Podcast: German Prisoners Of War In Richmond Barracks Templemore 1914 -1915 by John Reynolds

Templemore is well known as the location of the Garda College, which has been the national training faculty for the Garda Síochána na hÉireann since 1964. The complex has a long and interesting history as a military barracks, having opened in 1813 as Richmond Barracks. One of the most interesting periods in the history of the barracks occurred between August 1914 and March 1915 when over 2,300 German Prisoners of War and civilian internees were detained in Richmond. The POWs were moved to England in 1915, the reason given that the barracks was now required to train Irish recruits joining the British army. The real reason for their swift removal however was far more intriguing and this story, along with other fascinating details will be outlined in this lecture.

John Reynolds is a Garda Sergeant based at the Garda Síochána College in Templemore, and established the Garda College Museum in 2002. He is finalising a PhD at the University of Limerick on the subject of the IRA campaign against the RIC in Tipperary, 1919-22.