly get more information on their activities or if they published any reports?

Many thanks

Isadore

[Anneca]

From the book: “Ireland in Transition: 1867-1921” by David George Boyce and Alan O’Day:

Recruiting in Ireland was never as well organized as it was in Great Britain. A Central Council for the Organisation of Recruiting in Ireland was created in 1914, to be replaced in April 1915 by the Department of Recruiting in Ireland. Neither managed to sustain the initial surge in recruitment achieved in the first 6 months of the war. Regiments went on route marches, with some success, and 45% of total enlistments were made between 4 August 1914 and the end of April 1915. Recruiting campaigners were disappointed to find that on one occasion the men in the village they visited played pitch and toss while the recruiters made their speeches. The Irish contribution to the British Army inevitably became a divisive issue. T.M. Healy wrote on 10 December 1914, “the effects of the Ulstermen’s enlistments over-topping those of all the other three Provinces will not be ignored”.

See also http://source.southd...g11004u.jpg WW1 a British Army Recruitment Poster – Ireland “An Appeal to you” with a serviceman with rifle extending a hand in greeting (South Dublin County Libraries). 7,500 of these posters were issued by the Central Council for the Organisation of Recruiting in Ireland.

Hope this helps.

Anne

Sorry, there seems to be a problem with the link to the poster.

Edited 2 May , 2013 by anneca

[Anneca]

Try this link to the poster - South Dublin County Libraries:

http://source.southd...wm_3g11004u.jpg

[BrendanLee]

The Irish Time published weekly figures of the numbers recruited in Ireland. According to The Times there were ten recruiting areas in Ireland. There were also attempts to set up farmers battalions which would not be posted to the front during busy farming time such as harvest, lambing and so on. The article below which was in the Irish Times on the 21^st of September 1918 states the figures are from The Irish Recruiting Council. As far as I know they had some sort of clock outside their headquarters which showed how many recruits were needed before an allotted time was up.

[Airshipped]

There are several cabinet papers and briefing notes regarding recruitment in Ireland. Some are only of tangential interest but overall they can help give a picture of the situation:

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/s/res?_col=online&_q=recruitment+ireland&x=0&y=0