Scarce WW1 era Loyal Dublin Volunteers ( LDV ) Bronze Buttonhole Lapel Badge

Original with some verdigris to front of bronze, but otherwise sharp detail. Stamped with issue number to reverse "455" and maker marked " Vaughtons Ltd, Birm'm " ( Birmingham ). 3cm in diameter.

At its peak the LDV boasted a membership of some 2000 men. Many were of Ulster birth, some 768 men and women signed the Ulster Covenant and Declaration within the city, but the vast majority were Dublin born and bred. From mid 1913 right up until the outbreak of the First World War the unit was drilling weekly under its commander Colonel Henry McMaster, also Dublin Grand Master of the Orange Order. Its commitment to opposition against Home Rule was every bit as staunch as its comrades in Ulster. An estimated 600 of its 2000 members enlisted to fight in WW1. Up to 80 members joined the Dublin ‘Pal’s Battalion’ almost immediately. Many Loyal Dublin Volunteers joined their fellow ‘volunteers’ within the ranks of the 36th Ulster Division. A considerable number joined the 9th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (County Tyrone Volunteers).

At a general meeting of the organisation in August 1915, it was proposed that they affiliate themselves with the Irish Association of Voluntary Training Corps. To this end, 200 immediately signed up, effectively making the men a reserve army unit. They saw active service a lot quicker than they anticipated, and upon the outbreak of the 1916 Easter Rising they assisted troops from the Curragh in suppressing the violence. On the first day of the rising several Loyal Dublin Volunteers lost their lives.

Code: 53846