The British Army put great effort into recruitment. Veteran Royal Dublin Fusilier, Jimmy O'Brien, recalls being stopped by a recruiting sergeant and signing up in an office in Grafton Street, Dublin.

'The Irish Brigades In The First World War' was a two part documentary for radio. The programme examined the participation of the Irish Brigades in the Great War using personal accounts of the battles from surviving members.

The documentary was produced by Kieran Sheedy and presented by Tom McGurk. The clip used here was taken from part two and broadcast on 8 December 1974.

The photograph accompanying this clip shows National Volunteers loyal to John Redmond marching through Ranelagh, Dublin 1914.

The photographer was Joseph Cashman

© RTÉ Stills Library 0510/034 

Copyright RTÉ. This material may not be replicated in any form or manner without the prior express permission of RTÉ. Any form of reproduction in print, television, video, multimedia, web site or other electronic media or any form of dissemination for commercial or non-commercial use must be licensed by the RTÉ Libraries and Archives.

If you wish to licence video or audio clips, still images or text, or would like further guidance please contact us.

RTÉ Libraries and Archives are committed to respecting the copyright of others and have attempted to source and credit the copyright owners of all material used here. RTÉ would like to hear from any copyright owners who are not properly identified here so that the necessary corrections can be made. If you feel your copyright has not been respected please contact us.