§ Mr. KEATINGasked the Secretary of State for War how many persons enlisted in Ireland during the past year; how many of them were Catholics, Protestants, and members of other religious denominations; whether those figures fairly represent the average; and whether he can state how many lawyers of all shades of religious belief enlisted during the same period?
§ Colonel SEELYThere are no returns rendered to the War Office as regards the religious denomination of recruits; the only information on this head is that shown on pages 89 and 90 of the general Annual Report for the men on the strength of the various arms of the Service. The Infantry is the only arm for which men are recruited in a definite area, and the figures for the men serving in the Irish Infantry regiments, on the 1st October, 1911, are as follows:—
Protestants … … 5,006 Roman Catholics … … 10,225 Jews … … 6 Of these 11,342 were born in Ireland. Two thousand five hundred and forty-nine men were enlisted in Ireland during the year in question for all arms, of whom only 858 were enlisted for Irish Infantry regiments. Consequently too much reliance cannot be placed on the religious statistics given for the Infantry regiments as representing the average for Irishmen in the Army as a whole. With regard to the last part of the question, the answer is none.