Raised in 1683. After serving afloat as Marines it went to Flanders,
where its splendid valour at the assault on the Castle of Namur on 20th
August, 1695, won for it the admiration of the whole of the Allied
army. This gallant feat, performed under the eyes of the King, won for
the regiment the distinguished title of the Royal Regiment of Foot of
Ireland, and the King conferred upon it the right of displaying the
badge of the harp and crown, and that of the lion of Nassau, with the
motto "Virtutis Namurcensis Præmium." Was one of the Irish Regiments
which fought so gallantly in South Africa and to whose bravery the
Irish Guards were raised in commemoration. "The Royal Irish" is the
only one now in existence out of nineteen regiments raised in Ireland
from independent companies of musketeers and pikemen.