have been drafted into it. The third, the 16th Division, we have come to call the Irish Brigade, not because we do not know the difference between a division and a brigade, but for reasons of history and affection. The term recalled the history of the old Irish Brigade, which for nearly a hundred years cast the light of its glory over all the battlefields of Europe. This Irish Brigade is not quite complete. It still requires about two thousand men, and I hope that every Irishman in England who enlists will choose one of the regiments in the 16th Division. I have heard some complaints of difficulties put in the way of Irish recruits who desired to enter Irish regiments. I have been told that recruiting officers have brought pressure to bear upon recruits to prevent them from going into Irish regiments, and I should like to get hold of an authentic case. When these rumours first came to me, I went to the War Office, and I was assured that a recruiting officer who did anything of that kind was guilty of a gross abuse of duty. Any man who went into a recruiting office to enlist was entitled to choose for himself what regiment he would enter, and whether that regiment was stationed in Fermoy or Tipperary the Government would send him free of charge.
I do not want to make comparisons, I believe every country is doing its duty in the best way it can. I make no claim for Ireland except that Ireland is doing its duty. Our record is one of which we can be proud. If we turn for a moment to the record of performances at the front, I think we Irishmen can hold up our heads. [Cheers.] Sir John French is an Irishman—[cheers]; he springs from good old Irish stock. Admiral Beatty is an Irishman—[cheers]—from the County Wexford. Admiral Carden, who is bombarding the Dardanelles, is an Irishman from Tipperary. [Loud cheers.] The lieutenant commander of the destroyer that sunk the U 12 the other day is a Creagh from county Clare. And if we leave the high in rank and go down to the rank and file—[cheers]—I think the name of Michael O'Leary—[cheers]—will be for ever associated with the history of this war. If you look at the performances at the front from another point of view, and look at the casualty lists and see how whole regiments of Irish troops have been almost wiped out, I do not think any man will be found in this country to deny that Ireland is doing her duty. [Cheers.] But, after all, we make no boast of it. It is nothing to be wondered at. It is all in keeping with the history and traditions of our race. [Cheers.] If Ireland
