Caubeen

A caubeen (pronounced kaub-'een)(from the Irish "cáibín" meaning "little hat") is an Irish soldier's headdress, a variation on the beret or tam o'shanter. It is taken from the traditional Irish peasants' headdress. It is very high on the off-side (usually the left), which makes it resemble a tilted rimless Balmoral bonnet. It sometimes has narrow black tapes in its edge to secure it that are worn tied neatly in the back; the Canadian version is made with wide tapes.

The military version is traditionally rifle green in colour. It is typically worn with a unit insignia (sometimes worn with a short colored plume called a hackle indicating regimental association) pinned on the off side of the cap.

It is worn by some members of the Irish Army.cite web | author= | title=Irish Military website |url=http://www.military.ie/images/army_rank.pdf| accessdaymonth=23 January| accessyear=2008] and the Royal Irish Regiment, and is also worn by pipers of the Irish Guards and the Queen's University Officer Training Corps of the British Army.

Irish Army use

The first depiction of its wear is in a painting of Eoghan Ruadh Ó Néill (Owen Roe O'Neill), chief of the Uí Néill (O'Neills) of Ulster. He was the leader of the Irish Confederate forces during the "Wars of the Three Kingdoms" period from his return from exile on the Continent in 1642 to his death in 1649.

UK Army use

The British Army's Northern Irish regimental bands first adopted the "caubeen" worn with saffron kilts as a distinction for their pipers in 1922. Each regiment was distinguished by the feather hackle in their caps: The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers wore their traditional grey hackles, the Royal Irish Fusiliers wore their traditional green hackles, the Irish Guards and London Irish Rifles wore granted blue hackles, while the Liverpool Irish wore a blue and red hackle. The Royal Ulster Rifles didn't get a band until 1948, so they didn't receive their black hackles until 1947.

In 1937 the London Irish Rifles extended the "caubeen"'s wear to the entire regiment [cite web | author= | title=London Irish Rifles |url=http://www.londonirishrifles.com/caubeen.cfm| accessdaymonth=23 January| accessyear=2008] . In World War II they were the only soldiers to wear the "caubeen" until 1944 when the 2nd battalion of the London Irish were serving with the Irish Brigade in Italy. The 2nd battalion of the Inniskilling Regiment started wearing "caubeens" made from Italian soldiers' greatcoats in January 1944 and the 6th battalion of their regiment soon copied them.

In February 1944, fortuitously, the British Army made the 'General Service' cap (a sort of Tam o'Shanter in drab cloth) the new standard undress cap. The "caubeen" passed muster as the form of the GS cap hadn't been formalized at the time and their re-tailoring of the stocks of 'GS caps' went largely unnoticed by the ACI's "little tin gods".

In 1947, the wearing of the "caubeen" was later extended to all of the infantry regiments in the post-war North Irish Brigade, with the Royal Ulster Rifles receiving a black hackle.

The Royal Irish Rangers, formed in 1968 by the amalgamation of the regiments of the North Irish Brigade, were granted the wearing of the "caubeen" with the Irish Fusiliers' green hackle. It continues to be worn by the Royal Irish Regiment, created by the amalgamation of the Royal Irish Rangers and the Ulster Defence Regiment in 1992.

Canadian Army use

The Caubeen was/is the daily headdress for the 2nd Battalion, the Irish Regiment of Canada. It is a Primary Reserve light infantry regiment of the Canadian Forces. The Regiment was formed in Toronto, Ont in 1915 as 1bn Irish Regiment. The Caubeen is worn with a green hackle, not to designate it as a fusilier regiment as in the British Army sense, but it was a gift from a commanding officer of the London Irish to the Irish Regiment of Canada, during the battle of Coriano, Italy. The Regiment also has a saffron kilt and scarlets. In the late 90s and early 2000s the regimental dress was in a slow decline, but more recently the regiment has been re-issuing regimental dress at a steady pace.

Irish Paramilitary use

As well as the conventional armies listed above, the caubeen is also prevalent in the various Irish paramilitary organisations of Ireland including the Provisional Irish Republican Army and Real Irish Republican Army. The use of the caubeen can be seen in the statements, marches and funerals of the Irish paramilitaries. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rmhk8h_s6Y4&feature=related YouTube - Martin Hurson ] ] [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gO8YHqhIaM YouTube - Funeral of Joe Cahill - 2004 ] ] [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srLOuXZ1JSM YouTube - Broadcast Yourself ] ]

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