The British Army did not enlist Irish Catholics during much of the eighteenth century as they were considered likely to be unreliable when they faced the forces of Catholic countries such as France and Spain, which contained many of their countrymen. However, Irish settlers, including those exiled to British colonies, were recruited into local militias, such as the Virginia Regiment or the Montserrat Militia. During the American Revolution people of Irish origin could be found in both Loyalist and Patriot units, including the Loyalist “Volunteers of Ireland”. In the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars the British government settled substantial numbers of demobilised soldiers, including Irishmen, in Canada. From about 1780 onwards the British regiments enlisted at least one-third of their recruits in Ireland; this increased to about 40% by the early nineteenth century.

Part Two continues to identify Irish soldiers serving in colonial America, mainly between 1650 and 1825, based on data culled from published and archival sources located in Ireland, England, Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean. Part Two differs from Part One in that it also identifies former soldiers who died or were buried in Ireland and seafarers of the period, mostly former men of the Royal Navy, who possibly were engaged defending the transatlantic colonies.

Both the Royal Navy and the Army regiments have good personnel records and museums which may be worth contacting (e.g., The Inniskilling Museum in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh). The National Archives in Kew, London, has a range of military records including muster rolls.  Among published sources The Army Lists provide a continuous list of officers and their regiments from 1754. The National Archives has ships’ muster lists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, while Steel’s Navy Lists cover the period from 1782 until 1817. The latter was superseded by the official annual Navy Lists from 1814, although they concentrate on the careers of officers only.