On February 17, 1922, Finner Camp – set halfway between Ballyshannon and Bundoran – was handed over to the Irish Army by their British counterparts following the War of Independence.

Some 100 years later, this February, the Irish Army commemorated that occasion as part of Raising the Flag – the centenary of handovers of military barracks.

Finner Camp, high on a hill overlooking the estuary where the River Erne meets the Atlantic Ocean, is steeped in military history.

For those in Fermanagh, Donegal and Tyrone, this is seen through the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, who became the unit most associated with the army barracks during the lead up to the Boer War and indeed, in training for the Great War also.

A book, ‘Finner Camp – A History’, by Colonel Declan O’Carroll (retired), gives an insight into the history of the Inniskillings and the Co. Donegal barracks.

Recruiting

The Inniskilling Fusiliers were tasked with local recruiting in the north west and first used the camp for summer training in 1897.

According to Colonel O’Carroll’s book, the Regimental Journal of the Inniskillings – ‘The Donegal’s Own Journal’ – which was later to be called, ‘The Sprig of Shillelagh’, reported on April 20, 1898, “a party of men under Sgt. Lee proceeded to Finner for the purpose of preparing the camping ground and making improvements to the range in advance of the main body of Inniskillings coming for summer camp”.

The local papers of the time gave considerable coverage to the arrival of troops to Finner. From these sources, Colonel O’Carroll learnt in June, 1898, the 5 Battalion (Donegals) travelled by train from Lifford and then marched to Finner with the regimental band.

They were joined by 3 Battalion (Fermanaghs) and the 4 Battalion (Tyrones). These were the embodied militia battalions of the Inniskillings, writes O’Carroll.

“The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers had two battalions of regular soldiers (1 and 2), and three militia Bns (3/4 and 5). The regular camp Bn in camp in July, 1898, was the 1 Bn, which had its HQ in Mullingar.

“Two brigades were formed – the Irish Fusiliers Brigade (Bde), which trained from mid-May to mid-June, followed by the Inniksilling Bde, which deployed for training from mid-June to the end of August.”

The 3 Battalion (Fermanaghs) was situated on the Bundoran side of the camp, where a large painting of Enniskillen Castle adorned the camp.

Presence

“The considerable presence of the military in the area with well over 2,000 troops was relatively trouble-free. The local press at that time reported ‘considering everything, they are a fine set of fellows, and though they did occasionally cause a little friction it was generally between themselves; stealing an ink bottle was the height of the crime’.

“There was the occasional fighting between units. In one instance, an Innskilling Fusilier, Robert Cunningham, found himself serving 14 days in Sligo Gaol for breaking a window in East Port, Ballyshannon,” writes O’Carroll.

As the British were being drawn deeper into the Boer War, the 1 Battalion Royal Inniskillings set off from Mullingar for South Africa on October 30, 1899.

Many of those who trained in Finner were to die in the war.

Throughout the war, from 1899-1902, the militia battalions of Inniskillings continued to train from July to September.

In August, 1902, according to “the Sprig”, a party of 35 NCOs and men left Finner under the command of Captain Croft for London to participate in the ceremonies for the coronation of King Edward VII.

The Inniskillings involvement in the Boer War ended in February, 1904, with the return of 1 Battalion, with the focus turning to annual training again at Finner.

From 1914 to 1917, there was great activity in Finner with the preparation for war. This time, O’Carrol writes, also marks the closure of the old Inniskilling units with their militias and the beginning of the new Inniskilling era.

Following the War of Independence, Finner Camp was handed over to Captain Jim Murphy of Bundoran on February 17, 1922, who then handed responsibility over to Brigadier General Seamus Devins of 2 Brigade, 3 Western Division from Co. Sligo.

Within days, a split in the local IRA emerged, with those present at the handover taking opposite sides in the Civil War – being Pro- and Anti-Treaty.

For the past 150 years, Finner Camp has hosted many different military units and thousands of people. What began as a temporary training camp is now home to a modern, well-equipped and well-trained battalion infantry battalion of Óglaigh na hEireann.

From the Inniskillings to the 28 Infantry battalion, the camp has seen many significant events in Irish history.

Thanks to Neil Armstrong at the Inniskillings Museum for providing Colonel O’Carroll’s book of Finner Camp for this article, and for the photos of the Inniskillings at Finner Camp.

Also thanks to Colonel O’Carroll for his work in assembling the history of Finner Camp.