Ireland's Soldier Sons Trivia Quiz

Answer: Tim Collins

Colonel Tim Collins was born in Northern Ireland in 1960 and attended Queen's University, Belfast, before moving on to the the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. As commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment, a speech to his troops in Kuwait in 2003 caught the imagination of the British nation and her allies. President George W. Bush expressed his admiration for the speech. Collins opened his address by saying: "We go to liberate, not to conquer" and added "As for ourselves, let's bring everyone home and leave Iraq a better place for us having been there."

Answer: Arthur Wellesley

Arthur Wellesley was born in Dublin in 1769. After early military service in India, in 1809, with Napoleon Bonaparte on the verge of conquering all of western Europe, Wellesley took charge of the British forces in Portugal. Victory followed victory, culminating in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 when Wellesley and his Prussian allies defeated the Emperor's forces. A grateful British nation had made Wellesley 1st Duke of Wellington in 1814. A life in politics followed and he became Prime Minister in 1828. He died in 1852 and is buried in St Paul's Cathedral.

Answer: Blair Mayne

Lt. Colonel Robert Blair Mayne was born near Newtownards in Northern Ireland on 11th January 1915. As a rugby union player, he was capped six times by Ireland. In WW2, he served in the fledgling Special Air Service (SAS) - motto, of course, 'Who Dares Wins'. Blair Mayne won the Distinguished Service Order and three bars and among his other honours were 1939-45 Star; Africa Star & 8th Army Bar; Italy Star; France & Germany Star; Defence Medal; War Medal & Oak Leaf; Legion D'Honneur; and Croix De Guerre with Palm.

He was one of only eight soldiers to be awarded three bars to his DSO. Injuries sustained in combat curtailed Mayne's activities after the war, but he still managed to embark on expeditions to the Falkland Islands and the Antarctic.

He became secretary to The Law Society of Ireland, and sadly died at the age of 40 in a car crash in 1955. A bronze statue in the centre of Newtownards was erected in his memory.

Answer: Chaim Herzog

Chaim Herzog was born in Belfast in 1918, where his father was a Rabbi. The family moved to Dublin then emigrated to Palestine in 1935. His father was elected Chef Rabbi in 1936. Chaim Herzog studied law and he served in the British Army during WW2.

He returned to Palestine after the war and served in the Jewish underground. He served in the Israeli army during the War of Independence. He was Israel's Ambassador to the UN from 1975 to 1978, and was elected to the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament) in 1981.

He became the sixth President of the State of Israel in 1983 and served two terms, until 1993.

Answer: The Scots

Edward recruited Irish light cavalry to fight for his cause. As well as fighting the French they were also used to patrol the border between England and Scotland. In 1243 they fought for the King against the Welsh and in 1485 fought on the (losing) Yorkist side in the Wars of the Roses.

Answer: Eoin O'Duffy

Eoin O'Duffy (20th October 1892 - 30th November 1944) was born in Co Monaghan and worked as an engineer before becoming part of the Irish Republican Army's campaign for the freedom of Ireland from Britain. When Ireland gained Independence in 1921 and entered her own civil war, he served as a general in the State's Army.

He was later appointed commissioner of An Garda Síochána, the police force. In 1921, he became a Sinn Féin TD (member of parliament) in Monaghan. In the 1930s he embraced Nazism and also organised an Irish Brigade to fight on the Fascist side in the Spanish Civil War.

More Irishmen fought for Franco than against him. O'Duffy returned to Ireland and retired from front line politics.

Answer: Thomas Meagher

Thomas Francis Meagher (August 3, 1823 - July 1, 1867) was born in Waterford, but in 1848 was convicted of sedition against British rule. He was sentenced to death but a public outcry led to his sentence being commuted to expulsion to Van Diemen's Land.

He escaped to America and settled in New York. During the war between the States, he rose to the rank of Brigadier General. He led a company of the 'Fighting 69th' at Bull Run and then formed the Irish Brigade, which fought in some of the war's bloodiest engagements.

After the war he became Acting Governor of the Territory of Montana. Of the others mentioned in the question, Michael Corcoran also served in the Union Army; Richard Hennessy was a mercenary In France and settled there to found what became the cognac empire that bears his name; and Claude Aughinleck was a WW2 commander of British forces in North Africa.

Answer: False

In fact, the Irish troops fought for the king in both England and Scotland. Among them was a force of 2,500 led by Alasdair MacColla that landed in Scotland in July 1644. Over the next few years they won every battle they and their Scottish allies fought. In 1752 the bulk of the British Army was Irish - up to 20,000 men.

Answer: Guy Carleton

Sir Guy Carleton was born in Strabane, Co Tyrone on 3rd September 1724. In 1742 he joined the Army and most of his military career was spent in North America. He led the troops that captured Quebec from the French in 1759. More victories against the French and the Americans followed, and his forces repelled the American attack on Quebec in 1775. Carleton was twice Governor of Quebec and was Commander-in-Chief of British North American when independence came for the fledgling United States. He lived out the rest of his life in England. Carleton has been given scant recognition in his home town - although his name does appear on a memorial to Strabane's most famous natives.

In the 1980s a housing development was given his name, although through either carelessness or lack of interest, it was named "Carlton" Drive rather than Carleton.

Answer: William Brown

William Brown was born in Co Mayo in 1777, but his family emigrated to America in 1786. He started his naval career as a cabin boy but rose to captain his own ship, before he was press-ganged into the British Royal Navy. During the Napoleonic Wars, his ship was captured by the French and he became a prisoner, but escaped.

He made his way to England then, after marrying gave up the sea to become a merchant in Uruguay. He returned, though, to the sea, and eventually settled in Argentina. During the war against Spain, he was appointed commander in chief of the Argentine fleet.

In 1814 his vastly outnumbered fleet defeated the Spanish at the battle of Isla Martín García. Brown became a national hero. He went on to command the navy in wars against Uruguay and Brazil and was buried with full military honours after his death in 1857.