The New Curragh Camp
1879 Onwards

Beresford Barracks was the first section of the Curragh to be rebuilt, this occurred in 1879. The present red bricked camp emerged on the skyline of the plains about the turn of the cen­tury. The rebuilding went on for a number of years and would appear to have commenced about 1894. Work began on the western side of the camp, the Kildare side, and progressed from west to east. A War Department map, revised in 1901, shows the camp from the Water Tower to the west as completed, whereas the section to the east is still in its old form.

When completed, seven new barracks made up the camp and these barracks were named, from west to east, as follows

Ponsonby Barracks  now  Plunkett Barracks.
Stewart Barracks  now  Connolly Barracks.
Beresford Barracks  now  Ceannt Barracks.
A.S.C. Barracks  now  Clarke Barracks.
Engineer Barracks  now  MacDermott Barracks.
Gough Barracks  now  MacDonagh Barracks.
Keane Barracks  now  Pearse Barracks.

The camp moved forward into the 20th century and in March, 1914, the calm and routine peacetime soldiering was suddenly disrupted by an event to be known in history as “The Currragh Mutiny.” Since it was the most significant event that has ever taken place on the Curragh it merits a detailed examination.