, image=Badge of the Irish Corps of Engineers.svg , image_size=200px , dates=1 October 1924 – present , country= , branch=

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

Naval Service
Air Corps , command_structure= Badge of the Irish Defence Forces

Defence Forces , type= Military engineering , role= Camp construction, military bridging , size=Engineer battalion , garrison=1st Engineer Group - Cork
2nd Engineer Group - Athlone
Engineer Group, Logistics Base Curragh -

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional ce ...

Engineer Section, Air Corps -

Casement Aerodrome Casement Aerodrome ( ga, Aeradróm Mhic Easmainn) or Baldonnel Aerodrome is a military airbase to the southwest of Dublin, Ireland situated off the N7 main road route to the south and south west. It is the headquarters and the sole airfield of ...

Engineer Section, Naval Service -

Haulbowline Haulbowline ( ga, Inis Sionnach; non, Ál-boling) is an island in Cork Harbour off the coast of Ireland. The world's first yacht club was founded on Haulbowline in 1720. The western side of the island is the main naval base and headquarters f ...

, identification_symbol= Defense Forces Engineer Corps (Ireland)

, identification_symbol_label=Flag , website= , identification_symbol_4 = ENGR , identification_symbol_4_label = Abbreviation Camp Construction1

The Corps of Engineers (ENGR) ( ga, An Cór Innealtóirí) is the military engineering branch of the Defence Forces of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The Corps is responsible for

combat engineering A combat engineer (also called pioneer or sapper) is a type of soldier who performs military engineering tasks in support of land forces combat operations. Combat engineers perform a variety of military engineering, tunnel and mine warfare tas ...

, construction engineering, and

fire fighting Firefighting is the act of extinguishing or preventing the spread of unwanted fires from threatening human lives and destroying property and the environment. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter. Firefighters typicall ...

services within the Defence Forces. The main role of the combat engineers is to provide engineering on the battlefield; the Corps has successfully leveraged its skill and expertise in several of the

Irish Army The Irish Army, known simply as the Army ( ga, an tArm), is the land component of the Defence Forces of Ireland.The Defence Forces are made up of the Permanent Defence Forces – the standing branches – and the Reserve Defence Forces. The A ...

's deployments on

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

operations.

History

Following the establishment of the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...

on 6 December 1922 General Routine Orders were issued which laid down the organisation of the first centralised Defence Forces. From an engineering point of view there were three particular problem areas to be overcome:- *The Barracks and Posts throughout the state were in great need of repair following the

War of Independence This is a list of wars of independence (also called liberation wars). These wars may or may not have been successful in achieving a goal of independence. List See also * Lists of active separatist movements * List of civil wars * List o ...

and the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. *There was a general shortage of materials. *Most of the railway system was in disarray with many towns cut off. To meet these requirements three (3) Corps were set up: *The Works Corps - to carry out repairs and reconstruction. *The Salvage Corps - to recover materials from damaged buildings for use elsewhere. *The Railway Protection, Repair and Maintenance Corps - to rebuild the railway system. The Corps of Engineers was established and took over from these three Corps with effect from 1 October 1924. In 1931 Field Engineer Companies and the School of Military Engineering were added to the establishment.

Roles

The Corps has a wide variety of roles, covering conventional warfare, and training for the Defence Forces. With such a wide range of skills, the Engineer Corps provide a variety of support to the Army. This support includes anything from the provision of: * Mobility ** Clearing terrain obstacles ** Constructing roads and bridges **

Demining Demining or mine clearance is the process of removing land mines from an area. In military operations, the object is to rapidly clear a path through a minefield, and this is often done with devices such as mine plows and blast waves. By cont ...

* Counter mobility ** Planting landmines ** Digging trenches and ditches ** Demolishing roads and bridges ** Demolitions * Survivability ** Building

fortification A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere' ...

s ** Camp Construction: Camp Clara (Monrovia, Liberia), Camp Clark (Kosovo) * General Engineer Support ** Counter Terrorist Search **

Fire fighting Firefighting is the act of extinguishing or preventing the spread of unwanted fires from threatening human lives and destroying property and the environment. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter. Firefighters typicall ...

& RTA ** EOD ** CBRN defence ** Humanitarian Demining

Missions

The Corps have seen active service in

UNMIK The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) is the officially mandated mission of the United Nations in Kosovo. The UNMIK describes its mandate as being to "help the United Nations Security Council achieve an overall ...

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

(

UNOSOM II United Nations Operation in Somalia II (UNOSOM II) was the second phase of the United Nations intervention in Somalia and took place from March 1993 until March 1995, following the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991. UNOSOM II carried on ...

), Congo (

ONUC The United Nations Operation in the Congo (french: Opération des Nations Unies au Congo, abbreviated to ONUC) was a United Nations peacekeeping force deployed in the Republic of the Congo in 1960 in response to the Congo Crisis. ONUC was th ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

( UNIFIL), Liberia (

UNMIL The United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) was a peacekeeping operation established in September 2003 to monitor a ceasefire agreement in Liberia following the resignation of President Charles Taylor and the conclusion of the Second Liberia ...

) & Chad (

EUFOR Tchad/RCA European Union Force Chad and the Central African Republic (EUFOR Chad and the Central African Republic), also EUFOR Tchad/RCA after the French, was the European Union mission in Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR), authorised in late ...

) - where the Engineer Corps was deployed to construct Camp Ciara in advance of a contingent of more than 500 troops. Army engineers were deployed alongside personnel from the Naval Service and NSR in early 2020 as part of Ireland's response to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).

Equipment

* Aardvark Midi

Mine flail A mine flail is a vehicle-mounted device that makes a safe path through a minefield by deliberately detonating land mines in front of the vehicle that carries it. They were first used by the British during World War II. The mine flail consists of ...

DOK-ING DOK-ING d.o.o. is a Croatian company which manufactures electric vehicles, unmanned multi-purpose vehicles and robotic systems, established in 1992. History The electric motors for their vehicles are largely supplied by the Pula-based company T ...

MV-4 Remotely Operated

* Cyclops Mk4

Remotely Operated Vehicle A remotely operated underwater vehicle (technically ROUV or just ROV) is a tethered underwater mobile device, commonly called ''underwater robot''. Definition This meaning is different from remote control vehicles operating on land or in the a ...

* Remote Firing Demolitions Equipment (BIRIS, PRIME, DRFD) * Mabey Johnson Bridge * Infantry Assault Bridge * FFV 013 Area Defence Munition * Rigid-hulled inflatable boats (RIBs) (Delta 7 metre, Lencraft 5.1 metre dive, and Lencraft 7.5&6.5 metre intruder RIBs)

Corps of Engineers Units (2013)

*1st Engineer Group (Replaced 1st Field Engineer Company) *2nd Engineer Group (Replaced 4th Field Engineer Company) *Engineer Section, Air Corps. Attached

Irish Air Corps "Watchful and Loyal" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = ''see list of wars'' , decorations = , battle_honours = , battle_honours_label = , fl ...

*Engineer Section, Naval Service. Attached Irish Naval Service *Engineer Group, Logistics Base Curragh

Disbanded (Defence Forces Re-org 2012)

*2nd Field Engineer Company * 31st Field Engineer Company *62nd Field Engineer Company *54th Field Engineer Company

Future developments

As in all aspects of society, legislative changes and technological advances have required workforces to become more specialised and more highly skilled. The Irish Defence Forces is no exception - requiring specialist skilled engineers. Compared with Defence Forces in other countries e.g. British and French Armies, the number of engineers in the Irish Defence Forces is low, 5.5% against 8.8% and 12.8% respectively.

Gallery

Image:Bridge Building (4706573298).jpg, Bridge building Image:Bridge Demolition.JPG, Demolition using Hayrick shaped charges File:Aardvark mine flail detonating a landmine.jpg, Aardvark Joint Service Flail detonating an Anti-Tank Landmine Image:Camp Construction2.jpg, Installing Lighting Towers Image:Fire Fighting.jpg, Fire Service DFTC

References

External links

Official website
{{Irish Army & Army Reserve Engineers, Corps of Military engineer corps Military units and formations established in 1924