abstract:The Volunteers (also known as the Irish Volunteers) were local militias in late 18th century Ireland raised to defend Ireland from the threat of French and Spanish invasion when regular British soldiers were withdrawn from Ireland to fight across the globe during the American Revolutionary War and the government failed to organise its own militia. Taking advantage of Britain's preoccupation with its rebelling American colonies, the Volunteers were able to pressure Westminster into conceding legislative independence to the Dublin parliament.
Men of the Ulster Volunteer Force and the IrishVolunteers put aside their differences and rallied to the defence of the Empire, fighting and dying in their thousands in the ranks of the British Army.