15/03/2026
Our Association’s annual presentation of the shamrock ceremony this afternoon, in keeping with the military tradition established by Queen Victoria.
Following a brief service led by our Association Chaplain Rev Tracey McRoberts and an address by our Honorary Colonel Billy Clarke, the shamrock were presented by our Honorary President William Humphrey MBE and our Honorary Vice-President Brian Kingston MLA, to the accompaniment of tunes by piper Francey Strain.
In 1900, in recognition of gallantry and losses during the Boer War, Queen Victoria instructed that:
“upon Saint Patrick’s Day, all ranks of her Irish Regiments shall wear, as a distinction, a sprig of shamrock in their head dress, to commemorate the gallantry of her Irish soldiers during the recent battles in South Africa.”
Faugh a Ballagh.
