Partie 23 - Military Tattoo, Dublin

Black and white print

Photographic prints of an Irish military tattoo at the Royal Dublin Society (RDS) arena in Dublin. The tattoo (essentially a pageant or display involving armed forces) was organised to raise funds for the Army Benevolent fund and to mark the contribution of the Irish Defence Forces (‘Óglaigh na hÉireann’) to the state during the wartime Emergency (1939-45). The reference to ‘Eoghan Ruadh Ó Néill’s Army’ in the caption refers to the centrepiece of the tattoo, a recreation of O’Neill’s famous victory at the Battle of Benburb (5 June 1646) during the Irish Confederate Wars.