placenamesBeggar’s Bush
Tor an Bhacaigh
Beggar’s Bush links the emergence of the National Army with later efforts to preserve the histories of printing and organised labour.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- Tor an Bhacaigh · Irish · main form
- Beggar’s Bush · English · main form
Place & story
The first barracks handover
Beggar’s Bush was the first barracks transferred to the Provisional Government in 1922. The Defence Forces’ centenary exhibition distinguishes the handover on 31 January from the official ceremony the following day. For that ceremony, Dublin Guard troops marched from the Phoenix Park through Dublin’s streets in the new National Army uniform. The journey made the change visible beyond the barrack gates, turning a military transfer into a public demonstration of the new state’s authority. [2]
A museum in the garrison chapel
Members of the printing industry founded the National Print Museum, which officially opened in 1996 in the former garrison chapel at Beggar’s Bush Barracks. The conversion gave a military religious building a new educational purpose. The museum received the Industrial Heritage Association of Ireland’s Best Museum/Restored Heritage Site award in 2018, recognising the preservation work of an institution created by people with direct experience of the trade. [3]
Preserving labour history
The Irish Labour History Society, founded in 1973, also established a home at Beggar’s Bush. In 2020 it marked thirty years at the premises. Its archive preserves material from trade unions and labour organisations, together with personal papers, while its annual journal Saothar provides another means of recording working lives. These collections give the former military complex a further historical role, preserving the documentary traces of movements and organisations beyond the armed forces. [4] [5]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Beggar’s Bush. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Raising the Flag: introduction to the 1922 barracks handovers · Irish Defence Forces
- IHAI Best Museum Award 2018 · National Print Museum
- The Irish Labour History Society · Irish Labour History Society
- Archive · Irish Labour History Society
- Irish Labour History Museum, Beggar’s Bush illustration: based on a Former Geological Survey of Ireland building, Beggars Bush Barracks; Labour History Museum foreground by Conoronmaps. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2010-01-06. How this page was prepared.