Nativity of the Royal Irish, 1767 & 1776

One may think that the Royal  Irish Regiment would be plum full of O'Briens, O'Roukes and McFaddens. However, in fact the Royal Irish was about 30% Irish when it was inspected in April 1767 at Dublin. The drafts to the four regiments embarking for America from Cork that May were also about a third Irish, so the regiment most likely retained a similar character to that it had when inspected at Phoenix Park, Dublin on 11 April 1767. The return of the men by "Nativity" is below for the 1767 and the 1777 Inspection Returns. Only a return for Johnson's Coy, stationed at Ft. Pitt, has been found for the intervening period.

Dublin,  April 11, 1767 WO 27/11

Countrys	Companies
	Col.	Lt.C.	Maj.	Gren.	I.H.	H. A.	J.S.	G.S.	Shee	Total
English	17	20	21	17	24	18	22	21	17	177
Scotch			2	4	3	5			3	15
Irish	15	10	8	11	6	9	10	11	12	92
Foreigners		2	1						1	4
Totals	32	32	32	32	32	32	32	32	32	288

Dover Castle, May 15, 1777 WO 27/36

Countrys	Companies
	Col.	Lt.C.	Maj.	Lord	B.C.	B.P.	R.H.	W.R	W.B.	H.F.	Total
English	29	35	25	30	35	32	29	32	33	27	307
Scotch	2	1	2	2	3	2	2	2	1	1	18
Irish	12	9	18	13	19	10	14	11	23	15	144
Foreigners	2								2	1	5
Totals	45	45	45	45	57	44	45	45	59	44	474

For those wondering, there were two O'Haras, an O'Neill and and an O'Kane who served in the Royal Irish between 1767 and 1775.