New book on Irish WW1 soldiers to launch in Kilkenny this week

A new book, Mons Star to the Royal Irish Regiment by Mary Anne Maher and Larry Scallan, which researches soldiers mostly from Kilkenny, Tipperary, Wexford and Waterford, will launch at the Home Rule Club at 7.30pm on Thursday.

The one of a kind book details the order of deployment, rank and alphabetical order of the regiment’s 1,928 men who were awarded the ‘Mons’ Star medal given to men who served in France or Belgium between the day after Britain’s declaration of war against the Central Powers on August 5, 1914 and the end of Second Battle of Ypres on November 22, 1914.

Authors Maher and Scallan have a long-standing shared interest in the Royal Irish Regiment due to the fact that both had a great-granduncle killed in an engagement between the regiment and the German army in Le Pilly, France in October 1914.

After a conversation between the two following the centenary commemoration of the armistice in 2018, they wondered where the men of the regiment might have predominantly been from and began to research the soldiers and officers who had received the ‘Mons’ Star in 2020.

After identifying the 1,928 recipients, they painstakingly carried out the process of putting together as many details and records as possible on each of them.

The book is the culmination of four years of this research and includes details such as a post-war address for 72% of the soldiers and the names and locations of when and where over 800 men were taken prisoner of war. 

Those unable to attend the Home Rule Club launch on Thursday who wish to purchase a copy can contact the authors at royalirishregiment.monsstar@gmail.com or call Mary Anne Maher at 0861547484.