The Irish Militia, 1793–1802

Ireland's forgotten army

Ivan F. Nelson

‘This is a masterly book. It succeeds in weaving a number of separate historical threads into a final work that more than achieves the author’s aims. … A must for students of military history … This is a book well worth reading’, Richard Doherty, War Books Out Now.

‘This is a well written and nicely produced book which anyone who wants a rounded picture of 1798 would do well to read’, Books Ireland.

'Readable, lucid and fair-minded … This is a welcome study of a neglected topic. It is firmly based on the available evidence, and it is persuasive in its conclusions. Those interested in the history of the 1798 rebellion – and who is not? – will find this book to be essential’, Tom Bartlett, Sunday Business Post.

‘This work makes a very valuable contribution to the balance of our understanding of the events of the 1790s’, Dudley Levistone Cooney, Dublin Historical Record.

‘[A] diligent, balanced and quietly compelling work’, Books Ireland.

'Very little research on the Irish militia preceded this book. The force, consisting mainly of Irish people, has been vilified with constant repetition of the opinions of others, some of them unjustified ... In the present volume the author has concentrated on the soldiers, how they lived, trained, what motivated them and how they performed in action ... Hopefully, someone will tackle the history of the Irish Militia from 1803 to 1816 in a like manner to this excellent book', Bob Wyatt, The Bulletin of the Military Historical Society (February 2008).

‘In The Irish Militia, retired British officer Ivan Nelson takes a look at the Irish contribution to home defense during the Revolutionary Wars. The book deals not only with military matters, including field service, but delves into complex and contentious political, social, and religious issues involved in raising a force with Catholic enlisted men and Protestant officers, in a period that culminated in the United Irishmen rebellion and French invasion of 1798, during which militiamen performed unevenly at best. Particularly valuable for students of British Military history and of the French wars’, The NYMAS Review.