ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with the British Imperial manifestations of the amateur military tradition. The other loyal auxiliary tradition in Ireland is that of the militia, essentially an attempt to transplant an English military system into Ireland. One of the primary roles of the militia was to furnish recruits to the regular army and the militia regiments of Ireland fit into the general United Kingdom pattern, providing approximately one third of their men to the regulars. The most serious attempt to introduce the Volunteers into Ireland came in 1879 when legislation was defeated in the House of Lords and popular pressure organized by the Belfast Rifle Association in January 1900 was ignored. In conclusion it is worth reflecting that while Ireland had a different economic and social structure and certainly different political priorities from most of the United Kingdom the attempt to transplant the English militia system into Ireland between 1854 and 1902 was largely successful.
