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The Connaught Rangers ("The Devil's Own") was an Irish line infantry regiment of the British Army formed by the amalgamation of the 88th Regiment of Foot (Connaught Rangers) (which formed the 1st Battalion) and the 94th Regiment of Foot (which formed the 2nd Battalion) in July 1881. Between the time of its formation and Irish independence, it was one of eight Irish regiments raised largely in Ireland. Its home depot was in Galway. It was disbanded following the establishment of the independent Irish Free State in 1922, along with the other five regiments that had their traditional recruiting grounds in the counties of the new state.

The regiment was formed by the amalgamation of the 88th Regiment of Foot (Connaught Rangers) (which formed the 1st Battalion) and the 94th Regiment of Foot (which formed the 2nd Battalion) in July 1881. The amalgamation of the two regiments into one with the title The Connaught Rangers, was part of the United Kingdom government's reorganisation of the British Army under the Childers Reforms, a continuation of the Cardwell Reforms implemented in 1879. It was one of eight Irish regiments raised largely in Ireland, with its home depot at Renmore Barracks in Galway. The 88th were based in Bengal, British India, when they were amalgamated into the new regiment. The 94th were based in South Africa at the time of amalgamation; as the 2nd Battalion, it returned to Ireland the following year and sent a small detachment on the Nile Expedition in 1884 as Camel Mounted Infantry. The Rangers fought at Spion Kop in January 1900 and the Tugela Heights in February 1900 during further attempts by General Sir Redvers Buller to relieve the besieged town of Ladysmith. In late February the siege of Ladysmith finally came to an end after it was relieved by British forces. The 1st Battalion returned to India in 1903. the regiment now had three Reserve but no Territorial battalions. The 2nd Battalion landed at Boulogne sur Mer as part of the 5th Brigade in the 2nd Division with the British Expeditionary Force in August 1914 for service on the Western Front. Following severe losses in the battles of 1914, the 2nd Battalion was disbanded, with survivors transferring into the 1st Battalion. In turn, the 1st Battalion was redeployed to the Middle East in 1916, where it fought primarily in modern day Iraq as part of the British Tigris Corps. The 3rd (Reserve) Battalion was based in Galway upon the declaration of war and would remain in Ireland until November 1917 when it moved to England. landed at Le Havre as part of the 47th Brigade in the 16th (Irish) Division in December 1915 for service on the Western Front. On 21 March 1918, the same Battalion was "practically annihilated" during the German spring offensive breakthrough. In one week the battalion lost "22 officers and 618 other ranks". As a result of these heavy losses, the survivors were transferred into the 2nd Battalion, the Leinster Regiment. A 584 man strong column from the 3rd Battalion Connaught Rangers, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel A J Digan DSO, marched on Enniscorthy to fight the rebels who had taken over the town, however on arrival decided not to attack the insurrectionists' positions within the town to avoid turning Enniscorthy into a battlefield. In the days after the insurrection began the Connaughts patrolled the countryside seeking contact with any of those war parties that cared to show themselves, in the process capturing hundreds of prisoners of war and seizing their weapons stocks. A 250 strong force of the Connaughts, under the command of Major H. M. Hutchinson, marched to Ferns on 4 May 1916, and then on to Gorey the next day. A party of 31 Connaught Rangers led by Lieutenant L. C. Badham searched houses in Kinsale on 4 May 1916, and the next day captured a large number of rebels and their weapons. The Connaught Rangers' Column searched houses in New Ross on 9 May 1916 and then at Waterford the next day. This was part of a general policy aimed at minimizing the pressures of divided loyalties, by relocating serving Irish regiments during "the troubles".

On 28 June 1920, four men from C Company of the 1st Battalion, based at Wellington Barracks, Jalandhar in the Punjab, protested against martial law in Ireland by refusing to obey orders. One of them, Joe Hawes, had been on leave in Clare in October 1919 and had seen a hurling match prevented from happening by British forces with bayonets drawn. Poor accommodation conditions in the Wellington Barracks may have provided an additional cause of the dispute. The protestors were soon joined by other Rangers, including several English soldiers, such as John Miranda from Liverpool and Sergeant Woods. By the following morning, when a rebel muster took place, over 300 soldiers were involved in the mutiny. On 30 June 1920, two mutineers from the Jalandhar barracks (Frank Geraghty and Patrick Kelly) travelled to Solon barracks where C Company were stationed and, despite arrest, helped spark a mutiny there, led by Private James Daly, whose brother William also took part in the protest. Initially, the protests were peaceful with the men involved donning green, white and orange rosettes and singing Irish nationalist songs. At Solon, however, on the evening of 1 July a party of about thirty men led by James Daly, carrying bayonets, attempted to seize their company's rifles, stored in the armoury. The troops guarding the magazine opened fire and two men were killed: Pte. Smythe who was with Daly's party, and Pte. Peter Sears (who had not been involved in the attack on the magazine but was returning to his billet when hit by a stray bullet). Within days, both garrisons were occupied by other British troops. Daly and his followers surrendered and were arrested. Eighty eight mutineers were court martialed: seventy seven were sentenced to imprisonment and ten were acquitted. In 1923, following Irish Independence, the imprisoned mutineers were released and returned to Ireland. The bodies of Ptes. Sears, Smythe, and Daly were repatriated from India to Ireland for reburial in 1970.

Due to substantial defence cuts and the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922, it was decided that the six former Southern Ireland regiments would be disbanded, including the Connaught Rangers. On 12 June, five regimental colours were laid up in a ceremony at St George's Hall, Windsor Castle in the presence of HM King George V. The six regiments were then all disbanded on 31 July 1922. With the simultaneous outbreak of the Irish Civil War conflict some thousands of their ex servicemen and officers contributed to expanding the Free State government's newly formed National Army. They brought considerable combat experience with them contributing significantly to the success of the Free State’s cause, and by May 1923 comprised 50 per cent of its 53,000 soldiers and 20 per cent of its officers.

In 1966 a stained glass memorial window to the Connaught Rangers was included in the new Galway Cathedral, which renders honour to a regiment so long associated with that part of Ireland. There are various memorials to the regiment and its soldiers in St. Nicholas' Collegiate Church in Galway.

Irish National War Memorial Gardens, Dublin. Island of Ireland Peace Park Messines, Belgium. Ulster Tower Memorial Thiepval, France. Menin Gate Memorial Ypres, Belgium.

From 1881 to 1914 the Connaught Rangers wore the standard scarlet and blue full dress of British infantry (see illustration above) with green facings. The green collars and cuffs were intended to be a national distinction for infantry regiments recruited in Ireland but the Connaught Rangers was the only one of these not to have a "Royal" title and accordingly the distinction of dark blue facings. The regimental buttons had a harp and crown surrounded by a shamrock wreath. The harp and crown reappeared on cap and home service helmet badges, in silver on a green background.

In the mid 19th century a tradition grew up that the 88th had been given the nickname 'Devil's Own' by Major General Thomas Picton during the Peninsular War, "as a compliment to their dauntless bravery in presence of the enemy, and their uniform irregularity in camp and quarters", a tradition that was inherited by the Connaught Rangers when the 88th and 94th were joined to form the new regiment in 1881. However, there is no contemporary record of the 88th receiving this sobriquet, and subsequent regimental histories and memoirs make no reference either to the nickname or its origins.