St Patrick's Barracks was a military installation in Ballymena.

History

The site was requisitioned by the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

and the barracks were put into use as the depot of the

Royal Ulster Rifles The Royal Irish Rifles (became the Royal Ulster Rifles from 1 January 1921) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army, first created in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot and the 86th (Royal County D ...

, who had relocated from Victoria Barracks, as soon as they opened in 1937. The barracks were used by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. The barracks reverted to use as depot of the Royal Ulster Rifles after the War and became the regional centre for infantry training as the

North Irish Brigade The North Irish Brigade was a Brigade of the British Army which existed between 1948 and 1968; it consisted of the three regiments from Northern Ireland (each regiment was reduced to a single battalion on 14 July 1948). After the Second World War th ...

Depôt in 1964. The barracks went on to be the home of the

Royal Irish Rangers The Royal Irish Rangers (27th (Inniskilling), 83rd and 87th) was a regular infantry regiment of the British Army with a relatively short existence, formed in 1968 and later merged with the Ulster Defence Regiment in 1992 to form the Royal Iris ...

when it was formed in 1968 and of the Royal Irish Regiment when it was formed in 1992. The barracks were closed in 2008 and the Imjin River Memorial, which had been located at the barracks, was moved to

Belfast City Hall Belfast City Hall ( ga, Halla na Cathrach Bhéal Feirste; Ulster-Scots: ''Bilfawst Citie Haw'') is the civic building of Belfast City Council located in Donegall Square, Belfast, Northern Ireland. It faces North and effectively divides the comm ...

: the memorial commemorates Irish troops lost in the Battle of Chaegunghyon in January 1951 during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. The site was given to the

Northern Ireland Executive The Northern Ireland Executive is the devolved government of Northern Ireland, an administrative branch of the legislature – the Northern Ireland Assembly. It is answerable to the assembly and was initially established according to the ...

in 2012 and housing refurbishment was carried out. The site was the home of the Royal Irish Regiment Museum until it closed. Plans for a road link to the east of the site appeared in the planning submissions to Mid and East Antrim Council in November 2017.

References

{{Royal Irish Regiment Installations of the British Army Barracks in Northern Ireland 1937 establishments in Northern Ireland 2008 disestablishments in Northern Ireland