The Military Star ( ga, An Réalt Míleata) is a

military decoration Military awards and decorations are distinctions given as a mark of honor for military heroism, meritorious or outstanding service or achievement. DoD Manual 1348.33, 2010, Vol. 3 A decoration is often a medal consisting of a ribbon and a medal ...

awarded to those members of the

Irish Defence Forces The Defence Forces ( ga, Fórsaí Cosanta, officially styled ) derives its origins from the Irish Volunteers. Whilst the Irish for ''Defence Forces'' is , as Ó Cearúil (1999) points out, the Defence Forces are officially styled . is used in ...

or Chaplaincy Service who were killed or mortally wounded in the line of duty as a result of hostile action by an armed enemy. Initially only awarded for service related deaths that occurred outside of Ireland, in 2012 the award criteria were changed to allow awards for those killed in Ireland.

Appearance

The medal is

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

and takes the shape of an eight-pointed star wide. The

obverse Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ''o ...

of the medal depicts Cúchulainn in death in the centre of the medal. The reverse is blank so that the deceased soldier's name, army number, and date and location of death may be engraved. The medal hangs from a ribbon wide. The ribbon is purple with black stripes at the edge. In the centre is a white stripe wide bisected by a stripe of orange. The white stripe is bordered by green stripes on either side. The ribbon is suspended at the top from a bronze bar bearing the word, in relief, ''REMEMBRANCE''. The medal and ribbon were designed by Corporal Dan O'Connell, Defence Forces Ceremonial (now retired).

References

External links

* {{Decorations of Ireland Military of the Republic of Ireland Orders, decorations, and medals of Ireland