Irish Commandos
Irish volunteers are continuing to fight beside the Boer commandos in South Africa, creating a remarkable contrast with the thousands of their countrymen serving in British uniform. Reports of the Irish Transvaal Brigade have attracted considerable interest among Limerick nationalists, who regard its members as practical supporters of a small nation resisting imperial conquest. Others question the wisdom of Irishmen taking arms against British forces containing regiments recruited heavily throughout Munster. The conflict has therefore placed Irish soldiers on opposing sides of the same war, each claiming that duty, loyalty or national principle justifies his presence on the battlefield.