Page 42 - Garda Journal Winter 2019

Battle of Stalingrad was reaching its decisive moments. This battle marked a turning point in the war against Germany, the Russians inflicting a defeat on the Wehrmacht, the heretofore seemingly invincible German war machine. There was a lot of fighting to be done yet however and Ireland only declared its state of ‘Emergency’ over in 1946, a year after the war officially ended.
1960-2016
Since 1960 soldiers from Collins Barracks have served the cause of peace, through United Nations mandated peace support operations, on behalf of Ireland and the Irish people, all over the world. The transformation of the old colonial empires into new states had sometimes proved fraught with difficulty and danger and for over half a century Cork soldiers as peacekeepers, in different continents, conflicts and contexts have been required to venture into often unstable, volatile and not infrequently hostile places.
It was only in February 2000 that the first White Paper on Defence was published. Its publication was a long-awaited official announcement on the government’s programme on defence for the first decade of the new millennium ( in the
event, the first decade and a half , as the second White Paper was produced in August 2015 ). A programme of nation- wide barrack closures included the consequent relocation of the First Artillery Regiment (Ballincollig) and the First Cavalry Squadron (Fermoy) into Collins Barracks. These closures and other formation reorganisations did result in investment in barrack infrastructure and the biggest building project since its restoration in the 1930’s including a new Transport Workshop, Dining Complex, Gymnasium, Armoury and N.C.O.’s Mess for Collins Barracks. A more recent ‘reorganisation’ however saw the disestablishment of the 4th Infantry Battalion as the Barrack’s Lead Unit, for many Collins Barracks garrison members an entirely regrettable and sad occurrence.
The history of Collins Barrack Cork has been more than a story of bricks and mortar, of its art and artifacts, of its patriots and peacekeepers, it has been the story of all the men and women who garrisoned the barracks, its soldiers. The garrison’s involvement in historic events, locally, nationally and internationally, is likely to be as interesting and fulsome in the future as it has been in the past.
56 GARDA JOURNAL
HISTORY | Cork’s Collins Barracks