The Livery Newsletter and Gazette Issue 32 Spring 2020 | Page 16

THE IRISH GUARDS AND THE
IRISH GUARDS ASSOCIATION
On Friday 17th January 2020, The Worshipful
Company of Tobacco Pipe Makers and Tobacco
Blenders confirmed their new affiliation with the
Irish Guards Association.
The Irish Guards regiment was formed on 1st
April 1900 by order of HM Queen Victoria to
commemorate the Irishmen who fought in the
Second Boer War for the British Empire.
They are known affectionately throughout the British
Army as ‘The Micks’.
The Irish Guards are part of the Guards Division
which comprises the Coldstream, Grenadier, Scots,
Irish and Welsh Guards along with the two Mounted
Regiments the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals.
The Irish Guards are the only Guards Regiment to
have a Mascot – an Irish Wolfhound.
The administrative headquarters for the Regiment
is Wellington Barracks, London. The Irish Guards
Regimental Band are also based here.
The 1st Battalion is Stationed (or Based) in Cavalry
Barracks, Hounslow but they are due to move to
Mons Barracks Aldershot in late 2020.
Colonel – in Chief – HM The Queen
Colonel of the Regiment – HRH Prince William,
Duke of Cambridge
Regimental Lieutenant Colonel – General Sir Mark
Carlton-Smith
Regimental Adjutant – Major (Retd) Niall Hall
The Irish Guards role is mechanized Infantry and all
five Guards Regiments have the honour of guarding
HM the Queen on a rotational basis.
The 1st Battalion are at present deployed to Iraq
and South Sudan and will return to the UK in late
Summer 2020.