Beschreibung:

ROYAL IRISH REGIMENT, OFFICERS REGIMENTAL DINNER FUND BOOK, 1879-1960. A large red leather bound volume, measuring approximately 9.75'' x 9'' (25cm x 22.5cm), containing some 280 pages, the first 200 mounted with a vast collection of documents, letters and photographs relating to the annual regimental officers dinners, which following the disbandment of the regiment in 1922 became annual ex-officers dinners. The book records the annual dinners which took place in London from 1879 onwards, listing the officers who subscribed and those who attended, the first dinner being held at the Criterion Hotel and costing 42 shillings per head. The book contains annual statement of account and, from 1905, the printed menu cards for the dinners. The notes on the 1921 dinner are accompanied by an extensive manuscript note re. the purchase by the regiment of the Victoria Cross that had been awarded to Private Barry during the Boer War and a letter from the commanding officer of the 7th (Wellington West Coast) Regiment of New Zealand, alongside whom the Royal Irish had fought during WW1. The accounts for 1922 are accompanied by letters and newspaper articles concerning the disbandment of the Royal Irish Regiment and protests by officers at the disbandment, together with photographs of the regiment's final parade at Portsmouth and the laying up of the regimental colours in St George's Hall, Windsor Castle. The 1923 dinner notes contain an account of the unveiling, on Armistice Day that year, of the monument to the men of the regiment who fell at Mons, along with a ticket inviting General J. Barton Forster C.B. to attend a dinner in honour of the event hosted by the Mayor of Mons. From 1924 onwards most of the annual accounts are accompanied by telegrams to and from the monarch of the day, sending and returning loyal and fraternal greetings. Also included in the volume is a letter of 1953 from Windsor Castle regarding the preservation of the regimental colours. The last dinner recorded in this volume took place in 1958, and the last document in the volume is a telegram from Queen Elizabeth II ''Please convey to the officers of the Royal Irish Regiment assembled for their annual reunion this evening the sincere thanks of the Queen for their kind and loyal message of greetings which Her Majesty very greatly appreciates''. The accounts signed by numerous officers of the regiment, including Major T.B. Meredith (from 1879), Major J. Forbes Mosse (from 1891), Major General Abbot Anderson (1902), Lieutenant Colonel Alan Chichester (from 1903), Colonel A.N. Lysaght (from 1922), Lieutenant Colonel G.A. Elliott (from 1927), and a Mr A.J. Williams (from 1947). Perhaps the most poignant document in the volume is a 2 page poem by an anonymous ''old n.c.o.'', regretting the passing of the regiment, that was handed in to the officers attending the 1924 dinner. A unique and important archive. ROYAL IRISH REGIMENT, OFFICERS REGIMENTAL DINNER FUND BOOK, 1879-1960. A large red leather bound volume, measuring approximately 9.75'' x 9'' (25cm x 22.5cm), containing some 280 pages, the first 200 mounted with a vast collection of documents, letters and photographs relating to the annual regimental officers dinners, which following the disbandment of the regiment in 1922 became annual ex-officers dinners. The book records the annual dinners which took place in London from 1879 onwards, listing the officers who subscribed and those who attended, the first dinner being held at the Criterion Hotel and costing 42 shillings per head. The book contains annual statement of account and, from 1905, the printed menu cards for the dinners. The notes on the 1921 dinner are accompanied by an extensive manuscript note re. the purchase by the regiment of the Victoria Cross that had been awarded to Private Barry during the Boer War and a letter from the commanding officer of the 7th (Wellington West Coast) Regiment of New Zealand, alongside whom the Royal Irish had fought during WW1