From Kilkenny to the Khyber Pass: Lance Corporal William Ryan and the making of an imperial soldier

When Cork-woman Paula Cronin embarked on a bit of family history research she never expected to discover that her roots were not, as she thought, in her home county, but in Kilkenny.

Paula had long been a visitor to the city, and said she always felt at home here, but it was decades before she uncovered her family’s origins in Kilkenny City and the exciting life of her Kilkenny grandfather - Lance Corporal William Ryan.

Having studied his career in the British Army during the last two decades of the nineteenth century, Paula has written his story.

Early Life
William Ryan was born on October 30, 1863, in Poulgour, Kilkenny, to Michael Ryan and Ellen Gorman. He was baptised on 1 November 1863 in St Patrick’s, Kilkenny, the third of four sons.

After the death of his father in 1866, William’s mother hired a woman to care for her three sons while she was employed as a live-in servant. Later, her sons were placed in a Church of Ireland family. According to family lore, the boys were denied a formal education and worked in the family store.

In 1878, William’s mother, Ellen Ryan died in the Kilkenny Union Workhouse, leaving her sons orphaned.
Kilkenny experienced great prosperity from 1863 to 1883. However, many impoverished families were confined to cramped accommodation, enduring hunger, sickness and the constant threat of the workhouse.

Enlistment
On July 21 1883, nineteen-year old, William Ryan enlisted at Victoria Barracks, Clonmel, County Tipperary, joining the 2nd battalion of the 18th Royal Irish Regiment of Foot.

His military service book records him as 5 feet 8¾ inches, two inches taller than the average male in Ireland at that time, an Irish complexion, grey eyes, dark brown hair, and a scar that ran across his left temple and upper eyelid.

In the late nineteenth century, the British Army offered Irish men a steady income, lodging, educational opportunities and the chance to travel the world. For Ryan, it represented the beginning of an army career spanning two decades, across different continents and military campaigns.

Clonmel to Malta
Ryan’s regiment completed basic training at Victoria Barracks in Clonmel, before transferring to Aldershot, the British Army’s principal training centre.

From Aldershot, the battalion sailed from Portsmouth in February 1884, arriving in Malta on 10 March 1884.
India, 1885.

ABOVE: William Ryan was awarded the Indian General Service Medal with Hazara clasp

The 2nd Battalion sailed for India on 7 January1885, arriving at Bombay on 25 January. They were dispatched to Rawal Pindi, where a royal court (Durbar ) was conducted to meet the Amir of Afghanistan.

The battalion was subsequently posted to Subathu, Nowshera and Cherat, for patrol service, escort responsibilities and garrison duties on the North-West Frontier. Click NEXT to read on and see more photographs.