Medal Society of Ireland

In my small town on the east coast of Suffolk, I was chatting to a local house clearer when he asked me to identify a glazed frame of military items he had just cleared from the stables of a large local house. In my many years of collecting I had not seen this type of military regalia before, so I made him an offer and purchased the glazed frame, my idea was to take it home and hopefully solve the mystery . 

The oak frame nearly 14 inches square, had never been opened since the day the items had been mounted, so I decided to leave it sealed and made my examination through the glass. The contents consisted of a background of drab olive green uniform with various military items mounted upon it, they consisted of a heavy brass military buckle with a central harp motiff surrounded by an Irish motto, at the head of the display was a brass cap badge showing a stone surmounted by a pair of crossed battle pikes, surrounded by a belted garter circlet, again with the legend in Irish, also displayed were a pair of five inch dark bottle green heavy cloth epaulets fastened by small brass buttons measuring 5/8th inch, below were two larger brass buttons measuring just under an inch, on both sets of buttons the harp motiff were centre between the letters 'I' and 'V' . 

The first step for me was to obtain a translation of the stylistic Irish legends found on the buckle and cap badge. Master Hayes of Innistioge school, Co Kilkenny, where my grandson attended, helped me with the translation. Then lcontacted our Peter Sheen to ask his assistance to identify the badge and buckle, it was from Peter that I learned the militaria came from a member of the Limerick Regiment, Irish Volunteers (circa 1916), the brass buckle with the motto ‘Youth of Ireland’, symbolic meaning: ‘Beginning of a new Ireland’, being made from a sand casting, hence a satisfactory but crude finish. The cap badge in brass was proffessinally crafted to a high standard, the motto upon the garter circlet reading ‘Let you nemember Limerick’. The section of military uniform upon which all the items were mounted was similar to my old Canadian battledress in drab olive green, but with a more open weave. 

The glazed frame came from 'Elm House', Southwold, Suffolk, which had been the residence of Colonel John B. Jarvis, late of the 1st Battalion Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. He had served in Ireland as a young officer in the turbulent years leading up to partition and self rule. During this period Lieutenant Jarvis had been stationed in barracks at Limerick, it was hoped to train up the reformed 1st battalion after the disaster it had suffered at Kut in 1916, it was expected that the posting to Ireland would consolidate the battalion. 

After Colonel Jarvis died the better furniture of the house was sold in a London auction room for an amazing £450,000, the lesser items not required by the auctioneers were cleared by a local dealer, this included the glazed frame found in the stables, which I subsequently aquired. 

My curiosity being kindled, I returned to the dealer and asked had he any more related items from the house, he then showed me the Jarvis family photo album, many pictures pen titled, some were of Jarvis as a junior officer in Ireland, one I enclose shows him in shirt sleeve order on a horse (with fly fringe), riding in company with 1Lt.Col. (Brevet Major), L. L. Pargiter, D.S.O. they are leading a marching platoon during the summer somewhere in Ireland, probably during the Black & Tan period of 1920-1922. 

Other photos show him as a burly army athelete. Album cuttings pasted in from the London Times newspaper include an article about the Aldershot Army Team Championships, noting Jarvis as the best individual performance, also that he he had won the event of 'throwing the hammer', other pictures were not so salubrious, one shows him with the chinless wonders of the Henham Hunt, Suffolk, throwing a dug out live fox to a circle of waiting hounds! 

I would really appreciate if any reader could tell me if 'other ranks' in the 1916 Irish Volunteer Army wore epaulets, or was it only officers, (the epaulets in the frame show no rank insignia or even the marks of previous attachment). Also what could the estimated strength of the Limerick Regiment be? . 

Lieutenant Jarvis obviously obtained these momentoes during his service in or near Limerick. What a tale these badges of service taken from a Irish Volunteer during the ‘troubles’ might have told.